Halloween Rare Books Quiz!

Welcome to our Halloween Rare Books Quiz!  

Answer the (mostly) spooky questions below to be entered to win swag from the bookstore!

The most correct entry wins $25 worth of swag from the Law School bookstore (t-shirts, mugs, hats, keychains, etc., or a combination), with a drawing in case of ties. UMN law students only are eligible.

1. How many accounts, published in 1850, do we have in the rare books collection related to the notorious Webster-Parkman murder case? (search library 'catalog only,' and scope 'law library rare books')

2. The image below is from the first English statute to define witchcraft as a felony, passed in 1542 in the reign of Henry VIII.  To read the full penalty here at the end of the act, write out the last three lines correctly (preserving spelling in the text), after "and suffer such peines of death, losse and..."

3. This last item is a (characterically) whimsical gift we recently received from The Green Bag.  Short answer: tell us why these images (cat, dog, flower) were printed on the balloons, using the clues on both sides:

1. Green balloon - Cat - First Amendment - 915 F.3d 1120 (7th Cir.. 2019)

2. Orange balloon - Dog - Patent No. 1,780,104 - 7 F.Supp. 401 (D.N.J. 1934)

3. Yellow balloon - Flower - Trespass - 19 Johns. 381 (N.Y.  Sup. Ct. 1822)

*4. Blue balloon - Ship - Citizenship - 3 Dall. 133 (1795) 

(*Fun bonus question only: this quiz is long enough!)

Two New Library Digital Exhibits: Treasures of the Riesenfeld Rare Books Center

The Law Library and Riesenfeld Center are pleased to announce two new digital exhibits:

"Noted and Notable: Treasures of the Riesenfeld Rare Books Research Center"

and

"'Böcker Har Sina Öden' (Books Have Their Destinies): Treasures of the Swedish Law Collection at the Riesenfeld Center” 

The digital exhibits preserve and make available online the Riesenfeld Center's spring exhibits, highlighting treasures of the Law Library's special collections. In particular, the items in these exhibits have been chosen for their unusual value as artifacts, including such features as interesting annotations, associations with notable former owners, striking illustrations, beautiful bindings, and other properties that make historical law books fascinating objects that are worthy of study. 

"Böcker Har Sina Öden' (Books Have Their Destinies)," was curated by Professor Eric Bylander, who has been twice a visiting professor at the Law School and is Distinguished University Professor at the Faculty of Law, Uppsala University. "Noted and Notable: Treasures of the Riesenfeld Rare Books Research Center" is still open by appointment for viewing in the Riesenfeld Center.  

   - Ryan Greenwood, Curator of Rare Books and Special Collections

 

New Law Library Digital Exhibit: "Law and the Struggle for Racial Justice"

The Law Library and Riesenfeld Center are pleased to announce a new digital exhibit: 

"Law and the Struggle for Racial Justice: Selected Materials from the Riesenfeld Rare Books Center"

The digital exhibit preserves online the Riesenfeld Center's new fall exhibit, which aims to continue a number of important and ongoing conversations at the Law School regarding race and the law. In particular, the exhibit draws on the extensive collections at the Riesenfeld Center to highlight important moments in the Black American struggle for racial justice, from the 19th and 20th centuries. The exhibit considers historical legal cases, legislation, and events that saw civil rights denied, limited, and advanced, from early anti-slavery movements, to the civil rights movements of the 1950s and 60s, and projects for police reform in the 1980s.  

The physical exhibit is also open by appointment this fall. For additional information on particular items in the exhibit, please see recent blog posts (here and here). For more information, please contact Ryan Greenwood (rgreenwo@umn.edu; 612-625-7323).

   - Ryan Greenwood, Curator of Rare Books and Special Collections