Friday, October 30, 2015

"Age of Lawyers" at the Folger Library

[We are reprinting from the Fall 2015 Newsletter of the Friends of the Edward Bennett Williams Library the following notice of the Folger Shakespeare Library Exhibit, The Age of Lawyers: The Roots of American Law in Shakespeare's Britain, which is dedicated to the legal historian Christopher Brooks.  ASLH meeting attendees, take note!]

The Folger Shakespeare Library has mounted a new exhibition, “Age of Lawyers: The Roots of American Law in Shakespeare’s Britain.” The individual exhibits come together to display a period of history where the law increasingly became a factor in everyday life in England. Early versions of law schools, crime records, and liquor licenses are just a few examples of the law that are displayed.

Erin Kidwell, Curator of Legal History Collections here at Georgetown Law Library, is the Academic Advisor to the exhibition. Bringing to the Folger not only her knowledge as a legal history scholar, but also two of our most prized Special Collections possessions which are on loan to the Folger, Erin played an important role in the preparation of the exhibition. . . .

Georgetown Law Library contributed a complete set of Sir Edward Coke’s reports (The Reports of Sir Edward Coke, Kt. [1572-1617]: In English Compleat in Thirteen Parts, With References to all the Antient and Modern Books of the Law), and a 1569 copy of Bracton (Henrici de Bracton De Legibus & Consuetudinibus Angliae Libri Quinq) that was owned and annotated by Sir Edward Coke. See the Folger’s Exhibition Item List for more information on all exhibited items.

The Exhibition is open through January 3, 2016, Mondays through Thursdays, and Saturdays, 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.; Fridays from 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.; and Sundays from noon to 5:00 p.m. Tours of the Exhibition are available Mondays through Fridays at 11:00 a.m., 1:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m., Saturdays at 11:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m., and Sundays at 1:00 p.m.