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Posted by: Clare Feikert-Ahalt
When doing my cool job, I never know what will cross my path. Recently, I happened to discover some items covering early sumptuary laws in England. These laws were prohibitions against what the Monarch at the time considered to be “extravagance,” typically in the form of food or clothing. They were reportedly aimed to preserve the class system …
Posted in: Collections, Law Library
Posted by: Hanibal Goitom
This week’s interview is with Dr. Mary-Jane Deeb, Chief of the African and Middle Eastern Division at the Library of Congress. Describe your background My background is a bit complicated: my mother was Slovenian and my father was a Levantine from Egypt. I grew up in Alexandria, Egypt, spoke French at home, and went to …
Posted in: Interview
Posted by: Kelly Buchanan
The 2011 Rugby World Cup kicked off in New Zealand on September 9th with a glittering opening ceremony followed by the first match between New Zealand and Tonga. (Note that the New Zealand national rugby team is commonly called the “All Blacks.”) I’ve had a couple of very busy weekends watching a number of the …
Posted in: Global Law, In the News
Posted by: Nathan Dorn
This month marks the ten year anniversary of Italian scholar Barbara Frale’s discovery of lost medieval documents relating to the trial of the Knights Templar. Frale, a scholar of medieval paleography, was doing historical research at the Vatican Secret Archive when she uncovered a fourteenth century manuscript which recounts a previously unknown chapter in the history …
Posted in: Collections, Education, Law Library
Posted by: Kelly Buchanan
The following is a guest post by Ángel García, a summer intern in the Law Library’s Global Legal Research Center. March 19, 2012, will be the 200th anniversary of the Constitution of Cádiz. Seizing on the opportunity while interning at the Law Library of Congress, I asked the rare book technician, Nathan Dorn, to find …
Posted in: Collections, Global Law, Guest Post
Posted by: Christine Sellers
In Custodia Legis started one year ago today on August 2, 2010. We celebrated being a mere week old and now can’t believe how quickly a year has passed. We’ve posted 275 times in the past 365 days (this is number 276). It’s been an interesting year for the blog. I thought I’d ask around …
Posted in: Law Library
Posted by: Francisco Macías
No, May 5th is not Mexican Independence Day. Mexico’s independence is celebrated on September 16th and shouldn’t be confused with the holiday of May 5th. The celebration of “Cinco de Mayo” commemorates the “Battle of Puebla” (May 5, 1862). In this battle, Mexican forces led by Ignacio Zaragoza Seguín (from what is now the city …
Posted in: Education, Global Law, Guest Post
Posted by: Kurt Carroll
This week’s interview is with Nathan Dorn, who is a rare book technician in our Collection Services Division. Nathan is no stranger to In Custodia Legis; he recently wrote a guest piece on the Law Library’s Jewish law collection. Describe your background. I’ve been working at the Law Library for just over five years, first …
Posted in: Collections, Interview, Law Library
Posted by: Kelly Buchanan
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old: Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning We will remember them. From Laurence Binyon’s poem, For the Fallen (1914) Today, April 25, is Anzac Day – a public holiday in …
Posted in: Education, Global Law, World War I