Grotius Collection

A child prodigy who could write Latin verse at the age of 9, by his 21st year, Hugo Grotius had already formulated the principles of thought which would find expression years later in his De jure belli et pacis (1625), the most influential legal treatise of his time. Considered the first definitive text on international law, it is also one of the first attempts to formulate society and its institutions on a principle of right as a law of nature, outside of the Church and the Bible.

Among his other legal works the most notable is his Mare liberum (1609). In this work Grotius maintained that the high seas are free and that no country could lay claim to them. This thesis was attacked by John Selden in Mare clausum (1636). The Law Library has a nearly comprehensive collection of Grotius's legal writing, including copies of over 80 editions of De jure belli et pacis printed before 1800.