Drawn exclusively from the
Arthur C. Pulling Rare Books Collection of the University of Minnesota
Law Library, "Seven Centuries of Law" traces the development
of legal thought and publishing from the late fifteenth century
to the present. Unlike previous exhibits which have focused on
a particular component of the Rare Books Collection such as American
Indian treaties or historic trials, this exhibit includes a wide
range of materials: canon law, early English yearbooks and session
laws, early case reports and abridgements, English and American
commentaries and treatises, and American colonial law. "Seven
Centuries of Law" portrays not only the diversity of materials
included in the Rare Books Collection, but also the broad sweep
of time represented by its books.
The breadth and depth of materials included in this exhibit is
a testament to Arthur C. Pulling, Law Librarian from 1912-1942,
whose purchases of English and American legal classics are the
cornerstone of the Rare Books Collection and are the foundation
of the University of Minnesota Law Library's reputation as one
of the outstanding legal research collections in the country.
This online version of "Seven Centuries of Law" includes
only a small sampling of those books included in the exhibit in
the Rare Books Room. We hope that this sampling provides alumni
and friends of the Law School with a deeper appreciation of legal
history as it is preserved and made accessible at the Law Library.
Appreciation is extended to Timothy Fay, Web Administrator,
for his leadership in preparing these pages for the web.
-Katherine Hedin, Curator of Rare Books and Special Collections
15th-16th Centuries
17th Century
18th Century
19th Century
Sherlock Holmes and the Law
*NEW*
Law School:
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