Law Library Gifted Professor Guido Calabresi’s Papers

Sterling Professor Emeritus of Law Guido Calabresi ’58 has donated his extensive collection of papers to the Lillian Goldman Law Library, enabling future generations of scholars to draw from his decades of scholarship and judicial experience.

The collection given by Guido — as he is known to all — is a culmination of a remarkable career spanning more than 70 years of active scholarship and consisting of records from his time as a Law School faculty member, former dean, and federal appeals court judge, including writings, lectures, and judicial and personal papers.

In addition to paying homage to Guido’s scholarly legacy, the papers shed light on his earlier — and perhaps lesser known — years as a child in New Haven and student at Yale. Carefully preserved in stationary boxes, Guido saved a “Life Scout” certification he received from the Boy Scouts of America in 1946, a certificate he won in the Time Current Affairs Contest at Hopkins Grammar School in 1949, and his acceptance letter from Yale College. He also documented his admission to the Law School as well as his grades, his election to a Rhodes Scholarship, and his admission to the Connecticut Bar.

The acquisition comes a few years after Guido expressed interest in donating his papers to Yale University, which at the time was unable to house such a gift. Thanks to the appointment of Linda Hocking — Archivist for Law Collections at the Lillian Goldman Law Library — in 2024, the Law Library was able to accept his papers. With the addition of an archivist, the Law Library’s special collections is able to expand beyond existing rare book and small manuscript collections and add larger collections of faculty papers. The Law Library has a repository in the Archives at Yale database where Hocking will create finding aids for these collections. Once complete, they will be searchable there and in Quicksearch. Law Library staff are also working to establish collection development guidelines for future acquisitions within existing space and staff constraints.

Hocking’s archival work is, in part, generously supported by additional philanthropic gifts made by Guido and his wife, Anne Gordon Audubon Tyler.

The Law Library is thrilled to add Guido’s papers to its special collections, especially considering his multifaceted experience with Yale University as a student in Yale College and as a Law School student, faculty member, and former dean, said Hocking.

“Guido Calabresi is a preeminent legal scholar of our times, and his scholarly contributions are widely known in legal circles in the United States and beyond,” said Femi Cadmus, Law Librarian and Professor of Law at Yale Law School. “His papers will be sought after at the Law Library by legal scholars and researchers and draw attention to our rich and extensive historical legal collections.”

Guido’s extensive collection will be available for research at the Law Library posthumously following several years of processing.

“I hope that the collection and keeping of my papers will be only one of many from our fantastic faculty,” said Guido.

Select items will be included in a broader exhibit featuring new acquisitions in 2026.