One of the nation's premier collections of rare law books is housed in the Paskus-Danziger Rare Book Room. The collection is particularly strong in Anglo-American common law materials, including case reports, digests, statutes, trials, treatises, and popular works on the law. Other strengths include Roman and canon law, international law (especially the works of Hugo Grotius and Samuel Pufendorf), and early law books from most European countries. Of special interest ...

• The William Blackstone Collection, the world's largest and most comprehensive collection of the published works of Sir William Blackstone (1723-1780), author of Commentaries on the Laws of England, the most influential book in the Anglo-American common law tradition. Browse the Blackstone Collection...
• The Founders Collection, books once owned by the founders of the Yale Law School (Seth Staples, Samuel Hitchcock, and David Daggett), that formed the original nucleus of the school's law library. Browse the Founders Collection...
• The 18th-century law libraries of Lewis Morris, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, and John Worthington, an attorney in Springfield, Mass. Browse the Lewis Morris Collection or the Worthington Collection...
• Legal manuscripts from the 12th to the 20th centuries, including medieval treatises, English case reports, early American lawyers' account books, and 19th-century student notebooks from the law schools at Yale, Columbia, and Litchfield, Connecticut. [Note: legal manuscript collections are in Manuscripts and Archives, Sterling Memorial Library.]
• Close to 4,000 published trial accounts, with a special emphasis on American trials.
• The Roman-Canon Law Collection of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, on deposit since 2006, totaling over 1,600 volumes. Browse the Roman-Canon Collection of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York...
• Italian municipal statutes from the 14th to the 19th centuries, from Amalfi to Zumelle, in 760 printed volumes and 55 manuscripts.
• The Walter L. Pforzheimer Collection of books and manuscripts on copyright. Browse the Walter Pforzheimer Collection...
• A growing collection of law books with illustrations.
• A large collection of bibliographies and reference works to support research in the collection.
  

Hours: Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Location: Sterling Law Building, 127 Wall St., Level L2, Room 003

Phone: 203 432-4494

Fax: 203 432-7940

E-mail: <mike.widener@yale.edu>

Staff: Mike Widener, Rare Book Librarian; Brian Mendez, Conservation Assistant

Using the Collection 

The Paskus-Danziger Rare Book Room is open Monday - Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. The Reading Room door is locked at all times, so press the doorbell to enter. Yale community members should show a current Yale I.D., visitors should show a picture I.D., and all users must fill out a registration card. There may be some occasions when the room will not be open for use, and it is therefore advisable to call ahead to make sure the collection will be available. Call (203) 432-4494, or send an e-mail to <mike.widener@yale.edu>.

Readers may call for books by filling out a call slip and submitting it to a staff member. Pens are not allowed, nor is food or drink. Pencils or laptops may be used for notetaking. Coats and bookbags cannot be brought into the room. For those who have coats and bookbags, staff will check these items in a secure area. Whenever possible, staff will accommodate requests to hold books overnight for readers who are doing extended research. Collection materials cannot be removed from the Reading Room.

Photocopying

Photocopying of rare books is done only by staff, only at the discretion of the staff, and only if it will not cause damage to the book. Readers are allowed to make their own photographs of printed books, if the images are used only for research and if there are no copyright or access restrictions. Special permission is required to publish images of materials in the collection.

Please send comments regarding this page to the Rare Book Librarian.