Call Number:

Ms. Coll. 1357

Repository:

University of Pennsylvania: Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts

Extent:

3 boxes (.50 linear foot)

Language:

English

Preferred Citation:

Ms. Coll. 1357, Birmingham Law Students' Society records, 1857-1894, Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts, University of Pennsylvania

Date:

1857-1894 (inclusive)

Creator:

Birmingham Law Students' Society

Form:

Manuscripts, English -- 19th century, Menus, Clippings (information artifacts), Blank forms, Programs, and Administrative records

Abstract:

Four volumes spanning the years from 1857 to 1894 concerning the Birmingham Law Students' Society in England. The Society was founded in 1848. The volumes contain printed meeting agendas, moot court subjects, lists of members, programs, menus, and tickets. A handwritten catalog of the Society's library is included.

The Birmingham Law Students' Society was instituted in 1848 in Birmingham, England. The mission of the society was the advancement in the knowledge and study of the law. Eligible members of the society included any man studying for the bar, serving in a clerkship, or has not been a barrister or attorney for more than three years. There were honorary members, corresponding members, and members. Meetings of the society posed questions and moot points. There was a nominal subscription fee.

Comprises four volumes concerning the Birmingham Law Students' Society spanning the years from 1857 to 1894. Volume 1 contains 268 printed meeting agendas from February 1857 to October 1871. The meetings were held approximately every fourteen days and each meeting included a question and a moot point of law. The agendas are pasted in a ruled blank book. Many have hand written notations and noted results of the moot point of law. The moot points are numbered sequentially from 215 to 483. Volume 2 spans the years from 1888 to 1894 and contains printed agendas for society meetings pasted in an oversize volume. Also included are printed lists of members, programs, menus, and tickets for mock trials and annual dinners. Blank order forms for the annual dinners and mock trials accompany some agendas. Additionally, there are newspaper clippings regarding the mock trials. Volume 3 has a deconstructed printed society booklet published in 1866 pasted in a blank volume. The booklet contains a list of members, rules of the society, catalog and rules of the library, and a list of books missing from the library. The leaves are annotated and some are some marked with blue pencil. Some blank leaves have handwritten notes or lists. Volume 4 has a stamped cover: Birmingham Law Student's [sic] Society Catalogue, 1872. The volume comprises a handwritten Catalogue of the library in the following arrangement: Reports, Abridgments and digests, Treatises, Specific subjects of treatises, and List of books missing from the library. A notice asking for the return of missing books is written preceding the list. Each work listed includes the author, title, date of publication, and number of volumes. Volume 2 has a detached cover and cracked spine.