UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS LAW LIBRARY INAUGURATES
LEGAL HISTORY PUBLICATION SERIES
AUSTIN, TEXAS -- The Jamail Center for Legal Research has launched the Tarlton Law Library Legal History Series with an illustrated essay about an illustrated medieval legal manuscript.
"The Illustrations of the Sachsenspiegel: A Medieval German Law Book", is by Guillermo F. Margadant, Mexico's leading legal historian. Margadant guides the reader through the striking and unusual visual symbols used to illustrate legal points in the Sachsenspiegel, or "Mirror of the Saxons."
The Sachsenspiegel was originally written in the 13th century and was cited in German case law until the early 20th century. It covered everything from legal procedure to feudal law and family law.
The publication includes 16 illustrations from the Wolfenbuttel Sachsenspiegel, one of four 14th-century illustrated manuscripts of the law code which survive. In an essay that is both scholarly and entertaining, Margadant shows how the illustrations and the text are intimately related, and how they provide a window on society and politics in medieval Germany.
The author, a Professor Emeritus at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, was a visiting professor at the University of Texas School of Law for over a decade. "Professor Margadant has been both an active user and a generous supporter of our Law Library for many years," said Professor Roy M. Mersky, director of the Jamail Center for Legal Research. "As a result, I'm delighted that our Legal History Series begins with a publication of his."
Margadant is the author of the standard textbook on Mexican legal history, now in its 12th edition, and is an internationally recognized authority on Mexican, Spanish, Roman, canon, and Japanese law. Two Mexican presidents have honored him for his professional and academic accomplishments.
The Tarlton Law Library Legal History Series plans to publish a wide range of texts, including historical essays, oral history interviews, annotated bibliographies, and unique documents.
"If there is a common thread between Professor Margadant's essay and those that follow in this series, it is to show the importance of libraries and archives for legal history," said Mersky. "I hope the series will inspire others to explore the rich sources of our legal heritage, and to share the riches with others through their writings."
"The Illustrations of the Sachsenspiegel" is published in an edition of 500 copies. Copies may be purchased for $15 via the Jamail Center's publications website, at <http://www.law.utexas.edu/pubs/order.htm>, or by contacting the Publications Coordinator (Publications Coordinator, Jamail Center for Legal Research,University of Texas School of Law, 727 East 26th St., Austin, TX 78705-3224; phone 512/471-7726; fax 512/471-0243).
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Tarlton Law Library Legal History Series, No. 1:
Margadant, Guillermo F. THE ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE SACHSENSPIEGEL: A
MEDIEVAL GERMAN LAW BOOK. Austin, Tex.: Jamail Center for Legal
Research, 2000. 36 pages. ISBN: 0-935630-5388. Price: $15.00