Click here for Rules for Use
|
The Research Center's collection of rare and archival
materials is housed on the third floor in rooms with
separate climate control and fire prevention equipment
for the protection of fragile items. Many of the items in the Rare Book Collection, such as the
1986 facsimile edition of the 1086 Domesday Book,
were purchased with gifts of generous College of Law alumni. |
 |
 |
The collection contains
a variety of items, including a legal opinion dating to between 1600 and 1620
handwritten by the great English jurist Sir Edward Coke,
a copy of the first printed edition (1553) of the Digests
or Pandects of the Emperor Justinian, and the 1565 edition
of La Graunde Abridgement by Sir Anthony Fitzherbert
which arranges and summarizes more than 14,000 cases from the
Year Books. Perhaps most unusual is a complete eighteen-volume
set, published in the mid-sixteenth century, of the session laws
of Henry VIII. Only two other complete sets of this printing are
known to exist in libraries in the United States. |
Also notable is the United States Supreme Court Autograph
Collection, containing documents and pictures signed by almost
all past and present Supreme Court Justices. Other autographs
in the Library's collection include a letter of marque signed
by Thomas Jefferson as President and James Madison as Secretary
of State, and a pleading in Lincoln's own hand.
|
 |
