Tarlton Law Library Publishes Hoeflich Lecture on Subscription Publishing and the Sale of Law Books in Antebellum America

Excerpts from the press release:

On February 24th, 2004 Dr. Michael H. Hoeflich delivered the first Tarlton Law Library Rare Books Lecture, titled “Subscription Publishing and the Sale of Law Books in Antebellum America.” The text of Professor Hoeflich’s lecture is now available as the most recent publication of the Tarlton Law Library Legal History Series. The publication is available for $25.

In his lecture, Hoeflich examines how the subscription method fulfilled both the unique professional needs of early American lawyers and economic restraints of publishers. Additionally, he emphasizes the importance of subscription law publications for legal historians.

Hoeflich builds his case around several prominent subscription legal publications, including Bell’s Blackstone, Kirby’s Reports of Cases, Zephaniah Swift’s System of the Laws of Connecticut, Von Marten’s Summary, and Joshua Montefiore’s Commercial Dictionary. Publishers’ varied and creative methods of advertisement for these works receive special attention. Hoeflich examines the importance of subscriber lists as sources of information about the readership of early American legal texts as well.

Hoeflich’s lecture (and all other Tarlton publications) can be ordered online at http://tarlton.law.utexas.edu/pubs.html or by contacting Brian Quigley, Tarlton Law Library, Jamail Center for Legal Research, The University of Texas School of Law, 727 East Dean Keeton St., Austin, TX, 78705-3224; phone: (512) 471-6228; fax: (512) 471-0243, e-mail: bquigley@law.utexas.edu.

[JH]