Primary Source Databases/Web Archives

Please note: Within each category, the listings below are placed in rough chronological order.

Before 1600

  • Internet Ancient History Sourcebook: Legal Texts
    Large collection of translated sources and materials in the legal history of the ancient world, weighted toward the Mediterranean and the Near East, but including India, Japan, and China, and including links to other online primary sources archives.
  • Internet Medieval Sourcebook: Medieval Legal History, Paul Halsall, Fordham University
    Large collection of translated sources and materials in European legal history of the medieval period, including links to other online primary sources archives.
  • Bracton Online, Harvard Law School Library
    Full, searchable text of Bracton On the Laws and Customs of England in both English and Latin. Text can be viewed with English and Latin side-by-side, and includes footnotes in both languages.
  • The Anglo-American Legal Tradition: Documents from Medieval and Early Modern England from the National Archives in London, O’Quinn Law Library, University of Houston
    This site contains hundreds of digital images of various early English legal documents from the 13th to 17th centuries.
  • English Law Yearbooks, 1268-1535, David Seipp, Boston University
    An “index and paraphrase” of England’s main source for medieval legal proceedings, with 20,000 entries, 4,000 entries from 1399 onward.
  • The Parliament Rolls of Medieval England—1275-1504
    Searchable database of all parliamentary records from the medieval period.
  • Crime and Punishment, The National Archives (U.K.)
    Case studies of crime, strategies of crime prevention, and punishment from the thirteenth century to the present, with both selected primary sources and teaching materials.
  • Primary Sources on Copyright (1450-1900), University of Cambridge Law School
    Collection of images of primary sources in copyright history in Britain, France, Italy, Spain, German-speaking countries, and the United States. Most documents annotated with commentary and related bibliography of primary and secondary texts.
  • Early English Books Online, 1473-1800, Chadwyck-Healy
    Access to almost all English legal treatises and pamphlets about law from this period; requires institutional access.
  • Rare Book Collection, Yale Law Library
    Over 50,000 volumes, including the Blackstone Collection, collections in Anglo-American law, Roman and canon law, illustrated manuscripts, and other, more specialized collections. The law library maintains a Flickr page of digitized images from the collection, along with a “Rare Books Blog.”
  • Ames Foundation Digital Collection of Legal History, Harvard Law Library and the Ames Foundation
    A large collection of English legal history sources ranging from 1210-1604, including text searchable versions of the Bracton treatise, Early English Statutes, and an annotated index of Medieval law reports.
  • The Medieval Canon Law Virtual Library, David M. Freidenreich, Colby College
    Text searchable sources to study medieval canon law. Resource tab provides links to other medieval canon law repositories.
  • The Roman Law Library, Y. Lassard & A. Koptev
    Transcriptions of Ancient Roman legal sources, primarily in Latin and Greek but with some English translations.
  • Annotated Justinian Code, Fred H. Blume, University of Wyoming George W. Hopper Law Library
    English translation with annotations of Justinian Code by lawyer and Wyoming Supreme Court Justice, Fred H. Blume.
  • Civil Law, Common Law, Customary Law, University of St. Andrews
    Rich compilation of resources for understanding customary law in Europe: includes transcriptions of medieval legal texts, definitions, and Canterbury court records.

Post-1600, Britain and British Empire

  • Crime and Punishment, The National Archives (UK)
    Case studies of crime, strategies of crime prevention, and punishment from the thirteenth century to the present, with both selected primary sources and teaching materials.
  • Primary Sources on Copyright (1450-1900), University of Cambridge Law School
    Collection of images of primary sources in copyright history in Britain, France, Italy, Spain, German-speaking countries, and the United States. Most documents annotated with commentary and related bibliography of primary and secondary texts.
  • Early English Books Online, 1473-1800, Chadwyck-Healy
    Access to almost all English legal treatises and pamphlets about law from this period; requires institutional access.
  • Rare Book Collection, Yale Law Library
    Over 50,000 volumes, including the Blackstone Collection, collections in Anglo-American law, Roman and canon law, illustrated manuscripts, and other, more specialized collections. The law library maintains a Flickr page of digitized images from the collection, along with a “Rare Books Blog.”
  • Law Library Microform Consortium Digital Collections
    This primary source database contains some of the LLMC’s massive microform collection in an online format. Material online includes full text of many American and English legal reporters and much more; requires institutional access.
  • Internet Modern History Sourcebook: Constitutional States, Paul Halsall, Fordham University
    Collection of documents on early modern European constitutionalism, focusing on Britain.
  • The Proceedings of the Old Bailey, 1674-1834, Old Bailey Online.
    Essentially complete and searchable records of over 100,000 trials in this pivotal London court.
  • Dying Speeches and Bloody Murders: Crime Broadsides, Harvard Law School
    Digital collection of over 500 broadsides of “Dying Speeches,” ephemeral publications sold to audiences at public executions in Britain. Spans the years 1707 to 1891, with many of the broadsides depicting cases that were tried at the Old Bailey.
  • The Avalon Project, Yale Law School
    Extensive and searchable collection of documents in legal and diplomatic history, with a particular focus on England and the United States from the 17th through the 21st century.
  • Decisions of the Superior Courts of New South Wales, 1788-1899 Macquarie University Law School
    Subject searchable databases of cases and decisions from New South Wales, which are drawn from newspaper reports and manuscript sources.
  • Colonial Case Law, Macquarie Univ. Law School, Bruce Kercher
    An ongoing project to collect and digitize cases from British colonial courts, offering comparative perspective on the legal history of the British Empire. Weighted toward cases in New Zealand and Tasmania, with links to non-Macquarie sources. Links divided by colony.
  • The Making of Modern Law: Legal Treatises 1800-1926, Thompson Gale Resources
    Searchable subscription database of 22,000 legal treatises on American and British law.
  • Slave Registers of former British Colonial Dependencies, 1812-1834, Ancestry.co.uk.
    Genealogical site with data from the British national archives (Office of Registry of Colonial Slaves and Slave Compensation Commission: Records T71/553-564). For now, contains records on the enslaved and their owners in 1834 Barbados.
  • British and Irish Legal Information Institute.
    Full text of all British and Irish legal reports after 1996; provides numerous links to analogous legal information institutes around the world—includes historic cases with a particular emphasis on up to date contemporary case law.
  • Australasian Legal History Libraries, Australian Research Council
    Searchable resources related to Austalasian legal history, divided into three chronological segments: pre-1901, 1901-1950, and 1951-2000.
  • The Scottish Court of Sessions Digital Archive, UVA Law Library
    Avenue to explore Scottish Court of Session Papers such as petitions, answers, replies, and case summaries from the late 1750s to the late 1830s.
  • The Amboyna Conspiracy Trial, Adam Clulow
    Interactive site exploring the Amboyna Consiracy Trial, including relevant primary texts, with connections to the trial highlighted.

Post-1600, British North America, the United States, and Canada

  • Primary Sources on Copyright (1450-1900), University of Cambridge Law School
    Digitized primary sources related to copyright history in Britain, France, Italy, Spain, German-speaking countries, and the United States. Most documents annotated with commentary and related bibliography of primary and secondary texts.
  • Law Library Microform Consortium Digital Collections
    This primary source database contains some of the LLMC’s massive microform collection in an online format. Material online includes full text of many American and English legal reporters and much more; requires institutional access.
  • Rare Book Collection, Yale Law Library
    Over 50,000 volumes, including the Blackstone Collection, collections in Anglo-American law, Roman and canon law, illustrated manuscripts, and other, more specialized collections. The law library maintains a Flickr page of digitized images from the collection, along with a “Rare Books Blog.”
  • Online Library of Liberty, The Liberty Fund
    Full text access to several hundred classic texts of legal theory and constitutionalism, concentrated in the areas of early modern international law and the founding of the American Constitution.
  • The Avalon Project, Yale Law School
    Extensive, searchable collection of documents in legal and diplomatic history, with a particular focus on England and the United States from the 17th through the 21st century.
  • Archives of Maryland Online, State of Maryland
    Digitized versions of over 80 volumes of state legal records, concentrated in the colonial and early national periods, but extending well into the twentieth century.
  • Colonial Connecticut Records, 1636-1776, University of Connecticut series of public records of the Colony of Connecticut, Including the records of the colonial governing body, the May 1650 code of laws, Connecticut Charter, hosted on archive.org.
  • Salem Witchcraft Trials, University of Virginia
    Rich digital collection centered on the Salem trials of 1692, including full search transcriptions of court records. Also includes digitized Essex County Court Records from 1636 to 1686.
  • Famous Trials, Douglas Linder, UM-KC School of Law
    Extensive annotated primary source records of 80+ famous trials, from Ancient Greece to the present.
  • Chancery Records Index, Library of Virginia
    Over 200,000 digitized chancery court records from Virginia, providing insight into the lives of Virginians from the 18th century to the First World War; searchable by name, county or year.
  • Slaves and the Courts 1740-1860, The Library of Congress
    Digitized print material relating to law and slavery including trials, cases, reports, arguments, journals.
  •  Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation, The Library of Congress
    A voluminous, searchable collection of documents relating to constitutional, legislative, and administrative history of the federal government up to 1875, including: published records of the Continental Congress; Farrand’s and Elliot’s Debates of the Constitutional Convention; Journals of the House and Senate until 1873; compilations of all laws passed by Congress; records of Congressional Debates until 1875, with additional releases planned; the U.S. Serial Set and American State Papers, which together comprise House and Senate reports, and numerous executive reports to Congress.
  • John Jay Papers, Columbia University
    Thousands of digitized documents (mostly letters) from the papers of John Jay -- New York lawyer, politician, Governor, diplomat, and Supreme Court Justice.
  • The Pennsylvania Constitution Web Site, Duquesne University
    This site has the text of all five Pennsylvania state constitutions (1776, 1790, 1838, 1874, 1968), along with amendments, constitutional convention debates, and constitutional opinions from Attorneys-General.
  • History of the Federal Judiciary, Federal Judicial Center.
    A wealth of background information about the history of the U. S. federal courts, including brief overviews of institutional evolution for particular courts, biographies of federal judges, and some primary source materials, chiefly involving a selected set of famous American trials, and the text of pivotal judicial legislation.
  • The Making of Modern Law: Legal Treatises 1800-1926, Thompson Gale Resources
    Searchable subscription database of 22,000 legal treatises on American and British law.
  • Marriage, Women, and the Law, 1815-1914, Research Libraries Group
    Digital collection of primary and secondary sources on legal history of marriage, drawing on collections from seven libraries and archives in the U.S. and the U.K. (No longer online—historical record of project only...see links below)
  • Studies in Scarlet: Marriage & Sexuality in the U.S. and U.K., 1815-1914, Harvard Libraries
    Once part of a larger research initiative titled "Marriage, Women, and the Law, 1815-1914," this collection is now independently available online. Includes over 400 trial narratives from the Harvard Law School Library, mostly from American, British, and Irish cases. Includes trials from notable historical figures as well as accounts of ordinary people.
  • Women, Marriage and the Law, University of North Carolina Digital Collections
    North Carolina’s contribution to the Research Libraries Group initiative. Strongest in the antebellum and colonial periods; readily searchable by time period, subject, and location.
  • Nineteenth-Century Texas Law Online, 1822-1897, University of North Texas
    Digitized version of Gammel’s The Laws of Texas, including all acts of the Texas Legislature, many documents concerning Texas constitutional conventions, and state administrative papers.
  • Coles County Legal History Project, Eastern Illinois University
    A project to make nineteenth-century legal records from Eastern Illinois counties available on the web. Cases include both civil and criminal proceedings, from 1830 to 1899. Most entries in the databases include only extensive indexes of the actual records, which come from sixteen counties and are housed at the EIU Library.
  • Exploring Amistad, Mystic Seaport
    Digital archive of documents concerning the Amistad slave revolt, including many related to the legal proceedings that the revolt generated.
  • American Radicalism Collection, Michigan State University
    A collection of online documents, images, and pamphlets as well as references to offline sources about various organizations at the political extremes, including the Ku Klux Klan, the American Communist party, and the Black Panther Party.
  • Duluth Lynchings, 1920, Minnesota Historical Society
    Repository of legal and other documents surrounding the lynching of several black men in Duluth, Minnesota.
  • Nuremberg Trials Project, Harvard Law School Library
    Searchable database of thousands of documents concerning the Nuremberg trials of war criminals after World War II.
  • Joseph Berry Keenan Digital Collection, Harvard Law School Library
    Complete digitized correspondence of Joseph Berry Keenan, lead prosecutor in the Japanese War Crimes Trial; includes letters from Japanese and American citizens expressing opinions about the proceedings.
  • Oyez, United States Supreme Court.
    Online sound recordings of oral arguments before the US Supreme Court 1955-present.
  • Historical Publications of the United States Commission on Civil Rights, Thurgood Marshall Law Library, University of Maryland Online access to scores of publications by the USCCR.
  • The Legacy Tobacco Documents Library, University of California-San Francisco
    Searchable database of 7 million documents produced in discovery as a result of lawsuits brought against the tobacco industry. Site links to numerous other web repositories of documents related to tobacco litigation.
  • Litchfield Ledger, Litchfield Historical Society
    Database of primary sources and material culture relating to the students and instructors associated with Litchfield Law School and Litchfield Female Academy.
  • Litchfield Law School Sources, Yale Law School
    Digitized notebooks of students who attended Litchfield Law School and sources related to the school’s curriculum.
  • The O Say Can You See Project, Thomas III, William G., Kaci Nash, Laura Weakly, Karin Dalziel, and Jessica Dussault, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
    Interactive website about freedom suits in the early Washington, D.C. area, with mechanisms to explore case details, relation maps, and story maps.
  • The Supreme Court Mapping Project, University of Baltimore
    Maps track Supreme Court doctrine, including tracking citation networks to illuminate trends in precedent.
  • The Supreme Court Database, Washington University of Law
    Interactive website for analyzing components of Supreme Court cases from 1791-present.
  • American Predatory Lending, Ed Balleisen, Lee Reiners, Joseph Smith, Debbie Goldstein, and a team of students; Duke University, Bass Connections
    Repository of data visualizations, oral histories, and policy timelines/memos providing state-level context about the run-up to the Global Financial Crisis, with a focus on North Carolina.
  • American Legislation Project, Kellen Funk
    A compilation of public domain online sources for state session laws, journals, reports, and statutory compilations, from 1800-1920. Also includes a repository of state statutes ordered chronologically, with visualizations.
  • Probing the Past, George Mason University
    Virginia and Maryland Probate Inventories, 1740-1810, searchable by time period or by municipality/county.
  • Caselaw Access Project, Harvard Law School
    Searchable repository 360 years of British North American colonial and United States case law. Graphical visualizations of the use of words and phrases through time in over 6.7 million cases.
  • A Treasury of Primary Documents, Constitution Society
    primary source documents pertaining to Early American History, searchable by chronology or topic such as landmark cases, statutes, and codes.

Post-1600 Continental Europe

  • Primary Sources on Copyright (1450-1900), University of Cambridge Law School
    Collection of images of primary sources in copyright history in Britain, France, Italy, Spain, German-speaking countries, and the United States. Most documents annotated with commentary and related bibliography of primary and secondary texts.
  • Nuremberg Trials Project, Harvard Law School Library
    Searchable database of thousands of documents concerning the Nuremberg trials of war criminals after World War II.
  • German Law Archive
    Extensive, searchable database of German statutes and judicial opinions, translated into English, primarily from the post-World War II era.
  • Rare Book Collection, Yale Law Library
    Over 50,000 volumes, including the Blackstone Collection, collections in Anglo-American law, Roman and canon law, illustrated manuscripts, and other, more specialized collections. The law library maintains a Flickr page of digitized images from the collection, along with a “Rare Books Blog.”
  • Memorial de Ministros, Nuno Camarinhas
    Portuguese language source including biographical information on more than 6.000 judges who served the Portuguese crown both in mainland Portugal and in its overseas empire (1620-1830; Google translate version available in chrome).
  • Gulag: Many Days, Many Lives, George Mason University
    Oral histories, archives, and exhibits about the Soviet Gulag system.

Post-1600, Asia, Africa, and Islamic World

  • Internet Islamic History Sourcebook, Paul Halsall, Fordham University
    Large collection of translated sources and materials on Islamic history. Some legal texts relating to administration of the Ottoman Empire. More substantial collection of international law documents concerning relations of the Ottoman Empire and North African states to the West.
  • Joseph Berry Keenan Digital Collection, Harvard Law School Library
    Complete digitized correspondence of Joseph Berry Keenan, lead prosecutor in the Japanese War Crimes Trial; includes letters from Japanese and American citizens expressing opinions about the proceedings.
  • Traces of Truth: Documents Relating to the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission, University of the Witwatersrand
    Archive of selected documents from South Africa’s TRC.
  • SAHA Archive for Justice, South African History Archive
    Archive dedicated to documenting work of anti-apartheid activists and struggles for justice more broadly.
  • African International Courts and Tribunals, Project on International Courts and Tribunals
    Repository of treaties, conventions, and case law from post-colonial international judicial forums in Africa. In addition to selected primary source materials, includes concise historical overviews of tribunals, along with links to the official websites and bibliographies.
  • Interpreting the Declaration of Independence by Translation, Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media
    An offshoot of a Journal of American History roundtable on translations of the Declaration of Independence, including “naïve” retranslations back into English to capture changes.

    Post-1945 International Law

  • Project on International Courts and Tribunals
    Repository of treaties, conventions, and case law, dating from the 1990s, relating to a host of international judicial forums: the International Criminal Court, the International Court of Justice, the World Trade Organization, and the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes. In addition to selected primary source materials, includes concise historical overviews, links to official websites, and bibliographies.