Collection Guide
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Supreme Court of California Library Records
MSS 1505
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Table of contents
Contributing Institution:
CJCL Special Collections and Archives
Title: Supreme Court of California Library Records
Identifier/Call Number: MSS 1505
Physical Description:
7.8 linear feet
(6 document boxes, 5 flat boxes)
Date (inclusive): 1880-1998
Language of Material:
English
Collection is open for research upon approval of written request. Requests should be submitted to: California Judicial Center
Library, Special Collections and Archives, 455 Golden Gate Avenue, Room 4617, San Francisco, CA, 94102-7013, or by e-mail
to archives@jud.ca.gov. All researchers must sign the California Judicial Center Library Special Collections Access Agreement
form. This agreement can be sent electronically by request. Records in the collection may contain confidential information,
as defined in the Access Agreement. Publication or disclosure of such information is strictly prohibited.
Administrative Records (Series 1) contain confidential internal Supreme Court of California communications. This series is
restricted and closed to research use.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
This assembled collection is derived from a number of sources. Most materials were created or collected by California Supreme
Court librarians between 1908 and 1998. Justice Raymond Peters papers were transfered to the head librarian by Justice Peters.
Additional materials were donated in 2018 by a former staff librarian.
The collection is arranged into five series: 1) Administrative Records, 1906-1998; 2) Collection Records, 1908-1991; 3) Archives,
1938-1987; 4) Supreme Court of California Library Centennial Records; and 5) Articles and Publications, 1943-1984.
[Identification of item]; California Supreme Court Library Records, MSS 1505; [box number, folder number]; California Judicial
Center Library.
The collection was processed by staff archivist Marie Silva in 2024.
The Supreme Court of California Library Records, dated 1880-1998, contain administrative, collection-related, and historical
records created or collected by California Supreme Court librarians between the years 1908 and 1998. Collection records include
accession records, ledgers, catalogues, inventories, and distribution lists, dated 1908-1991, documenting the library's holdings
and the head librarians' efforts to rebuild the collection after the original library was destroyed by the 1906 earthquake
and fire. The collection also includes archival records collected by court librarians prior to the establishment of the California
Judicial Center Library's Special Collections & Archives unit in 2001. These archives include 1972 correspondence received
by Associate Justice Raymond Peters from the public concerning the court's death penalty ruling in
People v. Anderson (1972) 6 Cal.3d 628. Centennial records, dated 1880-1968, were collected by the head librarian to celebrate the library's
100-year anniversary. Included in this series are the 1880 rules of the California Supreme Court in manuscript form; director's
correspondence related to historic events; 1927 correspondence with the clerks of other state Supreme Court clerks regarding
the custom of wearing judicial robes; and library planning records.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
California. Supreme Court -- History