SWALL Bulletin Summer 2001

Roy M. Mersky, Director of the Jamail Center for Legal Research, invites you to attend a special international conference in celebration of the library’s Millionth Volume. The Language & the Law Conference, which will be from December 6 – 8, 2001, will bring together some of the leading legal scholars in the world to discuss the impact of language on the law.

"We believe that this conference is of particular interest to law librarians because it will give them a unique opportunity to hear from prominent members of the world’s legal community," Professor Mersky explained. "The conference will also include original presentations about rare books and manuscripts that are sure to offer stimulating insights and observations on collecting."

The pre-conference workshop will be on "Collecting Law Books and Manuscripts" on December 6. Anthony Taussig, a London barrister who is probably the world's leading private collector of rare English law books and manuscripts, will be teaching this highly interactive workshop. "Because participation in this workshop is extremely limited, I urge you to register early," Professor Mersky said.

A number of illustrious speakers will be speaking at the Language & the Law Conference. Included among them are John H. Baker and Sir David Williams of Cambridge University; Peter Birks of the University of Oxford; Morris L. Cohen and Fred R. Shapiro of Yale Law School; Bryan A. Garner, editor of Black's Law Dictionary; Christopher Ricks of Boston University; Richard Weisberg of Cardozo Law School; and Victor Tunkel, Secretary of the Selden Society. These panelists will discuss topics as diverse as "The Evolution of Legal Lexicography," "The Plain Language Movement," and "The Law In Context."

The Language & the Law Conference is a celebration of the Jamail Center's symbolic Millionth Volume: namely, the first edition of John Rastell's Exposicions of (th)e Termys of (th)e Law of England which was printed in London about 1523. This book is a landmark not only in the history of English law, but in the history of the English language as well. It was the first dictionary of English law and the first dictionary of any kind in the English language. There are only two other known copies of this first edition, and both are at Cambridge.

A generous gift from the Jamail Center's namesake, Joseph D. Jamail, made this outstanding acquisition possible.

In addition, the Jamail Center for Legal Research has acquired an early Roman law dictionary as its symbolic Million-and-First Volume, which will be presented during the Language & the Law conference. The Vocabularius Utriusque Juris was published in Basel, Switzerland in 1488. This dictionary was a standard reference book in 15th-century European legal practice, and it is now the oldest book in the Jamail Center's Rare Book Collection. Several Law School alumni donated the funds to acquire this book: Bryan A. Garner, 1984, and his wife Pan Garner; Jenkins Garrett, 1937; the Hon. Joe R. Greenhill, Sr., 1939; Chauncey D. Leake, Jr., 1955; and Jenni Parrish, 1978.

A highlight of the Language & the Law Conference will be a formal presentation of the Millionth Volume and Million-and-First Volume, and recognition of the donors.

More information on the Language & the Law Conference—including the full program schedule, registration details, and contact numbers for the conference hotel—is available at http://www.law.utexas.edu/conference. Please note that there is a significant discount for registration prior to September 15, 2001, so it is advantageous to plan ahead.

If you have any questions or comments, please don't hesitate to contact Roy M. Mersky at (512) 471-7735 or by email at rmersky@mail.law.utexas.edu.