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Kaufmann’s Mackeldey

Today’s featured book is Compendium of Modern Civil Law by Ferdinand Mackeldey, edited by Philip Ignatius Kaufmann, from the twelfth German edition. Consequently the title on the spine is Kaufmann’s Mackeldey. The publication date is 1845 and the book was rebound in recent years. There is a trace of marbling on the page edges that looks similar to the cover paper, however, it has worn it down. There is also some foxing, or brown spots, on the paper. This book is a discussion of the Roman origins of certain parts of European law in the mid-nineteenth century. You can find the book online here: https://hdl.handle.net/2027/hvd.32044080054588 #TBT

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MN Court of Appeals, 1984

The featured item today is The New Minnesota Appellate Court System Report on the First Full Year of Operation, 1984. It’s much younger than most things in the Special Collections Room, but it’s important to preserve court history and keep these items safe. The Court of Appeals was created in 1983 after years of planning and lobbying. A Constitutional amendment was needed as well as money from the legislature, but the caseload for the Supreme Court was so high, something had to be done. This report shows that most cases are resolved with the Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court only chooses to hear a small percentage of the cases appealed to them. The report is 30 pages and is not currently available online. #TBT

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Eller’s Minnesota Digest

Today’s featured book Digest of decisions of the Supreme Court of Minnesota: as contained in Volumes 1 to 25 inclusive of the Minnesota Reports is also known as Eller’s Minnesota Digest. It was published in 1880 by West Publishing. It is in the Special Collections Room because yesterday I noticed it sitting on a low shelf in the reference area and thought, “Why is that there?” I soon discovered that there are only a few libraries that own this title and our second copy is missing. That is the best reason to move a book off of the public shelves and put it in Spec Coll. It’s old, fragile, and rare. To the best of my knowledge, it’s not available online. #TBT

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21st Amendment Ratified

Today is the anniversary of the ratification of the 21st Amendment which ended Federal Prohibition in the U.S. The process used to ratify this amendment was approval by conventions in each state, unlike most amendments which were voted on by the state legislature. Today’s book is Ratification of the Twenty-First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States: State Convention Records and Laws, compiled by Everett Somerville Brown and published by the University of Michigan in 1938. The Minnesota Convention was led by C.W. Bunn, a local attorney who worked for the Great Northern Railway. He was also part of the Building Commission for the Ramsey County Courthouse in St. Paul. You can find the full text of this book online here: https://hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.39015069875576 #TBT

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Found in a book...

Every once in a while I pull an older book off a shelf and newspaper clippings fall out.  They aren’t all from 1872, though. Yesterday I pulled a book out of storage and discovered this clipping tucked inside. Despite the strange grease mark, it’s in really good condition. A matching stain inside the book leads me to believe the article may have been glued inside the front cover. The book itself is a volume of Minnesota Reports from 1862. The clipped article is about a rule change made by the Minnesota Supreme Court in October 1872, the backside of the clipping is made up of ads.

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An Illustrated Historical Sketch of The Minnesota Supreme Court

This week’s featured book is a new acquisition for the library. It is a reprint of An Illustrated Historical Sketch of The Minnesota Supreme Court by George Longsdorf, an article that appeared in the legal journal Case and Comment in 1912. It gives a brief history of the court in Minnesota, discusses a few influential decisions and then mentions a few noted justices. The Law Library is briefly described and it is said to have over 65,000 works. The potential need for a separate court building is also mentioned. The most impressive parts of this article are the photos of the newly completed capitol building, particularly the Justices’ consultation room and the murals in the capitol courtroom. It is an interesting portrait of the court in 1912. #TBT You can find the scanned version of the article here: https://hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.35112100078866?urlappend=%3Bseq=57

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The American Settler’s Guide

This week’s featured book is The American Settler’s Guide: A Popular Exposition of the Public Land System of the United States of America by Henry N. Copp, 1903, 23rd edition. It’s a slim volume with a cover that appears to have been put on by the library to help protect the pages. There are many notes on the pages as well as glued in to the tops of the pages. It is a wide-ranging guide covering everything from finding some land to Homesteading to legal agreements. The title was originally published in 1880 and updated regularly through the early 1900s. I can’t find this specific edition online, but the 24th edition can be found here: https://hdl.handle.net/2027/uc1.l0070329016 #TBT

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Cuba v. North Carolina

This week’s featured book is Republic of Cuba vs. The State of North Carolina: Proceedings in Suit for Recovery on Certain Fraudulent Bonds, 1917. This is a slim volume detailing the court case in which Cuba sued North Carolina for over $600,000. In 1869, Cuba bought bonds from North Carolina, expecting to be repaid at the end of the term and North Carolina did not honor the bonds. The suit finally ended when Cuba withdrew the suit as “not convenient to its interests.” You can find a full digital copy here: https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/008608802 #TBT

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Selections from the Court Reports

What was court like in Boston in 1835? This book will give you a taste. Selections from the Court Reports Originally Published in the Boston Morning Post from 1834-1837 is our featured book today. The stories are full of commentary from the reporters covering the proceedings, like "As we are very near-sighted, and the shaded windows cast only a hazy light on the scene..." One defense attorney was described this way: "a gentleman highly eminent as an enthusiastic and plausible phrenologist, but not so extensively known as a legal practitioner."  This is another one of our tiny books, and it also has an interesting list of names in the front. You can find a full digital copy here: http://hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.35112103925501 #TBT

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Constitution of Minnesota Annotated

Today’s featured book is The Constitution of Minnesota Annotated by Harold F. Kumm. It was published by the University of Minnesota in 1924. The Supreme Court of Minnesota is the court of last resort for constitutional concerns in the state of Minnesota. To support their decision making, the library collects any materials related to the Constitution of Minnesota. While the original documents are held by the Minnesota Historical Society, our library holds many works related to the constitution including this title. We have 2 copies, both are kept in the Special Collections Room. You can find the full title here: https://hdl.handle.net/2027/uc1.$b47270 #TBT

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Mississippi Impeachment Trials

Today’s featured book is Journal of the Senate of the State of Mississippi Sitting as a Court of Impeachment in the Trials of Adelbert Ames, Governor; Alexander K. Davis, Lieutenant-Governor; Thomas W. Cardozo, Superintendent of Public Education, 1876. This book details the impeachment trials of the entire Republican executive office of Mississippi during the reconstruction era. Governor Ames was a Union General and his lieutenant governor, Davis, was African American. Outraged Democrats were able to take over both houses of the legislature through intimidation of voters during the next election and immediately moved to impeach all Republicans in the line of succession. They were accused of taking bribes and pardoning prisoners. Davis was impeached and Ames and Cardozo agreed to resign before their impeachment trials were complete. Of course the most interesting parts of the story aren’t in this volume. Find it online here: https://hdl.handle.net/2027/uiug.30112047333825 #TBT An interesting note: Ames moved to Northfield, Minnesota after leaving office in Mississippi and his investment in the local bank may have motivated the James-Younger gang to try to rob it.

Sources for today's post: 

https://mississippiencyclopedia.org/entries/alexander-k-davis/

https://mississippiencyclopedia.org/entries/adelbert-ames/

https://patch.com/minnesota/northfield/djjd-adelbert-ames-and-his-recollection-of-the-attemp8c4d7fe06b

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Constitutional History of Canada

Today’s featured book is The Constitutional History of Canada, 1874, by Samuel James Watson, Librarian of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario. It was meant to be the first volume in a series, but according to the pencil note, no more were produced. It was acquired by the library in 1911. The cover is nicely decorated and still in pretty good shape. It is a slim volume, only 157 pages. The Constitution of Canada was passed in 1867 by the U.K. Parliament and was originally called the British North America Act. Scanned copies of this book are available online and you can find one here: https://hdl.handle.net/2027/hvd.hni5ne

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Report of the proceedings under a brieve of idiotry

Today’s featured book is Report of the proceedings under a brieve of idiotry, Peter Duncan against David Yoolow, tried at Coupar-Angus, 28-30 Jan. 1837, With an appendix of relative documents, and an introduction, by Ludovic Colquhoun. It was published in 1837 in Scotland. While the language used would be considered insulting today, the trial was essentially a competency hearing to decide if David Yoolow required a guardian be appointed to manage his affairs. They describe an illness he had as a child that caused seizures and paralysis and made him unable to care for himself. The jury had to decide if the disability was limited to his body or if it meant he was not able to manage his finances. After a two day trial, they decided he was not competent. Interestingly, there is an engraving of a Yoolow family tombstone in the back of the appendix, even though it has no connection to the story (see the photos). You can find the entire scanned book here:  https://hdl.handle.net/2027/hvd.hnx9hp #TBT

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Colonial Laws of Massachusetts

The State Law Library has an extensive collection of early U.S. legal materials, including from the colonies. Some of these materials are later reprints, but some are original. Today’s featured book, The colonial laws of Massachusetts, Reprinted from the edition of 1672, with the supplements through 1686, is a reprint of a collection of colonial laws from Massachusetts from the time of the first charter. This is the third revision which was the first printed text of Massachusetts laws widely available during the period. This reprint was made in 1887. One benefit to a compiled reprint like this is that an index has been added, which wasn’t available in the original. See the photos for some examples of the laws in force during the time. The list of capital crimes is incredibly long and includes being a “stubborn or rebellious son.” You can find a scanned version of this title online here: https://hdl.handle.net/2027/hvd.32044010316602

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Supreme Court Calendar Books

When cases are appealed to the Supreme Court and Court of Appeals, lawyers write briefs detailing their legal arguments in hopes of persuading the members of the court. The law library has been collecting these briefs since 1864. In the early days, the court held two terms during the year, often January and July and heard cases that they added to a calendar. The cases were assigned a calendar number and that was how the briefs were organized when the case was done. In order to find the briefs for a case, you needed to know the year, term, and calendar number of the case.  The library later changed to other filing systems, but the early cases are still organized this way, which is why today’s featured book is so important. The calendar books are the only “quick” way to look up what a case’s calendar number is to be able to find briefs. The library started collecting calendar books in 1868, several years after we started collecting briefs. Today’s calendar book is from the January Term 1869. The calendar actually only takes up 27 pages of the volume and the rest is blank pages. The court heard 54 cases that term. This particular calendar book was previously owned by Samuel McMillan, as you can see from the title page and there were only 3 justices on the court at the time.  The calendar books are kept in the Special Collections Room and may only be viewed by appointment. #TBT

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St. Paul City Ordinances 1896

Last month we received a generous donation of books for the Special Collections Room from Chief Judge Cleary. Among them was today’s featured book. The title is General ordinances and private ordinances of a public nature of the city of St. Paul, Ramsey County, Minnesota: up to and including December 31st, 1895. There is a note in the Preface stating that while much care was taken putting the book together, it would have been even better with a longer deadline. The ordinances contain many pages related to infrastructure, but it also covers things like house numbers, animals, produce, school janitors, roller skating rinks, and circuses. You can find the full text online here: https://hdl.handle.net/2027/umn.31951d024202390 #TBT

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Sketches of the Irish Bar

Sketches of the Irish Bar was published in 1882. It is one of a number of “Sketches of the Bar” that are in the library’s Special Collection. This volume has a decorated cover with images of a harp, clover and possibly wild roses. There is a signature on the fly leaf written in pencil on brown paper, but it is still legible in the right light. The book seems to have been owned by J.C. Rieger from Kansas City, Missouri in 1886. Most of the chapters are somewhat biographical and a few are topic-specific, like one relating to a particular election. Most also include some reference to the Catholic Church. It is written in a descriptive, story-telling style that seems designed to feel more like fiction. You can find a scanned copy of the book here: https://hdl.handle.net/2027/bc.ark:/13960/t3dz0rb8f #TBT