John Grobler
Staff moving into the new Namibian Supreme Court building have discovered a treasure trove of ancient German and Roman Dutch Law books, many dating back to the early 1600s, stuffed in boxes and kept inexplicably in a cellar.
The collection of about 3 700 books includes rare books such as a much-handled copy of Hugo de Groot’s (Grotius) introduction to Dutch Law, printed in 1706, as well as beautifully illustrated Roman Law texts. Many books appeared to have been sold and resold, judging by the different names and dates written on the title pages.
Another copy of Grotius’s books is dated 1608 – with several names inscribed on the title pages over the course of nearly 400 years. It is bound in parchment, now becoming increasingly brittle and frayed after careless handling. Like many of the oldest examples among the collection, it was written in Latin and printed by the famous Wittenberg press on what appears to be rice paper.
“I have no idea of how to deal with the books, as many will have to be restored,” said Supreme Court librarian Jill Stringer.
“They arrived here in dusty old boxes, and we did not know what they were until we started unpacking them.”
One relatively well-preserved example was written by a Baron von Puffendorf, “Counsellor of State to the late Swedish Majesty and the late King of Prussia”, and is titled Puffendorf’s Law of Nature and Nations – Fourth Edition, Carefully Corrected and Translated from the Best Edition.
The preface is addressed to “The Right Honourable Sir Nathan Wright, Knight and Lord-Keeper of the Great Seal of England”.
Stringer, who assumed her post just last week, appeared a little under-whelmed by the find.
“Oh, this is actually a new book – it’s from 1743,” she said as she waded through the piles and piles of books in her office.