Celebrate Constitution Day: Wednesday, Sept. 15!

Come out and celebrate Constitution Day in the Law Library!  Stop in the Library Lobby on Wednesday, September 15, for donuts and coffee, and fill out a crossword puzzle about the US Constitution for prizes!  (Bonus: take a selfie with James Madison.)

When: Wednesday, September 15, 11 a.m. - 1 p.m.
Where: Law Library Lobby
What: Donuts, Coffee and a Crossword Contest for Prizes! 

Rare Books Collection: American Classics

Among featured collections, the Riesenfeld Center holds an outstanding range of early American law. Many of these are statutory laws that open a window onto early American society. Due to the contemporary need for legislation, statutory law makes up the great bulk of colonial American law. Many other law books were English imports to America until the later 18th century. The first native case reporter, Ephraim Kirby, did not publish his collection of Connecticut cases until 1789. General commentaries did not fare much better: Blackstone's influential Commentaries were available in the colonies before the Revolution in English and American editions, but American commentaries did not become a genre of publication until the early 19th century. The narrower American legal treatise came of age in the same period. Practice guides and form books, at least, which offered to lay practitioners of the law everything from contract templates, to selections of statute and common law organized by subject, were available from the earlier 18th century, in response to practical needs.

A few early American law books also carried some political significance. One notable example, English Liberties, was produced in 1721 in Boston by the older brother of Ben Franklin, as an updated re-print of a 1680 English work by Henry Care. It collects key English statutes, with a summary of what can be called English constitutional law, and features some elements of a legal practice guide. The Boston edition of English Liberties represented a defense of the colonists' "English rights" against a British Parliament intent upon revoking colonial charters; it was reprinted again in 1774, on the eve of the American Revolution. 

Political dispute and dissent eventually became widespread in the colonies, though books were not the best vehicle for them. Cheap newspapers and pamphlets were circulated more quickly to a larger audience. As the colonists' grievances against the English Parliament and Crown became acute, in the 1760s and early 1770s, newspapers shaped and carried public opinion. Popular letters first printed in newspapers might also be reprinted later. An example is John Dickinson's Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania, printed as a series of letters in newspapers from late 1767 to early 1768, and then in collected editions. An important figure of the Revolutionary period, Dickinson gained a wide public hearing through his opposition to new British tax schemes in the Townshend Acts (1767), which he argued were threats to the colonists' liberty and rights. 

The annual publication with perhaps the largest public following was Poor Richard's Almanac, which Ben Franklin and his friends sometimes also turned to political purposes. With details on astrology, astronomy, agriculture and current affairs, the almanac sold thousands of copies each year and made Franklin a well-to-do Philadelphian. The edition from 1765 is one with a legal and political dimension, since it included the text of the new Stamp Act (1765). As pseudonymous editor Richard Saunders, Franklin included the act as "most necessary" for Americans to read. When Franklin heard of the colonists' fiery denunciations of it, in early 1766, he was resident in London on business for Pennsylvania. He was granted a Parliamentary hearing and sided with his countrymen. Repeal of the act came soon after and gave lasting credence to Franklin's diplomatic and political abilities, which he would turn to good account in the following years.

Editions of these classics form part of the Center's early American collection - and there is much more to explore.

   - Ryan Greenwood, Curator of Rare Books and Special Collections    

      
     

Rare Book School: "Law Books: History and Connoisseurship"

Rare Book School in Virginia is an excellent place to learn about the history of the book in an immersive environment. It offers week-long courses on a wide variety of topics in book history and bibliography, digital humanities, and more. One of these courses, "Law Books: History and Connoisseurship," is taught by Mike Widener, recently retired as rare books librarian at Yale Law Library. At the beginning of August, we co-taught the course material, similar to the class we taught in 2018. This year the course was taught on Zoom due to the pandemic. Although the course is usually hands-on, allowing students to interact with physical copies of books and bibliographies, document cameras have now made the online experience a pretty reasonable facsimile of the "real" thing.

The course covered the history of printed law books, with a focus on America and Europe, and types of legal publications from around 1500 to 1900. At center was always the idea of book as artifact: an object that bears with it the history of its use and ownership, which forms an integral part of the object's identity, value, and interest to a collector. Featured during the week were books with peculiar (and elegant) bindings, associations with notable owners, illustrations, annotations, and other features that enhance the items' interest. Beyond books, broadsides, letters, pamphlets, notebooks and manuscript material were discussed, along with methods to preserve and present these artifacts.

It was a very enjoyable week together with the class. We discussed and shared experiences and questions that affected all of us. At the course's conclusion, participants presented a special law collection they were developing or would develop, based partly on input from the course and classmates. As Mike often reminds, it's not the monetary value of a collection that makes it worthwhile, but rather its coherence, interest, novelty and the passion that the collector brings to it.

   - Ryan Greenwood, Curator of Rare Books and Special Collections

New Darrow Letters Available Online

The Riesenfeld Center's Darrow Collection includes more than 1,000 letters to and from Clarence Darrow (1857-1938), the legendary American trial attorney. The vast majority of letters have been digitized and are searchable as part of the Clarence Darrow Digital Collection, which also includes a rich trove of documents and analysis related to Darrow's most prominent cases, written and gathered by Professor Michael Hannon. Recently we've added 30 new and transcribed Clarence and Ruby Darrow letters to the digital site. The diverse letters relate to Darrow's legal and political views, publications, speaking engagements, friends, and family.

Among highlights are a 3-page letter to Maria Sweet Smith responding to Sweet Smith's proposal for a campaign against the death penalty. At the time, in 1930, Darrow was president of the American League to Abolish Capital Punishment. In the letter, Darrow firmly rejects the plan, which was premised on economic benefits expected from a predicted drop in crime. Darrow’s response is testimony to his humanist philosophy. For him, crime was caused by larger social forces and the abolition of the death penalty had to be based in compassion. Another reply is evidence of Darrow's support for euthanasia. Several others, like this, detail his deep opposition to the Volstead Act and Prohibition, which Darrow lectured on and debated about frequently in the 1920s. 

Other letters touch on debates and lectures, potential clients and book contracts, and on Darrow's large network of friends. Darrow's wife Ruby has several notable letters that are also now available. In one, Ruby reflects on Irving Stone's upcoming biography of her husband, Clarence Darrow for the Defense, completed three years after Darrow's death. The letter reveals Ruby's desire to protect her husband's legacy and to be credited appropriately in what became a widely-read and standard biography of Darrow.

The handwritten letters in the batch were expertly transcribed by Special Collections Assistant Ian Moret.  Many thanks are due to Ian for his wonderful work; and many thanks for all of his terrific work at the Riesenfeld Center in the past five years.  Though he is now moving on, his excellent contributions to the Darrow collection, to our physical and digital exhibits, and to the archives, in particular, will live on.     

   - Ryan Greenwood, Curator of Rare Books and Special Collections 

 

Law Library Digital Exhibit Wins Award

 

The Law Library has recently been honored by an award from the American Association of Law Libraries, in recognition of its fall 2020 digital exhibit, "Law and the Struggle for Racial Justice: Selected Materials from the Riesenfeld Rare Books Center." The Academic Law Libraries Special Interest Section awarded the exhibit the 2021 Publications Award for its significant contribution to legal literature. 

 

In particular, the exhibit's creators, Ryan Greenwood, Curator of Rare Books and Special Collections, and Patrick Graybill, Digital Technology Specialist, were recognized for their work on the site.

 

The digital exhibit highlights the Black American struggle to achieve equal rights, focusing on long historical exclusion and moments of progress in the quest to achieve equality under law. The exhibit draws on the extensive collections of the Riesenfeld Rare Books Center, including books, pamphlets, posters and other materials, which have been featured in a corresponding physical exhibit in fall 2020 and spring 2021.

For more on the exhibit please see the announcement, and the exhibit link below:

"Law and the Struggle for Racial Justice: Selected Materials from the Riesenfeld Rare Books Center at the University of Minnesota Law Library"

 

Tribute to Vice President Walter F. Mondale ('56)

Vice President Walter F. Mondale ('56) (1928-2021) was a great friend to the Law School that bears his name, and its Law Library.  The Riesenfeld Center joins the rest of the Law School community in mourning the passing of the former Vice President.  Mr. Mondale was a great example of decency and of principled public service throughout his long career.  As Dean Garry W. Jenkins said in a recent Minnesota Law tribute, "As a politician, public servant, diplomat, and lawyer, Walter Mondale exemplified the values of leadership and service that we seek to foster at Minnesota Law."

During his life, Mr. Mondale donated generously to the Law School's archives photographs, memorabilia, and other material that document his life and career, as well as his decades-long involvement with the Law School.  Among these is a particularly special photographic portrait of Mondale made by Ansel Adams in 1977.  Mr. Mondale's donations formed the basis of an exhibit and events commemorating his 80th birthday in 2008, and a commemorative exhibit centered on Mondale Hall in 2018.  Some of the photographs from the Mondale collection were also included in a recent CNN tribute.  Further images are digitized as part of the Law Library's 2013 digital exhibit focusing on Mr. Mondale's consequential Senate career.   

Mr. Mondale graciously visited the Riesenfeld Center for several events, and we have particularly fond memories of him here.  Beyond the many achievements, he was a warm, funny, and deeply caring individual, who we will greatly miss.  In the fall, the Law Library will mount an exhibit in celebration of his life and career.

   - Ryan Greenwood, Curator of Rare Books and Special Collections  

Take the Clarence Darrow Quiz!

Take a quick break from studies and enter to win the Clarence Darrow quiz!

Yesterday was the birthday of Clarence Darrow (1857-1938), perhaps the most famous American trial attorney. The Law Library holds the preeminent collection of Darrow's letters, together with case material, debates, speeches, and writings by the great lawyer. To learn more, see the Library's award-winning Clarence Darrow Digital site, which features hundreds of letters to and from Darrow and extensive material related to his most notable cases.

Test your Darrow knowledge by submitting answers to the following questions (it won't take too long)!

 

1. Which trial among the following was Darrow not involved in as defense counsel?

 

a) Leopold and Loeb 

b) Dr. Ossian Sweet 

c) Sacco and Vanzetti

d) John Thomas Scopes

2. Which film(s) were not based on Clarence Darrow cases?

a) Anatomy of a Murder (1959)

b) Inherit the Wind (1960)

c) Rope (1948)

d) Suspicion (1941)

3. Which are quotes from Clarence Darrow?

a) "When I was a boy I was told that anybody could become President. I’m beginning to believe it."

b) "From the crooked timber of humanity a straight thing was never made."

c) "The world is made up for the most part of morons and natural tyrants, sure of themselves, strong in their own opinions, never doubting anything."

d) "As long as the world shall last there will be wrongs, and if no man objected and no man rebelled, those wrongs would last forever."

e) "Every government on earth is the personification of violence and force, and yet the doctrine of non-resistance is as old as human thought — even more than this, the instinct is as old as life upon the earth."

 

4. Which if any of the following is not held in the Law Library's Clarence Darrow collection (hint: most of them we do have)?

 

a) a set of Darrow's own Illinois case reports?

b) an original movie poster from Inherit the Wind?

c) a letter from Franklin Delano Roosevelt to Darrow?

d) a caricature of Darrow by Aline Fruhauf?

e) Darrow's silver comb.