Rare Book Room Traveling Show

I was happy to have the opportunity to visit Professor Mary Bilder's American Legal History class this past Friday. Professor Bilder introduced her students to the various categories of legal literature (case reports, statutory compilations, justice of the peace manuals, legal treatises, law dictionaries, etc.) by showing examples from our Rare Book Room. After this introduction, each student received a book and had the chance to actually examine that book in detail. Using a worksheet with some prompts to guide their inquiry, students were asked to think critically about what the object itself can tell us about the book, its previous owners, and how it was used.

It's a great class every year, and this year was no different, with a great group of engaged and curious students. Many thanks to Professor Bilder for inviting us to class and for integrating rare books into her course!

New exhibit on the history of legal forms and formbooks

I am happy to announce the opening of a new exhibit in the Daniel R. Coquillette Rare Book Room for the fall semester. The exhibit is called "Don't Reinvent the Wheel: The History of Forms in Anglo-American Literature". Whether in print sources, online databases, or law office knowledge management systems, good forms are a hugely important resource for litigators and transactional attorneys. Otherwise, every drafting project--complaints, motions, contracts, company documents--would involve starting from scratch!

This has been true for centuries--books with sample forms were among the first legal books to be transmitted via manuscript and later by printing. This exhibit takes a look at this long tradition from the earliest legal treatises to lawyers' personal manuscript books of precedents to pre-printed legal forms (known as "law blanks").

Please take a look at the exhibit webpage if you'd like a sneak peek. The room is open weekdays from 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m., so please stop by to see the exhibit and say hello!