Thursday, November 9: Book Talk by Professor John Bessler on the Death Penalty

On Thursday, November 9, please join us for a book launch event for Professor John Bessler (U. Baltimore School of Law), sponsored by the Law School's Human Rights Center. 

 

Bessler's talk, based on his recently published book, "The Death Penalty's Denial of Fundamental Human Rights," will detail how capital punishment violates universal human rights-to-life; to be free from torture and other forms of cruelty; to be treated in a non-arbitrary, non-discriminatory manner; and to dignity. 

 

The talk will open with remarks on the history of the death penalty and torture, and capital punishment reform, featuring books from the Arthur C. Pulling Rare Books Collection at the Riesenfeld Center.

 

Professor Bessler will be joined by discussants Amy Bergquist and Professor Ryan Greenwood. 

 

Click here for more information or to register for the event.

When: Thursday, November 9 at 4:00-5:00 p.m.

Where: Mondale Hall, Room 35

 

Reception with light snacks to follow.

 

1 standard CLE credit is available. Event code #493912.

 

 

Wednesday, November 1: Halloween Open House!

Come out to the Riesenfeld Rare Books Center's Halloween Open House on Wednesday, November 1st, from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m.! 

Stop by to see spooky treasures from our collection - including witch trials, murder trials, a macabre torture manual, and other sensational works - and pick up snacks, drinks, and Halloween candy!

When: Wednesday, Nov. 1st, 12 p.m - 3 p.m.
Where: Riesenfeld Rare Books Center
What: Spooky rare books, snacks, drinks, candy!


(The Center is in N30, on the subplaza past Student Orgs. in N20.)

New Exhibits Open House: Wednesday, September 27!

All are invited to an open house for two new Law Library exhibits:

 

"Jewels of the Collection: Treasures of the Riesenfeld Rare Books Research Center"

 

and 

 

A Celebration of the 100th Anniversary of the American Law Institute

When: Wednesday, September 27, from 12 p.m. - 3 p.m.
Where: Riesenfeld Rare Books Research Center (N30, Subplaza level).
 
Cookies, brownies, bars, bagged snacks and drinks will be available!
 

"Jewels of the Collection: Treasures of the Riesenfeld Rare Books Research Center," showcases the depth of the Arthur C. Pulling Rare Books Collection. This centerpiece of the Library's special collections features more than 35,000 volumes printed between the fifteenth century and today. The new exhibit introduces the treasures found in the Riesenfeld Center and highlights its diverse strengths. The items reflect a historical legal legacy that is both national and global in its scope.

 

The ALI traveling exhibit commemorates the 100th Anniversary of the American Law Institute (ALI) and the contributions of Law School faculty to ALI’s important work. Founded in 1923, the American Law Institute has aimed to reduce the uncertainty and complexity of American law and to improve the administration of justice through its publications, including Restatements, Principles and Model Acts and Laws. These have provided clarity and guidance for judges, lawyers, and legislators across many fields of American law. The exhibit documents a selection of contributions of Law School faculty to ALI projects.

 

The exhibit, "Jewels of the Collection: Treasures of the Riesenfeld Rare Books Research Center," was curated by Ryan Greenwood and Joy Brown. 

 

 

New Law Library Exhibits: Celebrating the American Law Institute and Treasures of the Riesenfeld Center

Two new exhibits are open in the Riesenfeld Rare Books Research Center this academic year. 

 

The first commemorates the 100th Anniversary of the American Law Institute (ALI) and the contributions of Law School faculty to ALI’s important work. Created by ALI, the exhibit has traveled to Michigan, Texas, the University of Chicago, and several other law schools. The second exhibit, "Jewels of the Collection: Treasures of the Riesenfeld Rare Books Research Center" celebrates the depth and richness of the Law Library's special collections.

Founded in 1923, the Institute has endeavored through its publications to reduce the uncertainty and complexity of American law and to improve the administration of justice. Its influential publications include the Restatements, Principles and Model Acts and Laws. These have provided useful guidance for generations of judges, lawyers, and legislators across many fields of American law.  

 

The exhibit documents a selection of contributions of Law School faculty to ALI projects, tracing back to the tenure of Dean Everett Fraser (1920–1948). Faculty involvement was particularly promoted under the deanship of Professor Robert Stein (‘61) (1979–1994). Stein himself has served on ALI's governing Council, on the Drafting Committee for the Uniform Commercial Code, and has been an Adviser on the Restatement of the Law Second, Property and Restatement of the Law Third, Trusts. The UCC, a comprehensive set of laws governing commercial transactions in the United States, has been uniformly adopted by the states and represents one of ALI’s most significant achievements. 

 

Many other Law School faculty members have also played prominent roles in creating ALI publications, serving as Reporters, Advisers, or members of Consultative Groups for Restatements of the Law, Model Codes and Principles. 

The work of the American Law Institute, a cornerstone of American jurisprudence, will remain beneficial long beyond its centenary. In the same way, Minnesota faculty will continue to make important contributions to ALI’s mission.

 

The second exhibit, "Jewels of the Collection: Treasures of the Riesenfeld Rare Books Research Center," showcases the depth of the Arthur C. Pulling Rare Books Collection. This centerpiece of the Library's special collections features more than 35,000 volumes printed between the fifteenth century and today. The new exhibit introduces the treasures found in the Riesenfeld Center and highlights its diverse strengths. Some of the exhibit treasures have been selected as important contributions to law and history, or as landmark “firsts” of legal literature. Others are notable for their associations with famous authors and owners, or as unique artifacts and works of art. The items reflect a historical legal legacy that is both national and global in its scope. 

 

The exhibit, "Jewels of the Collection: Treasures of the Riesenfeld Rare Books Research Center," was curated by Ryan Greenwood and Joy Brown.  

 

For more information about the exhibits or to schedule a tour, please contact Ryan Greenwood (rgreenwo@umn.edu; 612-625-7323).

 

 

  

Wednesday, September 20: Celebrate Constitution Day!

Come out and celebrate Constitution Day in the Law Library lobby! 

Stop by and grab donuts and coffee on September 20, and pick up a crossword puzzle about the US Constitution for prizes.

Don't forget to take a selfie with James Madison!   

When: Wednesday, September 20, 11 a.m. - 1 p.m.
Where: Law Library Lobby
What: Donuts, Coffee, and Prizes!  

 

New Rare Acquisitions: The History of Legal Education

The Riesenfeld Center has recently acquired a series of rare and important titles connected to the history of legal education and the profession. The books were added to the collection through a  generous donation by William Lindberg ('73), who served for many years as an executive at West Publishing Company in St. Paul, on both the print and electronic sides of its product line. The Riesenfeld Center is deeply grateful for Mr. Lindberg's generous and thoughtful gift, which benefits the rare books collection in a direct way, through the acquisition of historically significant titles of permanent value.

 

Several of the newly acquired titles shed light directly on legal education as it developed in nineteenth- and twentieth-century America. Two are extensive notebooks from the collection of Byron Coleman, a prominent San Francisco attorney. The bound notebooks, underlining aspects of Coleman's legal education at Harvard in 1912 and 1913, are carefully typewritten in red and black, composed of more than 1800 pages analyzing cases and principles. Among the casebooks that Coleman studied and heard lectures on were those of famous faculty James Barr Ames (equity and trusts), John Chipman Gray (property), James Bradley Thayer (evidence), and Samuel Williston (sales). Coleman digested each case in preparation for class and exams. Notes from class discussions of the cases are recorded below the initial case summaries. The case method of instruction, pioneered in the 1870s by Christopher Columbus Langdell at Harvard and adopted generally in American law school curricula, is readily apparent in the volumes. Though not followed immediately, the case method took its place at Harvard and schools across the country by the early 20th century. Coleman also usefully recorded the dissenting and parenthetical commentary of his teachers, who included cases that were instructive but not necessarily (in their view) rightly decided. The notes offer fascinating insight into a formative period of American legal education, adding early discussions of landmark cases.

 

Other American legal titles among the acquisitions are also notable. Two in particular form a neat pair. Simon Greenleaf's Discourse Pronounced at the Inauguration of the Author as Royall Professor of Law in Harvard University (1834), signed by the author, provides Greenleaf's vision, as a newly-appointed Harvard law professor, of American legal education as it was developing within universities; and he outlines the leading role Harvard was to play in American legal education. Greenleaf was named to the Royall professorship at Harvard Law School in 1833, remaining there until 1848. An influential faculty member during the school's early days, Greenleaf penned the leading American treatise on evidence in the nineteenth century. Another title from the same period, Samuel Atkinson's Catechism of American Law: Adapted to Popular Use (1832) appears to follow the question-and-answer format of Martin Luther’s Small Catechism, dividing American law into familiar topics, including marriage, contracts, property, partnership, and insurance, which would be useful for laymen and introductory students. At a time when self-study and apprenticeship were common – and when legal literacy was important in a burgeoning mercantile society – the author Atkinson attempted to meet a public need. Each work offers a different and valuable perspective on legal education during a period of American growth in which there was enduring uncertainty over how best to learn and train in the law.

 

Among acquisitions on English legal education, volumes treat the role and value of forensic argument, the issue of religious tolerance in schools, and the reform of legal education in eighteenth- and nineteenth-century England. Two items, Tutor and Pupils (London, 1891) and Letters to John Bull on Lawyers and Law Reform (London, 1857), reflect entrenched approaches, alongside efforts to modernize legal education in nineteenth-century England, at a time when American legal education began to break its own path. Taken together, the works show an evolving tradition in both countries, whose systems remained intertwined.

 

   - Ryan Greenwood, Curator of Rare Books and Special Collections

 

Tuesday, April 18: Celebrate Clarence Darrow's Birthday!

Join us in the Law Library lobby on Tuesday, April 18, to celebrate Clarence Darrow's birthday!  

Come out and pick up cake, donuts, and coffee! In addition, take a quiz about Clarence Darrow (1857-1938), the great American trial lawyer, to learn more about his life and career. 

The celebration is due to the Law Library's preeminent national collection of more than 1,000 letters, as well as speeches, case material and writings by and related to Darrow, which are held in the Riesenfeld Center.  

Finally, don't forget to take a selfie with Clarence!  

When: Tuesday, April 18, 11 a.m - 1 p.m.
Where: Law Library Lobby
What: Donuts, cake, coffee, and a quiz!