The Hugo Black Study at the Bounds Law Library
This post offers a glimpse into the home study of United States Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black through descriptions of its furnishings and numerous books. Several books illustrate Black’s significant interest in the classics while Martin Luther King, Jr.’s book, Stride Toward Freedom, provides an example of the many books Black received as gifts containing…
2018 Harper Lee Prize for Legal Fiction: An Exhibit
The winner of the 2018 Harper Lee Prize for legal fiction is C.E. Tobisman’s Proof.
In Memoriam, Donald Richard Bounds
We regret to report the passing, on June 22, of Donald Richard Bounds. In 1998 the Bounds Law Library was named in memory of Donald Richard Bounds, Jr. and Russell Hampton Bounds.
An Exhibit: Early Statutory Compilations and Codes
The books presented in this post may seem to be nothing more than dusty old lawbooks, but they are in fact the mortal remains of Alabama’s frontier period. The energetic, mostly young men who made up Alabama’s legislatures faced the issues—national and local—of Jacksonian America. In response they spelled out their attitudes, self-interests, and startling…
Tax Collection in 1818 Alabama
As tax day in the United States draws near, Litera Scripta highlights a territorial act that defined the assessment and collection of taxes 200 years ago in Alabama.
Alice in Court: An Exhibit Taken from Editions of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
The following post, “Alice in Court,” seeks to describe the legal aspects of one of the world’s great fantasy stories–Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll. The exhibit includes works in a Lewis Carroll collection assembled by Litera Scripta co-editor Paul M. Pruitt, Jr.
George Robertson and Book Consumers in Early 19th Century Kentucky
In an interesting 1820 letter from our collection, Kentucky lawyer George Robertson illustrates some of the difficulties of a book consumer on the expanding American frontier. The letter is a nice find. It involves one of the towering figures in Kentucky legal history at an early point in his life. It also shines a light…
