Just as 2013 marks 303 years since the creation of the Chair of Civil Law in Edinburgh, so it marks 300 years since the founding of the Regius Chair of Civil Law in Glasgow, created probably in emulation of that in Edinburgh, though the Glasgow chair was not filled until 1714.

Many years ago, when your blogger was working on the history of legal education in Glasgow, he searched for notes by William Forbes, the first Professor, on Civil (i.e. Roman Law). These had been mentioned in a secondary source, but your blogger, even with the excellent professional help of the Special Collections staff in Glasgow University Library, failed to locate them. This is why it gives him great pleasure to report that his good friend Professor Ernest Metzger, Douglas Professor of Civil Law in Glasgow, together with Robert Maclean of the Glasgow University Library, has identified these notes.

There is an excellent Blog entry at http://universityofglasgowlibrary.wordpress.com/2013/07/09/forbess-manuscript-commentary-on-justinians-institutes-rediscovered-in-tercentenary-year/

There is no need here to duplicate the content there. But this is a splendid discovery.

Jul 10, 2013