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March/April 2008 Law School Library Acquires Rare French Law Collection
Nearly 600 rare law volumes have been added to the French Collection of the GW Jacob Burns Law Library’s Special Collections. The volumes, which were recently acquired from the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, consist of 269 titles of French legal works dating from the 16th through the 19th centuries and include customary law, civil law, and royal ordonnances, all illuminated by celebrated French jurisconsults, or law experts. Jennie C. Meade, rare books librarian, says many of the books are bound in vellum, a calfskin hide that is more durable than leather but less malleable, which can cause covers and bindings to become warped. The vellum bindings have survived the centuries in good order but many of the other bindings have fared less well, and the library has plans to rebind many of the 600 volumes. Although illustrations vary depending on the book, many of them have blind stamping, or imprints on the covers without the use of gold, and elaborate images called “devices” or “printer’s marks” on the title pages, identifying which printer issued the book, says Jacob Burns Law Library Director Scott Pagel. These images are often rich with symbolism and color and frequently include representations of royalty, animals, and Biblical references, he explains. One of Meade’s favorite books in the new collection is a volume on Roman and French law titled Civil Law in its Natural Order by Jean Domat, a jurisconsult in the 17th century and favorite of King Louis XIV. “Drafters of the Napoleonic Code drew on Domat as the source for the Roman law component of the code, which was issued in 1804,” says Meade. “Like many French jurisconsults, Domat was very influential.” Known as one of the world’s great legal research institutions, the Association of the Bar of the City of New York once collected legal historical materials from around the globe. When its mission shifted in recent years to serve the contemporary research needs of its members, the bar sought to place a portion of its international historical collection with institutions that could provide the proper physical environment for the books and a research environment that would ensure access to the materials. Pagel says the bar selected Yale University to receive its German collection, so GW is “in good company.” “The partnership between the Bar Association and the Burns Law Library will expand to an exceptional degree the availability of resources for scholars researching the history of French and European law,” says Pagel. The books from the bar will be housed in a climate-controlled area and have been cataloged with notes identifying them as formerly owned by the Association of the Bar of the City of New York. All members of the Association of the Bar continue to have access to these materials, which were transferred in late November 2007. Before restoration work on the collection begins, the library will include its titles in the Law Library Microform Consortium digital scanning project. French civil law titles comprise the first group of books from GW to be digitized, and titles from the bar will join this group and be assigned top priority in the scanning process. After scanning and restoration, the books will be accessible to researchers. Meade calls the books a “really wonderful” addition to the library’s existing 16,000 special collection titles, which already include extensive materials on French customs law, legal codes, and the French Revolution. “It augments the titles we already have and adds depth and breadth to our collection,” she says. “It’s fascinating to think that the books you are holding had a life 400 years ago.”
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