In response to concerns about the spread of the COVID-19 virus, the Harvard Law School Library, including Historical & Special Collections (HSC), is closed to visitors until further notice. HSC staff are responding to research queries and holding research appointments remotely, but reproduction services will be limited. Please email specialc@law.harvard.edu with any questions or concerns. If you are a Harvard Law School student or faculty member, we will do our utmost to support your research and teaching needs remotely. Please email us and we will do our best to help.

Open to all researchers regardless of their affiliation, Historical & Special Collections houses one of the world’s most comprehensive collections of research materials for the study of legal history. Its chief mission is to acquire, catalog, preserve, and make available to researchers materials that document the history of the law in general and of Anglo-American law in particular. Historical & Special Collections holds nearly 3,000 linear feet of manuscripts, over 100,000 rare books, and more than 70,000 visual images.