UNT web site adds 19th-century Texas laws

Hans Gammel rescued the remains of most of Texas' 19th-century legal documents from the State Capitol fire of 1881. His restoration of those legal documents into the book The Laws of Texas created a key state history resource.

Now UNT is preserving Gammel's work by digitizing these documents and keeping them on a new web site. The UNT library has digitized volumes 1-10 of these records (1822-1897). The laws cover Texas history from colonization to statehood during some of the state's most tumultuous times. Within The Laws of Texas are documents from each congressional and legislative session, constitutions, constitutional convention journals and early colonization laws.

The digitization project was sponsored by a grant from the TexTreasures Program, says Cathy Hartman, the UNT librarian in charge of the project.

Since these volumes have never been reprinted despite their importance to researchers, web access provides legal historians and Texas historians with a unique opportunity. All of the pages are available in portable document format. Users can browse Gammel's work by volume or perform a keyword search.

To view the web site, go to texinfo.library.unt.edu/lawsoftexas.

BY RUFUS COLEMAN rcoleman@unt.edu

Other web resources:

• Gammels laws

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