New Acquisition: Manuscript Account Book of Asa Holten

We have just received a wonderful legal manuscript: the account book of lawyer Asa Holten. Holten (1786-1841) kept this book from 1814 to 1841. His Claremont, New Hampshire practice was wide-ranging, as the entries in this book show, and included litigation work, settling estates, drafting documents, collecting debts, and appearing in court on a wide variety of subject matters. 

This special book takes its place in our growing collection of legal documents and manuscripts, which was begun a few years ago with a large gift of manuscripts from Robert E.  Brooker III. This book was purchased with funds donated by Mr. Brooker. 

New Exhibit: A Law Student Collects - Simon Greenleaf and Michael Morales

You are invited to view a selection of rare books and documents by and about lawyer, scholar, and law professor Simon Greenleaf, drawn primarily from the collection of Michael Morales, BC Law class of 2009.

Michael first became interested in collecting works by Simon Greenleaf while working as a research assistant for Professor Daniel R. Coquillette during the summer of 2007. As a member of BC Law’s Law and Religion Program, Michael was particularly interested in Greenleaf because much of his work combined both law and religion. Michael was also fascinated by Greenleaf because he was an early American legal educator.

Highlights of the exhibit are available here. It will remain on view through early June 2009.

New Book: A Working Lawyer's Life

Drawing from material in the Daniel R. Coquillette Rare Book Room, BC Law's Curator of Rare Books / Collection Development Librarian Karen S. Beck has published a book: A Working Lawyer's Life: The Letter Book of John Henry Senter 1879-1884.

Senter (1848-1916) was a lawyer who practiced in the small town of Warren, Vermont. His letter book was donated to the BC Law Library by Professor Emeritus Richard G. Huber. The letter book contains 326 letters copied between April 1879 and 1884, which record his business dealings, goals and thoughts. Richly detailed and often frank, these letters take us into the world of a small-town lawyer in the late nineteenth century. They introduce us to his clients, the legal matters he addressed, the way he ran his business and his daily difficulties (such as clients who failed to pay their bills).

This book has two parts. The first part is a biography of Senter and a history of his practice. The second is a transcription of the letter book.

Celebrating Morris Cohen

On December 11, 2008, the Boston College Law Library hosted an event, "Celebrating Morris Cohen," to honor Morris Cohen - law librarian, scholar, mentor, and friend. Well-wishers joined us from as far as New York, Connecticut, Virginia and Canada! Speakers included Charles "Buzzy" Baron, Karen Beck, Mary Sarah Bilder, Daniel R. Coquillette, Sharon Hamby O'Connor, David Warrington, and Morris Cohen himself. View the program here (you will need the latest version of RealPlayer). The library purchased a special book for its rare book collection in Morris' honor: Giles Jacob, Every Man His Own Lawyer (New York, 1769). Here is an album of photos taken by Joe Breda, son of BC Law Library staff member Karen Breda. Thanks, Joe!

The Rare Book Room is Closed for the Holidays

The Rare Book Room will be closed from December 13 through the new year, to allow for cleaning and exhibit work. It will reopen in early or mid-January. Watch this space for an announcement of the date, and for news of our next exhibit. Happy Holidays!

Last Chance to View Current Exhibit!

Our current exhibit, "'A Little Library': The Private Law Library of Frank Williams Oliver," will close at 4 p.m. on Friday December 12. Please stop by to see it this week!

New Collection: John E. Wall Legal Papers : pertaining to the trial of Dr. Benjamin Spock and others

I just completed an Archives Internship at Boston College's John J. Burns Library, the repository for BC's archival and special collections materials - not including the material in our own Rare Book Room, of course!

Under the supervision of the terrific David Horn (Head, Archives & Manuscripts) and Amy Braitsch (Assistant University Archivist), I processed a fascinating collection of legal papers belonging to the late John E. Wall. You can read the finding aid here, and you can view the papers at the Burns Library; here is the catalog record.

In 1968, John E. Wall was an Assistant United States Attorney. He took part in prosecuting Dr. Benjamin Spock, the Rev. William Sloane Coffin, Jr., and three others for encouraging Vietnam War draft resisters. This collection of legal papers includes handwritten notes, correspondence, typescript documents, photographs, newspaper clippings, and transcripts of legal proceedings.