Cornell Law Library Annual Report 1936

ommtt, LAW SCHOOL

Annual Report of the Librarian For the Flftoal Tear Lading J m e 30, 1930

Xhtrodtict i o k , The ©ad of the fiscal year, June 30, 1938, finds that t*w library has enjoyed a very successful year in its de­ velopment.

The facts whtoh are set out in detail subsequently,

1 believe, will show that w© have added approximately 3,000 volumes to

out

collection, making it the largest number for any

®lngie year that 1 can find a record of.

The growth has been

achieved by concentrating on Items which we have needed in our collections of reports, legal periodicals, session lews and statutes, sad other entities comprising our library.

The larg-

®»t number of additions has been made thru collecting the fine ®«t of Attorney General report® and opinions which we now have, in establishing our ool!motion of Judicial Council reports, and In setting up our oolleotion of rorkmea* s compensation and Ina t r i a l Commission retorts and decisions.

Other fields have

keen added to, but their natural growth with important items ih each, however, is set forth la the following pages.

It must be understood that these numerous additions bar© been made in spite of our small and limited appropriation. * have found, by oorapariaon with other leading libraries, that 0u* appropriation is pitifully small for the amount whiofc is *®slly necessary to keep a, library of this else and importance to date as far as Its u»? and reputation are concerned. The m*3ority of the increased number of volumes came about thru ®°Ucitation of items fro® other libraries, and friends of the

•chool, and whatever avenues we ooulc use.

I am especially proud to say that with the very com­ petent and painstaking assistance of ay secretary, we have been able to publish a complete list of the Judicial Council Reports of the various states and territories of the United States, *hich appeared in the January number of the *Law library Jourand a copy of which is attached hereto. working on, and have about ready

We have been

for publication, a bibliography

of the Attorney General Reports and Opinions of all of the states ®nd territories of the United states.

This Is the first record

of any kind i, this field that has been published, and 1 believe it is greatly needed and will be extremely helpful and useful. will appear in an early number of the *iaw library Journal* h&xt fall, but has grown In sire to such an extent, however, that it will be more in the nature of a book containing over ar>0 pages, with the very fin# assistance of two JJ.Y.A. students, **• Maaeareky and Mr, Uitehell, we have compiled and will have *«&dy for publication this summer a Chronicle of English Judges, During the year, 2,960 volumes have been aooeseioned ** new items.

These added to the total shown in the last report

Qf June 17, 1935, after deducting 10 volumes as replacements *0 * 0 a total of 70,652 volumes in our law library,

*xm .

m have received 541 gifts during the past year. Most stable among these are the First Report of the haw Revision

Commission of New York, & case book and two treatlees - all by

Ambers of

out

own faculty.

These are mentioned in the order

in whioh they have been given to us.

They lnoluds the following»

First Report, Studies and Recommendations {1930) of the law Revision Commission of Sew York St•tej of which Dean 0. T. Burdick is the Chairman, and. Professor J. W. MacDonald la the executive Secretary and Director of lesesratu The second edition of a case book on Public Utilities,

by Professor 0. 8, Robinson.

The first two volumes of the second edition of Will1ston on Contracts, by Professor 0. J. Thompson, co-editor with Profssoor Willi stem.

A treatise on the taw of Corporations, by Pro­ fessor R. S. S t evens.

The list of donors, besides those already mentioned, ** eludest Professor 2. H, Toodruff, Ithaca, New York Ur. *, J. Marshall, Toledo, Ohio Hon. Jacob Gould sohurraan, Jr,, New Yor’ City Several t*«w libraries Many alumni and friends of the school.

The most important gifts are!

Complete verbatim typewritten copy of the record comprising the entire feabury Investiga­ tion - 35'vole.

Works of Jeremy Deaths® - 11 vole.

Brief* and records of the case of Horring-Ourtisa Company v Glen H. Curtiss, showing the early history of aviation.

Alabama * Attorney General Reports and Opinions - 6 vola Indiana * Tear hooks - 19 vols.

Iowa - Attorney General Reports - 30 vols.

Massachusetts - Attorney General Reports - 31 vole* Montana - Attorney General Reports and Opinions 8 vols, Penn sylvan! a - Workmen*® Compensation Board B©~ oialons - 16 vols, Pennsylvania - Workmen*• Compensation Board Bedslons of the Courts of Pennsylvania - 6 vols Virginia - Opinions of the Industrial Commission I S VOlft,

Washington - Industrial Insurance Commission Re­ port a - 9 vola.

R^a d i WO ROOM,

(State Reports and Text Books},

#c have ooncontrated on keeping this collection in as excellent shape as we can, as so realise that it is our Qhow room.

In view of thin fact, we have had sow© 200 vol­

t e s repaired at the bindery.

This has resulted in Baking a

better appearance, especially in our collection of Mew York Reports, which naturally suffer the greatest wear.

Our collection has been added to so that now we **e proud to Include the following separate sets* Louisians - Parish of Orleans, Court of Appeals B e d si one - 14 vols.

Massachusetts - Records and files of the Quarterly Courts of fsssx County, 16V1-1680 - 8 vols, Pennsylvania - Cadwalsder*s Cases - 2 vols.

Pennsylvania Corporation Reporter - 33 vols, Baldwin, Patent-Copyright-Trade Merk Cases - 10 vols, Ms have added the following important sets to our ^ U S h

and British Colonial Reports* Commercial Cases - 40 volt.

Mew Zealand Reports, 1934 to date.

The most notable addition to our text book oollootIon *® the Great Charter and Charter of the Foreat, toy William Bl&okstoae.

Burdick,

This was obtained iu England at the suggestion of This year has produced more pub lostions of

*®xt hooks and treatises than have up-eared in the past five years,

m regard the following as some of the more outstand­

ing additions, besides the important items already mentioned in the section devoted to gifts?

American law Institute - Restatement of Trusts, 3 vole, Beale - Conflict of laws, 3 vole.

Gordon - Corporate reorganisations, 3 vole, Jessup, Desk, Phillips, & Reeds - neutrality, 4 vols.

Jones - law of Bond® end Bond Securities, 3 vole.

S1®0» - law of Future Interests, 3 vole, Stevens - Cor-oration#.

Willieton & Thoeapeon - Contracts, 3»d. ©d.

Studies contained in the let and 3nd Reports of the law Revision Commission of Hew York State.

Verbatim Record, Briefs etc. of the Kauptman Case.

One of the most important additions, we feel, is the Purchasing of the Shepard* a Citations for the Rational Reporter System,

Tbie was an expensive undertaking, but we can distri­

bute the annual cost of the upkeep of this, by discontinuing •evernl of the Shepard’s citations for the smaller and less Important states,

The material needed for these etates can toe

fuund by tracing the citation to the reporter system.

The

Stations for the Rational Reporter System have gained stuoh Popularity already thru their very great us®.

^STRRHATIORAI 1AW ROOH. He have completed the rearrangement of the text books,

Periodicals, treatise, and proceedings which we began last year. «e are glad to e&y that they are placed In separate group* in alphabetical arrangement, thus making a much better general appearance and usability.

The Myron <3, Taylor league of Nations collection has received its regular additions plus several Items we have been able to locate on the Continent, which will help toward com­ pleting our collection,

te may now say that this finds us with

practically a complete set and that the items we need we be­ lieve can be located at some time which is not far distant.

The important addition to this field is the purchas­ ing of as complete a set of the Mandates Reports as we could obtain*

v® believe this is a very valuable set which lacks

only a very few items.

These reports will become scarcer each

?ear and contain much material that will be sought after by students in this field.

Information for reoaVloguiag has been obtained for •ach book in the collection.

**» tffiRJC LA* R m s i o s REPORT, 1935. $e are very pleased to add this volume to our collec­ tion.

we have had great financial access and won many friends

?°r the library thru exchanging copies of these reports with other law libraries,

^e have succeeded in obtaining state re-

p°rta, state session laws, bar association reports, periodiand miscellaneous material which we otherwise would have

forced to purchase.

The majority of these have entered

into a permanent exchange with us so that we loo* forward to keeping these arrangements in the future.

Possible exchange

Material is usually very scarce for a law library to have, consequently w® feel that by having these reports it gives U r a decided advantage.

Our firet year in dealing with these

has proven to be very satisfactory, and we look forward next Tear to have an even larger financial return thru this avenue °T exchange.

**®GAL P m o O X C A t S. Keeping in mind that our collection of legal perio­

dicals

has the reputation of being one of the best in the

Country, we give particular emphasis to obtaining complete files of all new publications.

This is particularly hard due to the

fa°t that some publications are not generally known of until they ceased operation end their issue# are out of print, fa«l that m

fe

have been particularly successful during the past

k«ar in making additions to this collection.

In merely naming

these it does not give an adequate idea of the effort we have *** to spend in locating these.

In some oases, we have had to

^goti&te for separate issues.

In others, we have had to photo-

•tat single issues lu order to complete a certain volume.

In

others, where the respective issue is very small, we have typed The following is a list of what we feel are very impor­ tant additions.

Alberta Law Quarterly Arkansas Lew School Bulletin, l enoh and Bar of Canada Bench and Bar of Minnesota Bench and Bar of Missouri China taw Review Connectlout taw Journal trie County Bar Bulletin Federal Register Journal of American Insurance Journal of the Cleveland Bar Association (Cleveland Bar Journal) Kansas City Bar Bulletin (we are in the midst of collecting our file of this).

Medico-Legal and Criminological Review Sew Haven County Bar Bulletin Hew Jersey Lawyer Ohio State Bar Association Bulletin Panel Probation Queens County Bar Hews Schuylkill Register Rorap* - Published by the U. 3, Attorney, Pout horn Dis­ trict, ?iew York* (This has appeared only in typewritten form and we have practically a complete collection due to a very concentrated effort).

Solicitor We have also completed the necessary arrangements so now receive the following new publication® which are currenti Hennepin Lawyer Human Side of the People’s Case - Published by the Hew York County District Attorney*s Office* John Marshall Law Quarterly Missouri Law Review Municipal Law Journal Trust Companies University of Pittsburgh Law Review we find that many of the more used law reviews are bearing out under constant service.

Re have thought to remedy

thle by looking out for duplicate numbers to replace these volby exchanging some of our duplicate periodical Material f°* those that we see we shall have a need for in the relative** hear future.

$e have been suooesaful in obtaining a sub-

•timti&l part of a set of the following periodicals!

California Law Review ColUBbia law Review Harvard law Review Illinois taw Review Michigan taw Review Minnesota Law Review (We have added a complete second set, plus additions toward a third set), tale law Review

ATTORHEY G1SWEHAL HEI GHTS A1ID 0PIH1OHS. We have found, as stated last year, that these reports end opinions are growing in importance very rapidly.

They have

not been treated very aerlovely by taw Librarians until the last five or ten years.

!eveml of the larger law libraries

Lav® made a concentrated effort to complete this material, and the demand has been Increased.

Our collection was coniinod

the Opinions of the Attorney General of the United States, »ew York, and Ohio.

I felt that this collection should be sub­

stantially Increased if we ever hoped to obtain them.

I have

heard several lawyers stake the statement thrt Opinions of the Attorney General have furnished them with a starting point on their case or else constituted the turning point for their viotory.

In ray opinion, this material will be invaluable in

the years to oorae.

There is no bibliography in this field, so conse$h©ntly wo had to grope in the dark*

behave solicited law

library friends, alumni of our school, ex-attorney generals,

Prominent raeiabers of the bar, and any other sources we 0 0 Id think of in an effort to locate copies toward completing a set for eneh state,

*he work became very detailed and infor* *

nation increased to the extent that I felt we could compile a bibliography.

This has resulted in locating items for our

collection which other libraries do not hare and really has K W e n us first hand knowledge.

We have progressed to the ex*

tent that we are completing our information in this field this Ussier and expect to have this published very early in the fall.

The bibliography has expanded so that it will be in the nature °f a book of over 3S0 pages* We are very proud to eay that our collection of Attorney General Reports and Opinions now consists of over 1*000 volumes,

We are of course Including* besides all of the

forty-eight states* Alaska* Hawaii, Philippine Islands* and Hico*

are pleased to have complete sets of Reports

ai*d Opinions of the Attorney Generals of the following statest Connecticut I ova Maryland Sew York

Ohio routh Dakota Tennessee United States

9 bave practically com letÂŽ sets ini Alabama Arizona Arkansas California Colorado

Georgia Idaho

Kansas Kentucky Montana Nebraska Nevada North Carolina Oklahoma

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Oregon Pennsylvania Vermont Washington west Virginia Wisconsin

Since Reports and Opinions are not published in tbe following states - Delaware, Missouri, Sow Jersey, and ^orte Island, we feel that we are progressing rapidly toward eompietion,

SAH ASSOCIATION REPORTS. Our collection of Bar Association Report# la about

a® complete a# It can uoeslbly be made.

vf© look a f©w of the

V;ry early uses and hare succeeded In locating leads on a few

0* these during the past year,

I &R convinced that some day

shall be able to obtain the Arkansas Bar Association BePorte for 1883, 1684, 1886, 1087, and 1889? and the Tennessee ^ar Association Reports for 1683, 1883, 1634, 1885, 1886, and

1887.

we hare copies looatsd, but it will require time to

°°®plete negotiations due to the owner* s wishing them to remain lb his library during his lifetime. ?e were rery pleased, however, to looate an early ^dbraska Bar Association Report and a Mew Heapshire, Grafton * Coos, 1886, 4th Report.

w© also were successful in obtaining

*® a gift a copy of the 1926 Mississippi Bar Association Report **!«r strenuous negotiating.

This bad seemed to be extremely

^®rd to obtain, and we are proud of the fact that it completes a ^bn of Mississippi item# from 1906 to date. we oan say that our collection of state bar asaociaJournals and review® is complete as far as we know. groun rapidly during the pest fire years, and m

They

hare kept

*&erfc to looat© these during their beginning* whleb la the troublesome period.

It stake© us feel that our collection of

this a&terial ranks as one of the best In the country.

•ttJ^IClAL QCMWtt REPORTS. At the beginning of the lest year, m

found that we

had no definite collection of Judicial Council Reports,

re

khew that this growing field would be an important one, so we *®lt that it wee very necessary to ooaplete a col motion of this ^terl&i.

There was no bibliography or list of thie material

inter than 1931.

fe therefore found that it was accessary to

deaplete a cheek list of all the items published to d&te, be­ sides gathering all of the Reports*

«*© are now very pleased

to ©ay that wc havsi a complete collect Ion in every detail of ^ H s material covering all the states.

We believe that it is

°ho of the very few collections in the country that Is com­ plete,

m had our check list of this Material published in the

n «a* Library Journal5*, vol. 39, January* 1336.

Ra i l r o a d ,

public u t i l i t y , aw d tax qchwxssio* reports.

Our collection of Railroad Commission Reports, t ub-

ll<5U tility Commission Reports, and Tar Coaalssion Reports is exactly ccaiplete.

Mo have been working on this to some

®*tent and are glad to report that we have made several iwporadditions.

We feel, however, that this w ill require oon-

°®htrated effort in each fie ld .

This w ill bo done at the

e&rllest possible moment, as this material is growing scarcer with the years.

We like to feel that our collections are com­

plete in every detail, because some day these items will be absolutely impossible to obtain.

We are glad to report that the following important items were added to our collection besides the annual reports} California - Railroad Commission Decisions - 38 vols.

Massachusetts - Railroad Commission Reports - 18 vols.

Nevada - Railroad Coramisson Reports - 15 vols.

South Carolina - Railroad Commission Reports - 5 vols.

Texas - Railroad Commission Reports - 10 vols, Wisconsin Railroad Commission Reports - 9 vols.

WORKMEN*S COMPENSATION AND INDUSTRIAL COMMISSION REPORTS. We were plessed to find that a bibliography of this ®aterial was published last summer in the "Law Library Journal". found that our collection was very brief.

This field is one

»?hlch is growing very rapidly in importance, so consequently we °oacentrated on this material last summer.

We are very pleased

with our success in locating practioally an entire collection, ^eluding gifts of sets running as high as 20 volumes eaoh, ^hru contacts we have established with other libraries and fiends.

There are several small items which we have been un—

able to obtain so far, but feel that we shall be able to locate "them in due course.

It gives us the satisfaction of having a

8®parate entity which we may now refer to as our collection ^

this field.

We are keeping this up to date and feel that

We have one of the few better collections that are In existence.

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SEira^rr

collect10

*.

Since my report for 1935, 159 Item® have been added to the Bennett Collection of Statute Law.

®e are reaching the

Point where the item® which we need are very rare and are dif­ ficult to obtain.

However, we have been fortunate In obtaining

*are volume* to add to the following oolleotionai Minnesota Worth Carolina Oregon South Carolina Tennessee

Arkansas California Florida Hawaii Indiana Iowa

are extremely proud of thie entity, end feel that we are P*egre«@ing toward having on® of the best collection® in the country,

we have the opportunity to add several acre valuable

ii®»® which we need as soon a® our finance® will permit.

The

hse of the inoome from the hind gift of Mr, Beimett ha® aided u ® materially when these rare items are offered.

The Complete Chech hist of Session Law® has been pub­ lished end we have completed the checking of all of our items, *'dch was started last year.

This work ha® made us realise that

ool loot ion is a fin® on# and has enabled us to ascertain *hat our definite wants are for each state.

The most important addition to this collection and to <*«■ library during the past year, I feel, i® the purchasing of *h original oopy of “The Lews of the Province of South Carolina'* f*om 1683 through 1784, inclusive, by Hiohola® Trott,

It con-

'aia8 a n of the Perpetual Act®, Temporary Acte, the Two Charter® °T King Charles II, and Act of Parliament Establishing agreement

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Lords and small Proprietors for surrendering of their title, Jt was printed by L e t s Timothy in Charles-Town, In 1?36» and *# folio in sire.

It Is a handsomely preserved volume and la

reputed to be one of the best examples of printing in this country.

$e feel that m

have a treasure in this volume and

are convinced that it is a great addition, besides supplying hll of the scarce and valuable early South Carolina session law®.

We have been able to purchase a photostatlo copy of Kearney* e Code (1846) of Sew Mexloo, xfoiofc has been distributed st a reasonable price by the Huntington Library of San Marino, California,

We have aleo purchased a photo reprint of the have

of Jefferson Territory, I860, also at a reasonable figure, noth these items having only two or three originals in existence, their value has consequently been very great.

We consider it

t® our good fortune to have these doplee,

TOPIC COURT OF APPEALS BRIEFS & IMITED STATES 3UPREMF. COURT BRIEFS,

m have wade great progress In our endeavor to com­ plete a card index file of the several hundred volume® eompriaour early collection of Hew York Court of Appeals Brief®, *ht® collection m s hopelessly inaccessible to a person in •ftsreh of these case®, because there wae no card index or labels °*» any of the volume® containing tft.

the material to be found there,

\?a have prepared card* for each case for which we have the

*®oord and brief®, giving Its aorroot report citation and refer. ®noe to the exact volume where the papers may be found.

15-

This

®®«n8 that we have had to do .very painstaking and easeful work* *® »re labeling each volume In addition with a specific number •° their propar order will be maintained*

It will enable m

to have this information in our main card catalogue when it la finished*

An Jf.Y* A. assistant has been doing this#

e are

looking forward to the completion of this work, we hope, by the and ©f another school year, if things progress as satisfactorily &* they have la the past.

The Court of Appeals Briefs alnoe

1935 are properly marked and collated in volumes according to their report citation and position*

tie have done the same with

the United states Supreme Court Briefs.

m have kept up to date the collating and binding of these briefs and records and are pleased to say that we have added 191 volumes of the U. B. Briefs and 332 volumes of H. T. Seurfc of Appeals Briefs to our shelves.

We feel that these are

***Y important aooeesions since they oontain the complete infor8**iton

as to the very Important oases which are being passed

^ o n by these courts during: these historic times.

awb

imp a i r s *

we have kept up to date all of the necessary binding of current periodicals and pamphlet material.

We have dlsocv-

**«d that an economical binding job on some of our Reports in th« Readily Hoorn, which are deteriorating very rapidly due to Ve*y heavy usage, will put them in shape for many more years of hard work.

We have us d this on ovar 350 volumes with the

*oeult that our Reading Hoorn has a much batter appearance, and *®Sfe collections as the low York Court of Appeal® Reports do a°t have such a dilapidated look.

During the summer we hope

*o check up on all of the books in the Heading Boo© which are in absolute need of repair eo that the general appearance of th® books will be in keeping with the fine Reading Room.

Thru

concentrated effort on Judicial Council Reports, Crists *

Oomraiaeion Reports, Code Comraission Report*, and Tax Commission Studies, we have located sufficient material so that most of i&et is now bound.

This gives us a much better way of preserv-

them for future use.

gloriole

or m o u r n vj#

judges.

have compiled a chronicle of English Judges during

school year.

It is a table of all of the judges of Ragland

Yrcms 605 A.D. to date.

The development of the high courts of

®%land is shown up to the Judicature Act, including the follow­ ing* Court of Chancery Court of Common Pleas Court of Kit^*» Bench Court of Exchequer Court of Admiralty, Probate, and Divorce List of Attorney-Generals List of Solioitor-Oener&ls **°:« the Judicature Act on, we have shown the judges of the H*gh Court of Justice including the divisions of Chancery; Klae ’» Bench; Probate, Divorce and Admiralty Division; Common ^eas; Judicial Committee of the Privy Council; Court of Appeal;

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ajad the House of Lords.

This accomplishment is the outgrowth of a suggestion of 0Qe of our alumni, Ur. £. J. Marshall, who thought such a collection would be very valuable and helpful, since there is 110 plaoe where this information can be found in one collection. has agreed to finance this, so we are looking forward to the Printing and publishing of it in bound volumes this summer.

We

***• k&d to oolleot our data from a great many sources, and it has taken very painstaking and careful work.

We hope that it

prove to be a valuable aid to those interested in legal history,

r ECa TALOGUIHG.

This project has progressed as reasonably as can be expected.

The results begin to appear when one examines our

w catalogue which is rapidly driving the old cards out of the drawers. ^a©r*.

The new guide cards are a decided aid to its many The printed Library of Congress oards have a distinct

V a n t a g e over the former ones written in longhand.

We deft*

a*teiy gee that we shall have to have additional space within 4 few years for its rapid growth.

The state reports, all of the United States Reports, at*onal Reporter system, Annotated Case Section, Loan Section Practically all of the text books in the Reading Room have °* been recatalogued.

Information for cataloguing has been

^herea for the books in the International Law Room and the

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Periodical collection.

f« have prepared want lists of all the

ehov® items which we need to complete our collect Iona In each ease.

The entire work l# la charge of the head cataloguer *kc derotes her entire tin© to the tael.

Haring no full time

**»lst&nte to do moeamry m«oh?jnloal work In ohtwining inf or­ a t i o n and having to aocession many hooks which hare never been entered, progress has not moved along as swiftly as we had de­ sired,

Accuracy and completeness are stressed rather than speed

*ad amount*

h.Y.A. assistants, however, hart been of some help.

conclusion, are grateful for the antlolpated increased approElation which will enable us to make more important additlona td our collectlone.

May 1 express ay sincere appreciation to

th« members of the library committee, and tc the entire law faculty for their cooperation and interest?

I also wieh to

hoknowiedg® the fine work and undivided loyalty of each member Gf ay staff without which these projects could not have been Accomplished.

Respectfully submitted,

lewis f. Morse, librarian.