Rare Book Monthly
Book Catalogue Reviews - June - 2007 Issue
Law and Legal History from The Lawbook Exchange
Mary Harris was acquitted of murdering her two-timing fiancée.
The League of Nations was President Woodrow Wilson's dream to help secure peace in the world. It was his greatest disappointment that he was unable to overcome Republican opposition to the League. The result was that the U.S. never joined. What is rather surprising is that one of the biggest promoters of the League besides Wilson was his Republican predecessor as President, William Howard Taft. Taft spoke energetically in favor of the League, all to no avail. His support is documented in Taft Papers on the League of Nations, published in 1920. The following year, Taft was appointed Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, where he served for ten years almost until his death. Item 193. $150.
Item 46 consists of two 1726 works on Massachusetts laws, bound together: The Charter Granted by Their Majesties King William and Queen Mary, to the Inhabitants of the Province of the Massachusetts Bay... and Acts and Laws of His Majesty's Province of the Massachusetts-Bay... The Lawbook Exchange notes that it provides insights into the colony's attitude toward "Indians, Free Negroes, piracy, buggers, bestiality, incest, Jesuits and Popish priests, the killing of bastard children by their mothers, misspending money in taverns, keeping the Lord's day, adultery, polygamy, and many other social and political topics." $3,500.
The Lawbook Exchange may be found online at www.lawbookexchange.com, telephone 732-382-1800.
