A week in the world of Rare Law Books

Every second summer, the Rare Book School offers a weeklong intensive course that legal

From the Special Collections of Yale's Lillian Goldman Law Library

historians should know more about. Designed for librarians, scholars, and collectors, the “Law Books: History and Connoisseurship” course took place at Yale Law School last week (June 11-15, 2018). It was taught by Mike Widener, Rare Book Librarian at the Lillian Goldman Law Library, Yale Law School, and Ryan Greenwood, Curator of Rare Books and Special Collections at the Riesenfeld Rare Books Research Center, University of Minnesota Law Library. This LHB blogger (Mitra Sharafi) took the course. I’m happy to report on its many wonders.

I was the only legal historian in the group of twelve participants. Everyone else was a librarian, whether based at a law library, special collections, or both. When I first heard about the course, I had doubts about how useful it might be for me, given my focus on research and teaching more than on managing collections. Happily, I was wrong to worry. It was fascinating and extremely useful to gain insights into the ways university special collections operate. Among other things, I gained a better sense of which law libraries in the US are actively collecting rare books in various research areas.

More after the jump.

Widener and Weiner Win AALL Andrews Award

[We have the following announcement.]

2018 Joseph L. Andrews Legal Literature Award Winners: Michael Widener & Mark S. Weiner authored Law’s Picture Books: The Yale Law Library Collection

CHICAGO - May 8, 2018 -The American Association of Law Libraries’ (AALL) today announces Michael Widener and Mark S. Weiner are the 2018 recipients of the Joseph L. Andrews Legal Literature Award. Widener, the rare book librarian at Yale Law School’s Lillian Goldman Law Library, and Weiner, a professor of law (on leave) at Rutgers Law School, together published Law’s Picture Books: The Yale Law Library Collection, a unique pictoral contribution in the area of legal literature.

The Joseph L. Andrews Legal Literature Award recognizes a significant textual contribution-a book, pamphlet, periodical, website, database, or other publication-to legal literature. Nominations are measured by their creative, evaluative elements, and the extent to which originality and judgment factored into the work’s formation.

“The winners of the 2018 Joseph L. Andrews Legal Literature Award have authored a unique and detailed assessment of the role of illustrations in legal literature,” said AALL President Greg Lambert. “A reflection of innovative collection development by an academic law library, this book is important to our profession and the work of AALL. It defines the role of illustrations or images in increasing our understanding of legal literature.”

“I am deeply honored to receive the 2018 Joseph L. Andrews Legal Literature Award for Law’s Picture Books,” Widener said. “My distinguished co-author and I examined the use of images in legal literature to teach, criticize, explain, and popularize the law, from the Middle Ages to the present. We hope to raise new questions and suggest new answers to old questions.”

“I’m delighted that AALL and our readers have recognized the important role of illustrations in legal literature by awarding us this year’s Joseph L. Andrews Legal Literature Award,” Weiner said. “We wanted to go beyond compiling a collection of law-related artwork or conducting a study in legal iconography. Instead, we provided a thorough analysis of the role of illustrations in everything from textbooks and treatises to statutes, case law, practitioner manuals, and litigation documents. I am honored to accept this award with my co-author.”

The Joseph L. Andrews Legal Literature recipients will be honored at the upcoming 111th AALL Annual Meeting & Conference, to be held in Baltimore from July 14-17, 2018.

Weekend Roundup

• From the Washington Post's "Made by History" section: Nathan Wuertenberg draws on history to argue that "gun rights are about keeping white men on top"; William D. Bryan and Christopher J. Manganiello provide historical context for the water conflict that is before the Supreme Court in Florida v. Georgia; and Judith Giesberg (Villanova) on the right historical analogy for sanctuary-city advocates.

• Junior scholars working on aspects of legal history and technology should consider applying for the 2018 Technology, Law & Society Summer Institute at UC Irvine (June 22-24, 2018). The deadline is March 15, 2018. Here is the Call.

• Yale Law Library's exhibit, Law Books Bright and Beautiful is on display Feb. 26-June 1, 2018 at the Rare Book Exhibit Gallery of the Yale Law School. Check out some highlights here.

Weekend Roundup is a weekly feature compiled by all the Legal History bloggers.