Thursday, May 13, 2010

The Gallery of Unusual Law Books

Think the Law Library is full of dusty and boring books? Well…okay, we have 600,000 volumes, and we can’t pretend that every single one of them is filled with excitement. But every so often, something fun and different finds its way to our shelves, like last year's noteworthy Killer Robots or the latest novels in the Cox Collection.

Searching the Duke University Libraries’ online catalog for whatever strikes your fancy can yield some interesting surprises. Here’s a selection of the more unusual books which have arrived in the last few weeks.
  • The Law and Harry Potter (Cox Collection PR 6068 .O93 Z7565 2010) : Is Sirius Black a classic case study in wrongful conviction? What does Gringotts teach us about banking regulation? And how does Hogwarts’ culture compare to the typical law school learning experience? These questions and more are tackled in this collection’s 22 chapters from a variety of wizard-loving law professors, practicing lawyers, and economists.
  • Law and Magic: A Collection of Essays (K487.M33 L39 2010) is aimed more at the Muggle crowd, but offers 24 chapters on the intersection between magic (both modern & historical) and the law, including: how intellectual property can (or cannot) protect magicians’ stage tricks, an animal rights perspective on pulling rabbits from hats, and a comparative perspective on historic witchcraft trials.

    If this title particularly appeals to you, keep up with the latest developments on the topic at the Law & Magic Blog.
What’s the most unusual title you’ve found in the Law Library’s collection? Go on, give it a try.