Law Library of Congress Rare Book Curator Displays New Acquisitions

#Law Library of Congress; #Rare Book Curator; #Nathan Dorn, #NewAquisitions

Law Library of Congress Rare Book Curator Nathan Dorn brings us a display of new acquisitions for the Law Library’s Rare Book Collection, five of which are shared in this video.

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Image credit: Law Library of Congress

The first item, the first edition of the Sobornoye Ulozhenie or the Ulozhenie of 1649, is a Russian work with a compilation of the laws that were in effect in Russia in the middle of the 17th century.

The second item records the sale of land called Nashowamoiasuk or Neck Point of the Edgartown Great Pond by the seller Harrie, Indian of Nantucket and the buyer is John Coffin witnessed by Nathaniel and Mary Starbuck. Mary Coffin Starbuck. leade and influence was a significant figure in early colonial Nantucket and is believed to have made Quakerism predominant on the island in the 18th century, known by the locals as the Parliament House due to all the public business transacted there.

A manuscript copy of Article 9 of the Treaty of Ghent, the treaty that concluded the War of 1812 written in the hand of Henry Clay is also displayed by Nathan.

A medieval manuscript by the Lectura of Johannes de Imola is the next item displayed by Nathan on the Decretales of Gregory IX, made in Italy between the years 1431 and 1447. Johannes de Imola’s commentary on the second major work of the canon law of the Catholic Church as well as a large beautiful illustrates of St. James and hundreds of decorated initials are contained in this manuscript.

Historical work on legal education, Memoriale Institutionum Juris, is the final item Nathan displays. This item used a strategy that its author called “the emblematic teaching method” that associated words with memorable images in an effort to help the student memorize a particular lesson. In this work, the author uses this approach to assist with the memorization of Justinian’s Institutes, an introduction to Roman Law.