Guides: Rinn Law Library Database List: Historical Resources

Historical Resources

Whether it’s Blackstone’s Commentaries or the foundational cases or modern law, common law systems trace their foundations to historical texts. These databases provide access to these authorities that ground our legal system.

Eighteenth Century Collections Online
A fully text-searchable corpus of books, pamphlets and broadsides in all subjects printed between 1701 and 1800. ECCO digitizes the eighteenth-century section of the works catalogued in the English Short-title Catalogue (ESTC).

Historical Statistics of the United States This link opens in a new window
Millennial edition, fully updated and revised from previous 1976 edition. Extensive and easy to use. Excellent source for immigration and population data.
Dates Covered: 1790-2000.
LLMC Digital This link opens in a new window
A growing collection of full-text government documents from the U.S. federal executive, judicial, and legislative branches, as well as British Canadian Common Law.
Making of Modern Law This link opens in a new window
American and British legal history from 1800 through 1926, including casebooks, works for lay readers, pamplets, letters, and speeches.
Dates Covered: 1800-1926.

Making of Modern Law: Legal Treatises 1800-1926
Provides digital images of every page of 22,000 legal treatises on US and British law published from 1800 through 1926.
Making of Modern Law: Primary Sources
Legal primary sources, such as early U.S. state codes, municipal codes, constitutional conventions and compilations, and other documents from 1620 to 1970.
Making of Modern Law: Trials, 1600-1926
The world's most comprehensive full-text collection of Anglo-American trials. Comprises thousands of books and pamphlets covering adultery, commercial law, conspiracy, constitutional law, crimes against persons, domestic relations, dueling, elections, impeachment, international law, land, libel, military offenses, murder, slavery, theft, torts, treason and wills, among many other subjects. Includes English-speaking jurisdictions such as the United States, Britain, Ireland and Canada, along with English-language titles about trials in other jurisdictions such as France.