Laughing at Law Codes: A French Tradition -- The Napoleonic Code in Verse

Code Napoléon mis en vers Francais / par B.-M. Decomberousse; orné de plus de 60 bois originaux de Pierre Noël; preface de Maurice Garçon (Paris: Editions d’Art de l’Intermediaire du Bibliophile, 1932-1933). Acquired with the Gary and Brian Bookman Literature and Arts Fund. The versified text of the French Code Civil (or Code Napoleon) was first published in 1811. The illustrations in this edition are by Louis Vergniaud Pierre- Noël, a Haitian artist and postage stamp designer who was married to Lois Mailou Jones, an important artist in the Harlem Renaissance.

“Laughing at Law Codes: A French Tradition,” curated by Mike Widener, is on display through Dec. 20, 2012, in Level L2, Lillian Goldman Law Library, Yale Law School.