New acquisition-American Precedents of Declarations

   
The first book attributed to Harvard Law Professor and U.S. Supreme Court Justice Joseph Story was A Selection of Pleadings in Civil Actions (Salem 1805). However, many scholars attribute this earlier 1802 gem to him as well. It was published anonymously in Salem, where Story was working as a practitioner. In the preface, the editor (also anonymous) thanks a mystery gentleman for his help in collecting, transcribing and correcting the manuscripts that form the basis of the book. It is a compilation of precedents, or common forms that lawyers could use for pleadings or motions without having to create them from scratch. The photo on the right is of the title page and captures a quote from Littleton about the importance of knowing how to properly plead an action.

Croke's Reports

Professor Daniel R. Coquillette, namesake of our beautiful rare book room and benefactor extraordinaire, recently donated a full set of Croke’s Reports (London, 1683) with original bindings. Also included in this generous gift is a single volume from an earlier 1657 edition of the Reports.

Sir George Croke (c. 1560-1642) was a judge under Elizabeth I, James I, and Charles I, and one volume is dedicated to each of their reigns. The reports were written by Croke in French, reporting on the cases that he had heard as judge or collected from other lawyers. Croke’s son-in-law, Sir Harebottle Grimston, revised and published the reports in English in the years following Croke’s death. The 1657 volume, mentioned above, covers the cases that Croke heard during the reign of Charles I.

The full set of Croke’s Reports has a fabulous provenance: the books were owned by Levi Lincoln (1749-1820) and contain marginalia in his hand. In the photo above, you can see Lincoln's signature in the upper right-hand corner. The page pictured is the first case reported in volume 1, which covers the reign of Elizabeth I. Levi Lincoln was a 1772 graduate of Harvard College and fought for the Patriots in the American Revolution. After the Revolution, he became a Massachusetts Judge of Probate and was one of the Drafters of the Massachusetts Constitution. In 1781, he declined election to the Continental Congress in favor of becoming a distinguished practitioner. Levi Lincoln was instrumental in representing black clients in the key slavery cases of 1781, where it was determined that holding African-Americans to slavery in Massachusetts violated the Bill of Rights of the Massachusetts Constitution of 1780.

In 1800, Lincoln was elected to the United States Congress. He was re-elected in 1802 but declined his seat when Thomas Jefferson appointed him Attorney General of the United States (1801-1804). He soon returned to political life in Massachusetts, even serving as governor following the death in office of James Sullivan. In 1812, he was offered a place on the United States Supreme Court by President Madison, but declined because of failing eyesight. His two sons, Levi and Enoch, both had distinguished political careers.

Many, many thanks to Professor Coquillette for donating these lovely volumes to our collection.

New acquisition discusses laws affecting Roman Catholics

The most recent acquisition for the Rare Book Room is a lovely copy of Thomas Chisholme Anstey's Guide to Laws of England Affecting Roman Catholics, V. & R. Stevens and G. S. Norton, London, 1842. This is the only edition of a quite rare work, which Anstey represents as the first treatise on the law of Roman Catholics in England and its colonies. Anstey was an Middle Temple barrister and one of the first Catholic parliamentarians--a member of the House of Commons for Yougal, a UK constituency in County Cork, Ireland.

Anstey provides citations to the many statutes affecting the rights of English Catholics, and discusses the requirement that Catholics take an oath in order to have many legal disabilities removed.

Our copy was owned by Sir George Jessel, a British jurist who is considered on the greatest English trial judges in equity. The volume includes notations in Jessel's hand, particularly in the index, where he noted repealed laws.

New Acquisition--1826 Manuscript Law Library Inventory

This is probably my favorite acquisition for 2011, and I'm thrilled to have it as the subject of the last blog post for the year!

This is an 1826 inventory that lists the contents of the law library of one J. G. Deane, most likely the Portland, Maine attorney Joseph G. Deane. It is one leaf of lovely paper folded to form a four page list; it was folded for storage in a way that resembles an envelope (see photo, above left). Deane had a library of 97 titles, many of which are in our collection--Story on Pleadings, Greenleaf's Cases, Vattel's Law of Nations, etc. Unsurprisingly, there are many American and English case reporters and titles relating to Maine and maritime law. The paper is in wonderful condition, and the handwriting is beautiful and very legible. The inventory was likely prepared for an insurance appraisal.

Study in the Rare Book Room!

If you're looking for a quiet place to spread out and study for exams, come visit the Rare Book Room. The Room is open on weekdays from 9-5, and it's a beautiful and quiet study space. No food and drinks are allowed, so there won't be any distractions from folks rattling food containers and slurping down drinks! There's plenty of space to spread out books and notes, and outlets are readily available for laptops.

-The photograph is by Richard Lawrence Cohen and is being used under the terms of a Creative Commons license.

Anglo-American Legal History Class Visits the Rare Book Room

This past Tuesday, we were thrilled to host Professor Dan Coquillette's Anglo-American Legal History Class for an exhibit of our 16th and 17th century legal practice materials. It's always a pleasure to have this interested and engaged group come to see our collection, and it's a tremendous treat to get to listen to Professor Coquillette's discussion of the materials. The focus of the exhibit was early court reports and abridgments, including a 1534 Year Book from the reign of Edward III, Coke's reports and Dyer's reports, along with abridgments of both. We also displayed early compilations of writs, Littleton's Tenures, Coke on Littleton, books of entries, and several other items. Pictures of many featured items will be posted on our Facebook page, along with this audio clip of Professor Coquillette's introduction to the materials:

Rare Book Room closes at 4pm today

We are happy to host the Boston College Law School Legal History Roundtable today in the Rare Book Room. The Roundtable offers an opportunity for Boston College faculty and faculty from other area institutions, students, and members of the Boston College community to meet and discuss a pre-circulated paper in legal history (RSVP to Erin Murphy at erin.murphy.13@bc.edu). Today's guest is Aniceto Masferrer, Professor of Legal History, University of Valencia and President, the Society for Comparative Legal History. Professor Masferrer's paper is entitled "The Principle of Legality and Codification in the 19th-century Western Criminal Law Reform."

The Roundtable will begin at 4:30pm, but the room will close at 4pm for preparations.