INCUNABULA

The Law Library owns more than 50 incunabula, the earliest printed books produced before 1501. Among these are some of the treasures of the collection: Coutumes d'Anjou et du Maine (Paris, 1486), an early coutume of which only two other surviving copies appear to exist, at least one of which is incomplete; Le Songe du Vergier (Paris, ca. 1500), treating issues of church and state; and Modus Legendi Abbreviaturas in Utroque Iure (Strassburg, 1494), a work with beautiful hand-colored illuminations on latin legal abbreviations used in Roman and canon law. Other treasures include two incunable editions (1494 and 1500) of the Malleus Malleficarum ("The Witch Hammer"), an early work on criminal law and criminal procedure, devised during the Inquisition to assist the Inquisitors in identifying, prosecuting, and killing witches.