Top of page
Posted by: Nathan Dorn
“There are two motives that have induced me to prefix a few lines by way of preface to the reader of the ensuing book. One is, that it is generally expected, and a book seems to come naked into the world without a preface; tho’ sometimes little or nothing to the purpose: but since custom …
Posted in: Collections, Law Library
Posted by: Nathan Dorn
Last Halloween, a post on this blog introduced the subject of witch trials in France from the 15th through the 18th centuries. In this post, I would like to take a look at one of the most important French works on the crime of witchcraft and its prosecution, a book that gave considerable encouragement to …
Posted in: Collections, Law Library
Posted by: Nathan Dorn
Erika Hope Spencer discusses avenues for research in Library of Congress collections on the subject of Witchcraft.
Posted in: Collections, Law Library, Women's History
Posted by: Nathan Dorn
Nathan discusses Joshua Montefiore, the first Jewish person to publish a law book in the United States.
Posted in: Collections, Jewish American History
Posted by: Nathan Dorn
In recent posts, I have pointed out that while the Law Library’s rare books collection is in principle a collection of printed books, we sometimes have the good fortune to acquire unique documents created by important Americans in the course of their public careers. One example of these was a document signed by two 17th-century …
Posted in: Collections, Law Library
Posted by: Nathan Dorn
A few months ago, I highlighted on this blog two medieval manuscripts that the Law Library recently acquired. In this post, I would like to announce the acquisition of another new addition to the Law Library’s growing collection of medieval manuscripts, a remarkable 15th-century manuscript of L’Arbre des Batailles (The Tree of Battles) by the …
Posted in: Collections, Law Library
Posted by: Nathan Dorn
On January 28, 2021, Foreign Law Specialist Nicolas Boring discussed the Napoleonic Code’s history, evolution, and legacy in an installment of the Law Library of Congress’ foreign and comparative law webinar series. The webinar discussed the prehistory of the French Civil Code, its drafting and adoption, its contents, and the history of its immense influence …
Posted in: Collections, Education, Event, Global Law, Law Library
Posted by: Nathan Dorn
Nathan Dorn describes a new acquisition - the Henry Clay draft of Article IX of the Treaty of Ghent.
Posted in: Collections, Law Library, Native Americans
Posted by: Nathan Dorn
The following is a guest post by Marianna Stell. Marianna works in the Rare Book and Special Collections Division of the Library of Congress. In sixteenth-century Paris, a woman did not choose to become a printer. For a woman to learn the craft of printing, she had to be one of two things: the daughter …
Posted in: Collections, Law Library