In the 17th and 18th centuries, lawyers in colonial America relied on law books imported from England, like the legal authority itself. A handful of statute books were produced and printed locally, but otherwise, primary law, form books, treatises, and other practice materials came from across the ocean. The first shift came when local printers began producing English law books themselves, saving the time and expense of importation. Soon, American lawyers began adding notes and commentary to English texts, flagging the ways in which American law diverged. The culmination came in the first decades of the new Republic, when a homegrown cohort of legal scholars began creating wholly new works that gave shape to a developing body of American law.
This exhibit explores that evolution through the lens of Massachusetts. As a colonial hub, thriving commercial center, and home of Harvard, the Commonwealth was a major force in the law book trade, fostering a lively network of printers and booksellers and a deep well of legal talent, exemplified by Harvard Law professor and Supreme Court justice Joseph Story. The exhibit spans statutes and case reports, English reprints, original American treatises, casebooks, children's books, and law blanks鈥攖racing the full range of legal publishing through the books and documents gathered here.聽
The exhibit was curated by Laurel Davis. It will remain on view into November 2026. The Rare Book Room is open on weekdays from 9:00 a.m.鈥�5:00 p.m. The exhibit catalog is available to download.
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The Charter Granted by King William & Queen Mary to the Inhabitants of the Province of Massachusetts-Bay. Boston: B. Green, 1726.The earliest printed law books in the colonies were compilations of statutes, beginning with Massachusetts鈥� The Book of the General Lawes and Libertyes (Cambridge, 1648). It established a model for statutory publishing in New England and beyond. The charter shown here governed Massachusetts from 1692 until the Revolution; acts passed by the legislature are appended. The government commissioned Bartholomew Green鈥攁 central figure in Boston鈥檚 printing and bookselling scene鈥攖o print the compilation.聽
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William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England. Worcester: Isaiah Thomas, 1790.
Before a distinct American legal literature emerged, imports and local reprints of English texts were the main sources of law books. Blackstone's Commentaries was an exemplar on both fronts, as it was regularly imported from England before the Revolution and a runaway hit in its first colonial edition (Philadelphia, 1771). In 1790, patriot printer Isaiah Thomas published this first post-Revolution U.S. edition and sold it at his bookstores in Worcester and Boston.聽聽
Gift of Kathryn 鈥淜itty鈥� Preyer
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Joseph Story, Commentaries on the Conflict of Laws, Foreign and Domestic. Boston: Hilliard, Gray, and Company, 1834.
The early 19th century saw a surge in original U.S. legal texts, led by Harvard Law professor and Supreme Court justice Joseph Story, whose nine treatises were all first published in Massachusetts. This volume on conflict of laws鈥攇overning cases where the laws of different jurisdictions might apply鈥攅xemplifies his influence. It immediately became an authoritative text, was quickly reprinted in Europe, and cited by English courts. Legal historian Charles Warren called its publication 鈥渁n epoch in the law.鈥�
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Charles Abbott, A Treatise of the Law Relative to Merchant Ships and Seamen. Boston: Hilliard, Gray, Little, and Wilkins, 1829.
American legal scholars often enriched English texts with notes and commentary tailored to U.S. practice. Here, Joseph Story annotated this popular English maritime treatise, making it more relevant to American lawyers navigating the legal complexities of maritime commerce. The result was a sort of transatlantic conversation between Abbott鈥檚 English text and Story鈥檚 American insights, shaping the work for U.S. practice. This 4th American edition is based on the 5th London edition.聽聽
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Joseph K. Angell, A Treatise on the Law of Carriers. Boston: Charles C. Little and James Brown, 1849.
By mid-century, American law books had proliferated rapidly. Joseph K. Angell was among the most prolific authors of the era鈥擩ames Kent claimed that 鈥渘o intelligent lawyer could well practice without鈥� his books. This treatise on carriers addressed the burgeoning transportation industry, reflecting the legal challenges of a country increasingly connected by rail and sea. It was published by Little, Brown and Company, by then one of the most prominent players in the global law book trade.
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Joseph Chitty, A Treatise on Pleading, and Parties to Actions. Springfield, MA: G. & C. Merriam, 1867.
While Boston was the hub, towns across the Commonwealth had active printers in the early and mid-19th century. The Springfield-based Merriam brothers were among the most notable, better known today as Merriam-Webster, Inc., for their long association with Noah Webster's dictionary. Their 14th American edition of Chitty's pleading treatise illustrates both the geographic reach of Massachusetts law publishing and the enduring popularity of some English legal texts well into the 19th century.聽
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Trials of Capt. Joseph J. Knapp, Jr. and George Crowninshield, Esq. for the Murder of Capt. Joseph White. Boston: Charles Ellms, 1830
Courtroom dramas and sensational crimes have always captured the public imagination. Published accounts of trials served as a way of understanding the real-life application of the law and a form of popular education regarding the moral and legal consequences of crime. This 1830 Salem case鈥攑ublished by Charles Ellms, a Boston stationer and bookseller鈥攈as everything: greed, a bungled conspiracy, a murdered sea captain, and a motive that rested on a fatal misunderstanding of inheritance law.聽聽
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Arthur Stansbury, Elementary Catechism on the Constitution. Boston: Hilliard, Gray, Little, and Wilkins, 1831.
Publishers and authors also sought to bring knowledge of rights, duties, and the Constitution to the next generation. This book used a question-and-answer format to teach children the basic structure of American government, though the doodles throughout suggest this particular young reader's mind had other ideas!
Gift of Morris L. Cohen
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Deed of Property from Joseph and Elizabeth Russell to James Dow Jr. Beverly, MA, 1847.
Pre-printed legal forms, or 鈥渂lanks,鈥� allowed lawyers and laypeople to execute documents like deeds, summons, and bonds efficiently. They supplied standard language with space to fill in the specifics by hand and were a lucrative sideline for printers and stationers. This deed was sold in Boston by Thomas Groom & Co. and made its way to Beverly on the North Shore. Its crisp typography and organized layout reflect the increasing sophistication of the form-printing trade by mid-century.
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C. C. Langdell, A Selection of Cases on the Law of Contracts. Boston: Little, Brown & Company, 1871.
Law books for students traditionally took the form of treatises detailing legal principles and rules. A fundamental change occurred in 1871 when Harvard Law professor and dean Christopher Columbus Langdell published this first modern casebook with Little, Brown鈥攁 firm that would dominate law school publishing for decades to come. Langdell viewed law as a science and judicial decisions as its data. He believed analyzing cases would lead students to an objective truth about the law. The casebook method dominates legal education, particularly for 1Ls.聽
Daniel R. Coquillette Rare Book Room
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