Those who remember Professor Malcolm Sharp in class know that he was constantly making references to great books, new and old. It was his view that the ideas expressed in these books were relevant for analysis of the cases and doctrines he was teaching - even though few of the titles were law books. On the occasion of his retirement in , a group of current and former students created a book fund for the Law Library to acquire many of these titles.
Professor Sharp was requested to compile a list of them and the library used the donated funds to create the Malcolm Pitman Sharp Collection. The books are shelved by call number in the D'Angelo Law Library bookstacks.
Before perusing the list, note should be taken of Professor Sharp's comments. He started his list with "The two approximately contemporary books that have most affected me He specified the Anchor translation of the Bible for those books available in that edition. In his listing of Shakespeare he expressed particular interest in the Falstaff-Henry V group and Richard III, quoting Hudson, Shakespeare's editor, that "in history nothing is true but the names and the dates, in literature everything is true but the names and the dates.
I have refrained generally from listing books on sociology, economics, government, and law such as are in the School's Library, and have listed books also in Great Books and similar lists only as they have particular and often vivid significance on my experience. I inferred from what was said about the list that you wanted it to have a personal quality. The following list presents first a listing of those volumes the Law Library has acquired and second those which are not in the collection.
A recent gift in Professor Sharp's memory will now allow the Law Library to acquire these books. Adams, Henry. Mont Saint-Michel and Chartres.
