New acquisition: Bacon's Novum Organum Scientiarum

This is another exciting addition to our wonderful Francis Bacon collection, which is currently on exhibit.  The Novum Organum was the centerpiece of Bacon's planned masterwork on science and philosophy, which he called the Instauratio Magna.  In the Novum Organum, Bacon detailed his view that inductive reasoning is the best method for scientific inquiry.  Professor Coquillette's gift included a first edition of this work; this new acquisition is the second edition, which was published in Latin (the first is in English) in Leiden in 1645.

The title page features a ship boldly pushing past the Pillars of Hercules, a mythical symbol of the outermost bounds of knowledge.  The Latin phrase beneath the picture translates (courtesy of Google Translate!) as "Go through and increase knowledge." 

Intriguing colonial court document

This document, dated January 4, 1723, is bluntly labeled on the verso as "Jesse Harding's recognizance about killing the Indian."  

Jesse is identified as being from Eastham, Massachusetts and about fourteen years old.  Before justices of the peace in Barnstable County, Jesse and the other person charged acknowledged themselves to be bound to their sovereign King George by way of recognizance in the sum of 500 pounds.  The recognizance aimed to secure their appearance at the next sitting of His Majesty's Court of Assize in April 1724.  The charge?  Killing one Betty Stephen, described in the recognizance as an Indian woman.  

Some background research by the dealer led to a summary of the subsequent findings by the grand jury.  Apparently, despite finding that Jesse fatally shot Betty in the neck in an act of premeditation, the grand jury returned the bill of indictment with the notation "ignoramus," which means that the bill was rejected and the parties discharged.  One has to wonder how much the victim's race, as well as the accused's age, factored into the grand jury's determination.

Many thanks to Michael von der Linn of The Lawbook Exchange for the fascinating description and background research on this intriguing item. 

Francis Bacon on Gardens

In honor of our current exhibit on Francis Bacon and Professor Coquillette, we recently acquired this beautiful edition of Bacon's essay Of Gardens.  This gorgeous book was printed in 1902 at the Eragny Press, an English press owned and operated by Lucien Pissarro (son of the great impressionist Camille) and his wife, Esther.  It is a stunning little book, printed on handmade paper with beautiful type and borders.

Two-hundred twenty-six copies were printed, and two-hundred of those were offered for sale.  This copy once belonged to Leonard Baskin (1922-2000), the American sculptor, art professor at Smith College, and founder of the Gehanna press, which printed its own edition of Of Gardens in 1959. 

New exhibit on Francis Bacon in the Rare Book Room

I am happy to announce a new exhibit, Francis Bacon: Of Law, Science, and Philosophy, at the Boston College Law Library in the Daniel R. Coquillette Rare Book Room.  The exhibit features works by Francis Bacon from a magnificent gift by our own Daniel R. Coquillette, J. Donald Monan Professor of Law.  

 Especially notable titles include a pristine first edition of Bacon’s groundbreaking work The Advancement of Learning (1605); a 1639 printing of his infamous and controversial The New Atlantis; and a beautiful first edition of The History of the Raigne of Henry the Seventh (1622), which is often a focal point of theorists who believe that Bacon wrote Shakespeare’s plays. 

We welcome visitors to view the exhibit any time the room is open, Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.  This exhibit will remain on display through January 2014. 

A hilarious blog with advice from old books...

My friend Karen Beck, Curator of Historical and Special Collections at the Harvard Law Library, recently shared a post from this fantastic blog, Ask the Past.  Editor Elizabeth Archibald has assembled a thoroughly amusing collection of advice from old books.  The accompanying visuals, sometimes from the books themselves and sometimes from other sources, never fail to add to the hilarity and to illuminate the content. 

My personal favorite post is "How to Bust a Move" (accompanying illustration shown above), which quotes Catharine E. Beecher's book Physiology and Calisthenics for Schools and Families from 1856.  There's nothing quite like reading about how to dance.  Old books are wonderful, aren't they?

Finch's Law

Sir Henry Finch (1558-1625) was an English lawyer and author.  This work represents the first English edition of a treatise first published in Latin as Nomotechnia in 1613.  It is one of the few notable original works of legal literature to come out of 17th century England. As Sir John Baker writes in his Introduction to English Legal History, this was "a bold and original essay at methodising the common law by the use of dialectical techniques learned at Cambridge." Finch's attempt to synthesize the common law undoubtedly influenced later writers such as William Blackstone. Another important edition of this work, commonly called Finch's Law, lives in our collection; it is a 1759 edition with notes by Danby Pickering of Gray's Inn. 

Day book of a 19th century Pennsylvania lawyer

Our collection focuses on the activities of working lawyers in England and America--the books they likely would have owned and any records of their day-to-day lives as legal professionals.  Thus, this little day book from a Pennsylvania attorney makes a perfect addition to our collection.  Entries cover the period from 1870-1919, when attorney Eugene Snyder was practicing in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania.

As Michael von der Linn from Lawbook Exchange writes in his description of the item, Snyder "attended Dickinson College, read law with a local attorney and attended Harvard Law School, was admitted to the Dauphin County Bar in 1860 and practiced in Harrisburg. He appears to have led a rather uneventful life. According to a 1907 biography, 'Mr. Snyder is an extremely unassuming man, of mild temperament. He does not like notoriety, has never been a candidate for or held office, and prefers the quiet office practice to the more spectacular work of the court. He has a fair share of office and commercial legal business' (Maspero). His day book, which lists services rendered and fees charged over a 49-year period, concurs with this description. As such, it offers a fine perspective on the professional activity of a well-respected attorney with a solid, but routine, practice." Maspero, The Twentieth-Century Bench and Bar of Pennsylvania II:25 (online edition).