Harvard Law School Library pass issued to Frederic Dodge, 1868

  • HLS Library pass_1868_HOLLIS 2080846_recto.tif

    Harvard Law School Library Pass, 1868 (front)

    Front image of an HLS LIbrary Pass issued to Frederick Dodge in 1868.

  • HLS Library pass_1868_HOLLIS 2080846_verso.tif

    Harvard Law School Library Pass, 1868 (back)

    The back of the pass contains a list of dates for “Law School Bills” written by Dodge.

  • HLS Catalog_1867-68_detail p16_HOLLIS 011365376.tif

    Harvard Law School Catalog, 1867-1868, detail of page 16

    This excerpt from the catalog provides a brief description of the Library’s holdings during Frederic Dodge’s junior year.

Red Set Small Manuscript Collection
HOLLIS 2080846

This library pass, issued to Harvard Law School (HLS) student Frederic Dodge (LL.B. 1869) in 1868, provided access to a library very different from the library of today. That library, then on the first floor of Dane Hall and managed by a single librarian, contained 15,000 volumes (compared to today’s 2 million). In 1868, the Library held “a large collection of Scotch [sic], French, German, Dutch, Spanish, Italian, and other Foreign Law.” It did not hold anywhere near the volumes from over 250 jurisdictions of foreign and international law that are here today. Students like Dodge, who went on to be a federal judge, were encouraged to use the Library for study and particularly to prepare for moot court cases.