Curated Themes offer researchers different thematic entry points into the Court of Session cases offered in SCOS. By bringing cases together under common headers often distinct from a case’s legal subject, these curated themes are designed to provoke new questions and new ways of thinking about Session Papers as a form of historical evidence.
The UVA Law Library acquired its Session Papers in the-mid 1980s. The collection guide provides a general overview of the documents in the library’s collection.
SCOS provides access to digital copies of Session Papers held by the UVA Law Library and the Library of Congress. Search through the holdings of each institution by archival box or bound volume.
SCOS’s mission is to encourage new Session Papers-based research into the history of the British Atlantic world. The scholarship page features blog posts by SCOS team members on recent research into Session Papers, project updates, and new insights into the people and places identified in the collection.
The Court of Session and Session Papers have a long and fascinating history. This essay offers a simple introduction to the Court, litigation before it, and the creation, collection, and curation of Session Papers in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. It also serves as a road map for how to use the documents in this digital archive and provides a reading list for further exploration.
