C-70. Collecting the History of Anglo-American Law - Advance Reading List

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  • Preliminary Advices

    Please read the following before coming to Charlottesville:

      1. Baker, John, “The Books of the Common Law” in The Cambridge History of the Book in Britain, Volume III, 1400-1557(Cambridge,1998), pp. 411-432 and “English Law Books and Legal Publishing” in The Cambridge History of the Book, Volume IV, 1557-1696 (Cambridge,1998), pp. 474-503, or Baker, John, “Legal Literature” in his Introduction to English Legal History, 4th ed. (London, 2002), pp. 175-194.
      2. Belanger, Terry, “Descriptive Bibliography,” in Book Collecting: A Modern Guide, ed. Jean Peters (New York, 1978), pp. 97-115.
      3. Carter, John, ABC for Book Collectors (London, 1980). Read preferably the latest (8th) edition, but earlier editions are fine. (The most recent edition of Carter’s ABC for Book Collectors is also available for downloading online without charge as a .pdf file.) See below for specific assignments.
      4. Friedman, Lawrence M. A History of American Law, 2nd edition (New York, 1985), pp. 90-104, 322-333, 621-632.
      5. Hoeflich, M. H. “Legal History and the History of the Book: Variations on a Theme,” 46 Kansas Law Review (1998), pp. 415-431.
      6. Simpson, A.W.B., “The Rise and Fall of the Legal Treatise: Legal Principles and the Forms of Legal Literature,” 48 University of Chicago Law Review (1981), pp. 632-679.
      7. Trimble, Marsha “Archives and Manuscripts: New Collecting Areas for Law Libraries,” 83 Law Library Journal (1991), pp. 429-450.

    Please scan the following as well (Webster defines “scan” as “to examine intensively”):

    1. Cohen, Morris L., “Administration of Rare Materials,” in Law Librarianship, a Handbook (Rothman, 1983), v. 2, pp. 603-688.
    2. Widener, Michael (ed.) “Public Issues with Rare and Archival Law Materials,” 20 Legal Reference Services Quarterly (2001), pp. 1-189.
    3. Heaney, Howell J., “Rare Book Librarianship and Law Librarianship,” in Collecting and Managing Rare Law Books, ed. Roy Mersky (Dobbs Ferry, NY: 1981), pp. 55-69.
    4. Parrish, Jenni, “Law Books and Legal Publishing in America, 1760-1840,” 72 Law Library Journal (1972), pp. 355-365; scan rest of article.
    5. Bedard, Laura, “Creating and Maintaining Legal History Collections,” 24 Legal Reference Services Quarterly (2005) pp. 1-66.
    6. Topulos, Katherine, “English Legal History Research: A Guide to Core Academic Law Library Materials,” 24 (1/2) Legal Reference Services Quarterly (2005) pp. 73-101.

    ***John Carter, ABC for Book Collectors. 7th ed. with corrections and additions by Nicolas Barker. New Castle, DE: 1994). Copies are most easily available from Oak Knoll Books, 414 Delaware Street, New Castle, DE 19720 ($29 postpaid). The firm, which has the book in stock, will accept telephone orders. Call 302-328-7232.

    One of the things that makes learning about rare books such a pleasure is that so many lucid authors have written about the subject. We know of no finer introduction to the terminology of any discipline than this book.

    The contents of the ABC should be thoroughly mastered, for it is impossible to talk intelligently about rare books without an understanding of what is a very specialized terminology. A good way to approach this task is to study the preliminaries (everything before page 12) and the definitions of the terms printed in boldface in the list below. Then learn the definitions of the remaining terms on this page. Finally, read this irresistible book straight through.

    The course will assume familiarity with the terms listed here. To place things in perspective, you may wish to read Belanger’s article first.


    Leaf
    Recto
    Verso
    Format
    Sheet
    Gatherings
    Signatures
    Collation
    Blank leaves
    Forme
    Folio
    Quarto
    Octavo
    Duodecimo
    Cover
    Spine
    Hinges
    Joints
    Edges
    Margins
    Uncut
    Unopened


    Endpapers
    Paste-down
    Preliminary leaves
    Fly-leaf
    Half-title
    Frontispiece
    Title
    Bibliography
    Edition and impression
    Issues and states
    First edition
    Association copy
    Auctions
    Bindings
    Boards
    Book-plate
    Booksellers’ catalogues
    Broadside
    Calf
    Catchword
    Condition


    Disbound
    Facsimiles and fakes
    Fly-sheet
    Foxed
    Half bound
    Imprint
    Incunable
    Inscribed copy
    Law calf
    McKerrow
    Original state/condition
    Presentation copy
    Provenance
    Publisher’s cloth
    Rarity
    Re-backed
    Shoulder-note
    Side-notes
    Trade binding
    Variant
    Vellum
    Wrappers