Biddleblog

Biddle recently debuted a new exhibit for Spring and Summer 2007, "Copyright 2.0," which is currently on display in the reference area of the library.

Biddle has created a new exhibit that showcases some of the materials culled from the National Bankruptcy Archives. (More after the jump.)

Welcome and welcome back!

Some of you who have been around here in the past might have noticed that we like to create at least one technology-related exhibit per year. Last year, we displayed some library resources related to copyright alternatives, including the "copyleft" and "free software" movements, and Creative Commons. This time, we thought we'd kick off the year taking a look at yet another emerging topic in law and society: the Open Source movement.

An eagle-eyed Biddle patron might notice that we've recycled some of our materials from the "Alternatives to Copyright" exhibit. This is by design, because Open Source does often challenge traditional understanding of ownership and intellectual property.

We've broken the exhibit into three main topics. The main display case (pictured above) provides an overview of the Open Source movement, including some prominent examples--tech geeks will notice the the Linux penguin, an icon of open source. The other two cases deal with Open Education and Open Law, both of which Penn Law School's faculty and journals have contributed to in a number of ways.

As the center for information on campus, the Biddle Law Library is always interested in alternative models to the distribution, creation, and accumulation of knowledge. The Open Source movement engages a variety of cultural, educational, and legal topics. We hope our fall exhibit on the topic will answer some questions and raise even more.

Check back with the Biddleblog for regular updates on some of the things we're working on and thinking about. Enjoy the year!

Happy 2009!

To ring in the new semester and the new year, the Biddle Law Library has a couple of new exhibits in our reference area and the Rare Book seminar room.

Violet Oakley's Law Triumphant

In our main exhibit case is displayed selected plates from Violet Oakley's Law Triumphant.  A native Philadelphian, Oakley studied painting at the Drexel Institute for Women (now Drexel College).  She was heavily influenced by the symbolism and optimism of the Pre-Raphelite era. 

Oakley became famous for a series of 43 murals painted in 1905 in the Pennsylvania State Capitol Building in Harrisburg.  Each mural depicted some of the major figures in the development of the law, from Moses to Blackstone to William Penn.  Oakley is arguably the finest woman muralist, and her murals for the State Capital remain her signature commission. 

In the 1930s, Oakley published Law Triumphant, which included color plates of her murals.  A limited edition, only 300 copies of Law Triumphant were published.  The Biddle Law Library is fortunate enough to own two copies, and they are on display now.

Le Petit Journal Covers the Dreyfus Affair

The remainder of our exhibit space has been devoted to images from The Dreyfus Affair, a political scandal that rocked Paris in the late 19th century and early 20th centuries.  Regarded as the major political and cultural event of the era, the Dreyfus Affair also touched on a range of legal issues, including the separation of church and state, libel and religious freedom.

Our exhibition presents the Dreyfus Affair through the lens of one particular contemporary perspective: the pages of Le Petit Journal. This newspaper was in popular circulation in Paris during the Dreyfus Affair, taking advantage of innovations in color printing to publish colorful, full-page illustrations.  Le Petit Journal was very much part of the media frenzy surrounding the Dreyfus Affair, publishing daily articles and illustrations depicting some of the main characters of the saga, including Emile Zola, Paul Deschanel, Ferdinand Walsin Esterhazy, and Alfred Dreyfus himself. 

The exhibition begins in the reference area and continues in the Rare Book Seminar room.  We hope you enjoy this glimpse into the Biddle Law Library's impressive Special Collections, and we look forward to bringing you more in 2009.

 

While playing housekeeper in the archives vault recently, I came across an unprocessed collection of essays written by former Penn Law students.  What I found particularly interesting about this collection is that most of the essays date back to the late 1800s, in the time before typewriters -- let alone spell check, computers, and EndNote -- were widely used.  Word processors were human.

Browsing through these essays, which number about 125, I was struck by the manner in which they were forged.  I can't remember the last time I drafted an essay in longhand, can you?  And the penmanship would make this chicken-scratch expert blush.  If I can barely draft a shopping list that doesn't resemble a tablet of mystical runes, will the next generation even know how to put pen to paper?

At times students really went all out on the design of the title pages, often using calligraphy, colored inks, and ribbon.  Here's a representative example:

And you think plugging in Bluebook citations is a struggle?  Try writing out footnotes by hand.

The handwriting looks the same, only smaller!  Cute.

Truth be told, processing this collection was pretty complicated.  These essays were kept together by a range of fasteners: staples, paperclips, string, and scotch tape.  Most of these had to be removed because, over time, these fasteners can get rusty or toxic and damage what's really important, the essays.  Archivists of the future, I apologize for ever using brads.

Beyond the anachronistic nature of the technology, I was also intrigued by the variety of topics covered in these essays.  As far as I can tell, none of the authors went on to fame and fortune.  (Although, there does appear to be material from locally famous attorneys, such as George Biddle, namesake of the Biddle Law Library.)  This collection provides a fascinating window into what Penn Law students were thinking and writing about long ago.

If you're interested in taking a look at these essays, a sampling of them is currently on display in the Biddle Law Library's reference area.  For additional information about the collection, check out the finding aid, e-mail me or stop by the Archives.

In an effort to expand the National Bankruptcy Archives' holdings in rare material predating the establishment of the nation's first major bankruptcy law in 1898, the Archives has begun to acquire a selection of 18th and 19th century pamphlet and manuscript materials.  Our holdings presently date back to 1789, and document debt culture in the pre-bankruptcy era.  A common topic concerns the abolishment of debtor prisons, which existed from Colonial times to approximately the mid-1800s.

Some of this collection is currently on display in the reference area of the Biddle Law Library.  However, if you can't make it to the onsite exhibit (or, if you would like to whet your appetite), below are images of some of our featured items. 

If you are interested in learning more about this collection or any of our holdings, please contact Jordon Steele or stop by the Archives. 

In 1970, Morris Wolf, Esq., a senior member of the Philadelphia bar, donated to the University of Pennsylvania Law School, a manuscript letter by Thomas Jefferson. Written on August 30th, 1814, from Jefferson at Monticello, the letter outlines a course of law study and readings Jefferson had prepared “near[ly] fifty years ago for the use of a young friend.” Addressed to General John Minor, the letter is most likely written for Minor’s son, John, who studied law for a short time.

Reproductions of the letter are on display (the original can be viewed by request) in the Gateway of Biddle Law Library. Accompanying the letter are selections from the rare books room at Biddle. The books on display are those recommended by Jefferson as proposed readings on pages three and four of his letter.  The texts were all printed between 1768 and 1805, and would perhaps have been the actual books that the young law student in 1814 would have had on his bookshelf.

Included in the exhibit are the books The Law of Evidence by Sir Geoffrey Gilbert, printed in 1805; Coke’s Institutes by Sir Edward Coke, printed in 1711; The Law of Uses and Trusts by Sir Geoffrey Gilbert, printed in 1811; Blackstone’s Commentaries, George Tucker’s edition, printed in 1803; A Treatise of Equity in Six Books, by Sir Geoffrey Gilbert, printed in 1792; A New Abridgement of the Law by Matthew Bacon, printed in 1768.

The exhibition will be up through March of 2012.