John Jay, John Marshall, Roger Taney, Salmon P. Chase, Oliver Wendell Holmes and William Howard Taft.  All members of the United States Supreme Court. But you knew that. They are only a few of the justices highlighted in a new on-line exhibit. Featured are some of the notable portraits and documents available in the United States Supreme Court: Portraits and Autographs collection at the University of Chicago D’Angelo Law Library.  The exhibit also provides some resources for further research.

This exhibit is based on a bound collection of manuscripts donated by Louis Silver (JD ’28). Silver was a noted rare book and manuscript collector. He gave the collection to the Law School in the late 1950’s. According to exhibit creator, Mary L. Shelly, the collection contains at least one letter or signed document from every Supreme Court Justice from John Jay to Edward Douglass White.  It also contains signed documents from most of the Justices from White to William Howard Taft. Plus there are sixty signed miniature portraits of the Justices by Philadelphia artists Max and Albert Rosenthal.  Go to Exhibition.

Many of the justices use an autopen. For an analysis of the justices and their autopen signatures see Trent McCotter’s article, Supreme Court Autopens, found in volume 69, Issue #3 of the society journal, Manuscripts (2017).  [Society members can access the article in their copy of Manuscripts or in the archive in the Members Only Section of this website.]

Thanks to society member Edward Bomsey for the heads up on this wonderful On-line Exhibition.

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