Law Library Reading Room

About the Law Collections

With approximately 2.5 million volumes, the Law Library’s collection of primary and secondary sources constitutes the largest legal collection in the world.
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Rare Book Collection

The Law Library’s collection of rare books consists of approximately 25,000 volumes of books and bound manuscripts, many issued prior to 1801.
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Microtext Collection

The Law Library Reading Room contains a variety of legal and legislative materials from around the globe in microfiche, microfilm and ultrafiche.
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Digitized Collections

The Law Library continues to digitize legal and legislative materials to help users gain access to important historical documents.  Our collections include:

  • Century of Lawmaking
    Full-text access to the laws, bills and resolutions, treaties, debates and journals of the first 43 Congresses.
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  • Congressional Hearings
    Full-text access to historical Congressional committee hearings on a variety of topics.
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  • Legal Blawgs
    Access the web archive of more than 100 legal blawgs.
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  • Digitized Books
    Our digitized collection includes rare material on Abraham Lincoln, John Adams, piracy trials, and other.
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Last Updated: 11/01/2012