HLS home > library > collections > special

Special Collections Exhibitions

The Special Collections Department coordinates the Library's exhibition program. These exhibitions, held in the Caspersen Room, contribute to the School's pedagogical mission in many ways. They advertise the scholarly resources available to the academic community. The material exhibited have an immediacy that cannot be experienced in any other way; a medieval manuscript, the first edition of Littleton's Tenures, a student notebook recording Professor Langdell's lectures; all evoke the time in which they were created.

Selected Catalogs from Past Exhibitions have been published and/or are available online.

The Library welcomes exhibition suggestions and assistance; contact Librarian for Special Collections David Warrington (warringt@law.harvard.edu).

Current Exhibition




July 13 - September 30, 2008
title text

Housed within the largest academic law library in North America, the Harvard Law School Library Special Collections Department holds much of what you would expect: early editions of Blackstone, Coke, and Littleton; the papers and correspondence of many faculty and alumni; primary materials covering early English, Continental, and US laws; institutional records and publications; as well as photographs and portraits of classes, faculty, and alumni. But one can also find a great deal that is unexpected: beautiful book bindings that once seemed commonplace; stories revealed by the personal effects of great legal minds; historical events overlooked by time or modern sensibilities; and early printed decorative initials that range from the enchanting and winsome to the macabre.

The Expected & Unexpected: Harvard Law School Library’s Special Collections features material drawn from all collecting areas in Special Collections: Rare Books and Early Manuscripts, Modern Manuscripts and Archives, the Red Set, and Art and Visual Materials. The exhibit also provides examples of some recent scholarship that has used material from the Collection—some of which is in itself unexpected. We hope that this exhibit will serve not only as a reminder of what the Law Library has to offer for those interested in legal research, but also emphasize the diversity of the collection and encourage researchers from all academic disciplines to visit our Collections.

Location:
     Harvard Law School Library
     Caspersen Room
     Langdell Hall, 4th Floor
Hours:
     Mon.- Fri. 9am-5pm.

Additional Contact Information:
     Email: specialc@law.harvard.edu
     Phone: (617) 495-4550
     Fax: (617) 495-8588
     Mail: Special Collections Department
     Harvard Law School Library
     Langdell Hall
     Cambridge, MA 02138



A list of some past Caspersen Room exhibitions.

Online Exhibitions

See also Online Collections.

Caspersen Room

The Caspersen Room (formerly the Treasure Room) serves as an exhibition hall for material in the Library's collections. It was opened in 1948 as a memorial to the School's students and alumni who died in World War I and II. For over five decades the room has been a showcase for printed books, manuscripts, art works and memorabilia that document the history of the law and of the Harvard Law School.

The Caspersen Room is the permanent home for some of the School's finest paintings, including Isaac Royall and his family, painted in 1741 by the American painter Robert Feeke. Among the other noteworthy works of art are the striking portrait of Chief Justice Roger B. Taney by Emanuel Leutze, portraits of English barristers by Romney and Raeburn; the Dutch case clock owned by Dean Langdell; and the round desk built in 1927 for Dean Pound. The glass-fronted bookcases contain part of Dean Pound's personal library. The Caspersen Room is located on the fourth floor of Langdell Hall at Harvard Law School Library and is open from 9:00am to 5:00, Monday through Friday.