Happy Valentine’s Day from the Pritzker Legal Research Center!

To celebrate today, we’re sharing some images from a particularly appropriate volume from our rare book collection, Marriage Ceremonies: Or, the Ceremonies Used in Marriages in all Parts of the World (1697). Although this English translation was taken from the Italian, this book was originally written in French by Louis de Gaya, a nobleman and Captain in the Régiment de Champagne also responsible for penning, among other things, a Treaty of Arms (1678) and his own Art of War (also 1678).

In the preface, the author writes: “Marriage is not solemnized in the same manner every where but the Rules and Laws of Marriage are more or less strict, according to the Diversity of Religions and Nations. […] Yet, among all the different Laws and Customs in the World, there is no Nation so Barbarous, as not to solemnize Marriage with some Rites, Ceremonies, and publick rejoicings.” In 11 chapters, this little book examines the traditions of at least as many religious groups, albeit through Gaya’s very Catholic lens.

Included here are the preface, table of contents, and the Greek marriage rites, as understood by the author. Simply click on the image to read the page. If you’d like to see others, please contact the Special Collections, Digitization, and Archival Services Library at Brittany.Adams@law.northwestern.edu.

 
In our final post for #ColorOurCollections, we’re jumping centuries and continents, taking our entry from Matthew Nathan Pinkerton’s Murder in All Ages. This inscribed volume, which was published in Chicago in 1899, examines the crime of homicide by studying a selection of infamous historical murders, including the one featured in this coloring page.

With the recent popularity of the musical Hamilton, which still in performance here in Chicago theatres, this illustration of the duel between Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr seemed like the perfect choice to end our week with a bang (pardon the pun).

If you’d like to see the original, or find out more about criminology at Northwestern Law–including Northwestern’s former Scientific Crime Laboratory–please contact the Special Collections, Digitization, and Archival Services Librarian at Brittany.Adams@law.northwestern.edu.

PDF Coloring Page: ColorOurCollections3

Along with other special collections libraries across the country, this week we’re sharing pictures from our rare books in coloring page format as part of the #ColorOurCollections campaign. (If you missed our first page, check it out here!)

For the second of three posts, we’re sharing images from Francesco Maria Guazzo’s Compendium Maleficarum (1626). This book, a guide to hunting witches, was part of a larger acquisition to the Law School library in 1930 from Döbling Carmelite Monastery in Vienna, Austria. Most of the books in that collection pertain to Roman and canon law, making this volume on witchcraft a surprising find.

Divided into three books, the Compendium Malificarum sprinkles woodcut illustrations throughout its examples of witchcraft and corresponding Catholic doctrine (which explains its inclusion in a monastery library). Legally, it seems reasonable to assume that, like the Malleus Malificarum, its famous literary predecessor, this text may have been used by prosecutors in witch trials.

One thing is certain: if your house is set on fire by witches, you’re going to need a good attorney. For more information, or if you’d like to see the original, please contact the Special Collections, Digitization, and Archival Services Librarian at Brittany.Adams@law.northwestern.edu.

PDF Coloring Page: ColorOurCollections2

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To end the year on an amiable note, a group of our PLRC law librarians visited the University of Chicago’s Law School in early December.  We met with UChicago’s law librarians to discuss pressing issues facing our resources and special collections, creative solutions for patron needs, and future innovations.  Dialogue between professional peers allows for the informal transfer of ideas, resulting in an enhanced understanding of common challenges and improved user services through knowledge sharing. Several years ago, a group of UChicago law librarians visited Northwestern to begin this collaboration, and at the conclusion of 2016, the conversation continued.

“It was a pleasure to spend time with our law librarian colleagues from Northwestern’s Pritzker Legal Research Center.,” said Sheri Lewis, Director of the D’Angelo Law Library, University of Chicago Law School. “The morning produced great communication and the opportunity to share ideas on collections and services for our patrons.”

Director of Northwestern’s Pritzker Legal Research Center, George H. Pike, agreed: “It was a great visit and a great opportunity to learn from and share with our friends and colleagues.  The break-out groups were a lively and incredibly helpful forum for the exchange of thoughts, challenges, and ideas.  Thanks to Sheri and her team for being great hosts!”

After small and large group discussions, we toured the D’Angelo Law Library, Law School, Regenstein Library, and state-of-the-art Mansueto Library. The facilities were impressive, the company informative, and most importantly, open lines of communication were affirmed as we move into 2017 and the future of law libraries.

University of Chicago’s Special Collections Research Center and Exhibition Gallery

A behind-the-scene’s view of Mansueto Library’s underground automated storage and retrieval system. Books in the foreground will be loaded into bins and moved by this industrial crane to the long-term, high-density storage shelves.