The Harvard Library has launched an exciting new crowdsourcing project, Transcribing Harvard Library, which aims to make more than 650,000 manuscript pages in its Colonial North America digital collection fully searchable. Sixteen Harvard libraries, including the Harvard Law School Library’s Historical & Special Collections, contributed their materials to the Colonial North America digital collection, creating a rich interdisciplinary …
Legal publishing in the United States has had a long history that has been dominated by two names West and Shepard. In this short video, you can learn about the ways that legal publishing in the United States has evolved over the past 200 years.
Two exhibits are now on view in the HLS Library: “Centuries of Japanese Legal Tradition” and “Charles Hamilton Houston and the Harvard Law School.” Both exhibits are on display through January 15, 2021, weekdays 9 to 5 in the Caspersen Room, Langdell Hall. Centuries of Japanese Legal Tradition features rarely-seen treasures from the Japanese collection. Selected from over …
Two New Exhibits at the Harvard Law School Library! Read More »
Historical and Special Collections is pleased to announce the initial release of the Antonin Scalia papers. Approximately 48 linear feet of material (10-15% of the total collection) is now open for in-person research at the Harvard Law School Library. This material includes correspondence, speaking engagement and event files, photographs, pre-judicial career material such as teaching files, ABA files, …
852 RARE: Initial Release of the Antonin Scalia Papers Read More »
Many library collections contain rich stories of individuals across centuries who transgressed sexual and gender norms, as well as documentation of the people and systems against which they transgressed. These historical artifacts can help shape new narratives around queer history and identity, or enrich old ones. Coded language and oblique references may pose challenges to researchers, but there …
New Exhibit, now open: Queering the Collection: LGBTQ+ History ca. 1600-1970 Read More »
Stop by the Harvard Law School Library to catch Creating Community: Harvard Law School and the Bauhaus before it closes! The exhibit is open weekdays 9 to 5 in Langdell Hall’s Caspersen Room through August 16, 2019. Stay tuned for our next exhibit, Queering the Collection: LGBTQ+ History ca. 1600-1970, opening soon!
Samuel Botley’s Maximum in minimo or Mr Jeremiah Richs pens dexterity compleated with the whole terms of the law is a charming little guide to 17th century shorthand. Botley, picking up where his predecessor Jeremiah Rich left off, published a complete guide to shorthand, outlining both legal and general terms, circa 1674. Prior to the publication of this …
Two years ago, the Harvard Law School Library received an extraordinary archival collection when the family of Justice Antonin Scalia decided to donate his papers here. As project archivist for the Scalia papers, I’ve been surveying and processing this remarkable collection, with the goal of identifying, processing, and making accessible those parts of the collection that will be open …
852 RARE: An Update on the Antonin Scalia Collection Read More »
Taking place at Harvard Law School today is the 2019 Inaugural Prepare to Practice Conference, a joint initiative between the HLS Library and four other local law schools (Boston College, Boston University, Northeastern, and Suffolk). This conference is designed to provide Boston-area law students with legal research instruction oriented toward their future roles as practicing attorneys. The conference …
The law library recently added a very interesting book to the collection: Testamente und Erbstreitigkeiten: von Kriemhild bis Cornelius GurlittWalter Zimmermann2018, C.H. BeckISBN: 9783406730238 This book provides a historical survey of wills and inheritance disputes and includes transcriptions (in normal, readable font) of actual language from testamentary instruments. Researchers who are interested in historical wills will especially enjoy …