General Research
Start with the Georgetown Law Library web page. Here you can search the library's catalog, the many electronic databases available, do a Google search, and access other electronic resources available through the main campus library. You can use FirstSearch to locate books on juries and on more specific materials within the subject (i.e., criminal juries, trials at nisi prius, hung juries, etc.), a specific time period, a specific place, or comparatively (i.e., jury trials in the United States and England, or France, Germany, etc.).
Periodical Literature
With some topics, a wealth of secondary information is available in law journals and historical or social sciences scholarly journals. A select few are listed here to demonstrate the importance of searching the periodical literature, using Lexis-Nexis, Westlaw, HeinOnline and Index to Legal Periodicals, but also J-Stor, Academic Search Premier and Project Muse to name a few indices.
Sarah M. Butler, Degrees of Culpability: Suicide Verdicts, Mercy, and the Jury in Medieval England, 36 J. Medieval & Early Mod. Stud. 263 (2006).
James Oldham, The History of the Special (Struck) Jury in the United States and Its Relation to Voir Dire Practices, the Reasonable Cross-Section Requirement, and Peremptory Challenges, 6 W.& M. Bill Rts. J. 623 (1998).
James D. Rice, The Criminal Trial Before and After the Lawyers: Authority, Law, and Culture in Maryland Jury Trials, 1681-1837, 40 Am. J. Legal Hist. 455 (1996).
Charles W. Wolfram, The Constitutional History of the Seventh Amendment, 75 Minn. L. Rev. 639 (1973).
A selection of a few other good secondary sources for legal history is listed below. To find others, use FirstSearch and subject headings English legal history, etc.
INTL
KD532 .B34 1990
John H. Baker, An Introduction to English Legal History (London; Boston: Butterworths, 3d ed. 1990).
This book concentrates on the history of law in England up to the 20th century. It also includes a list of regnal years (important in finding statutes and cases), and a good bibliography on specific areas of law in England that is very helpful in narrowing a topic.
INTL
KD720 .S6 1986
John H. Baker & S.F.C. Milsom, Sources of English Legal History: Private Law to 1750. (London: Butterworths, 1986).
INTL
KD6913 .C6
John S. Cockburn, A History of English Assizes, 1558-1714 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1972).
INTL
KD530 .C34 1996
Michelle Cale, Law and Society: An Introduction to Sources for Criminal and Legal History from 1800 (Kew, Surrey, England: PRO Publications, 1996).
INTL
KD6913.C6
James S. Cockburn, A History of English Assizes, 1558-1714 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1972).
INTL
KD532 .C67 2004
Daniel R. Coquillette, The Anglo-American Legal Heritage: Introductory Materials (Durham, N.C.: Carolina Academic Press, 2d ed. 2004).
INTL
KD671.A7 F5 1970r
C.H.S. Fifoot, History and Sources of the Common Law (New York: Greenwood Press, 1970) (Reprint ed. of 1949 ed.).
INTL
KD606 .G75 1995
Bill Griffiths, An Introduction to Early English Law (Norfolk: Anglo-Saxon Books, 1995).
INTL
KD532.H58 1966r
William S. Holdsworth, A History of English Law (16 vols. London; Methuen: Sweet and Maxwell, 1966).
Consult Holdsworth when choosing a topic or clarifying obscure legal words. Each volume is chronological from medieval times to 1875. The last volume is the index volume. It is also a good source of primary and secondary sources.
INTL & SPECL
KD530 .H6 1925
William S. Holdsworth, Sources and Literature of English Law (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1925).
INTL
KD554 .K96 2000
Kurt von S. Kynell, Saxon and Medieval Antecedents of the English Common Law (Lewiston, N.Y.: Edwin Mellen Press, 2000).
REF, INTL & SPECL
K38 .M37 1953r
J.G. Marvin, Legal Bibliography, Or A Thesaurus of American, English, Irish, and Scotch Law Books (Buffalo, N.Y.: Dennis 1953) (reprint of Philadelphia: T & J.W. Johnson 1847).
A very good albeit old resource on mostly English materials, but with a decent coverage of American law. Also available online at HeinOnline.
REF, INTL REF & SPECL
KD51 .L4
W. Harold Maxwell & Leslie F. Maxwell, A Legal Bibliography of the British Commonwealth of Nations 8 vols. (London: Sweet & Maxwell, 1955).
Vol. 1 deals with English law to 1800, and vol. 2 deals with English law from 1800 to 1955. These two volumes are very good sources of obscure secondary and primary materials. Also called Sweet & Maxwell's Legal Bibliography of the British Commonwealth of Nations. A 2d edition was published in 1989 and is also available in REF and in INTL [KD51 .L43 1989r].
Called Sweet & Maxwell's Legal Bibliography. Vols. 1: English law before 1800; vol. 2: English law 1801-1950. The other volumes are for other commonwealth countries. Although a bit old, Sweet & Maxwell's Legal Bibliography is an excellent place to start, especially when unfamiliar with old legal terms, or the breadth of the subject matter.
INTL
KD671.M54 1981
S.F.C. Milsom, Historical Foundations of the Common Law (London: Butterworths, 2d ed. 1981).
INTL & SPECL
KD612 .O44 2004
James Oldham, English Common Law in the Age of Mansfield (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2004).
INTL & SPECL
KD358.M33 O35 1992
James Oldham, The Mansfield Manuscript and the Growth of English Law in the Eighteenth Century (2 vols. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1992).
INTL
KD532.P6 1968
F. Pollock, & F.W. Maitland, The History of English Law Before the Time of Edward I (2 vols. London: Cambridge University Press, 2d ed.1968).
INTL
KD392 .W5
Percy H. Winfield, The Chief Sources of English Legal History (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1925).
These are a few general sources on the early history of American law. Search the library's catalog or other databases under the subject heading American legal history, etc.
WILLIAMS
KF366.B7
Elizabeth G. Brown, British Statutes in American Law, 1776-1836(Ann Arbor, Mi.: University of Michigan Law School, 1964).
REF & SPECL
KF1 .C58 1998
Morris Cohen, Bibliography of Early American Law (7 vols. Buffalo, N.Y.: William S. Hein, 1998).
This is an invaluable resource on materials published before 1875.
INTL
KD532 .C67 2004
Daniel R. Coquillette, The Anglo-American Legal Heritage: Introductory Materials (Durham, N.C.: Carolina Academic Press, 2d ed. 2004).
KF385 .D36 1823r
Nathan Dane, A General Abridgment and Digest of American Law, With Occasional Notes and Comments. (9 vols. Taiwan: 1980s) (Reprint of Boston: Cummings, Hilliard, 1823-1829).
WILLIAMS
KF352 .A7 H35 2005
Kermit L. Hall, Paul Finkelman & James W. Ely, American Legal History: Cases and Materials (New York: Oxford University Press, 3d 2005).
WILLIAMS
KF4541.H34 1984
Hall, Kermit. A Comprehensive Bibliography of American Constitutional and Legal History, 1896-1990 (5 vols. Millwood, N. Y.: Kraus International Publications, 1984, 2 vols. suppl. 1991).
WILLIAMS
KF1 .J36 2002r
Eldon R. James, A List of Legal Treatises Printed in the British Colonies and the American States Before 1801 (Union, N.J.: Lawbook Exchange, 2002) (reprint of Cambridge, Ma.: Harvard University Press 1934).
WILLIAMS & SPECL
KF280 .L56 2006
Douglas W. Lind, Bibliography of American Law School Casebooks, 1870-2004 (Buffalo, N.Y.: W.S. Hein 2006).
REF, INTL & SPECL
K38 .M37 1953r
J.G. Marvin, Legal Bibliography, Or A Thesaurus of American, English, Irish, and Scotch Law Books (Buffalo, N.Y.: Dennis 1953) (reprint of Philadelphia: T & J.W. Johnson 1847).
A very good albeit old resource on mostly English materials, but with a decent coverage of American law. Also available online at HeinOnline.
WILLIAMS
KFM2478 .N44 1975
William Edward Nelson, Americanization of the Common Law: The Impact of Legal Change on Massachusetts Society, 1760-1830 (Cambridge, Ma.: Harvard University Press 1975).
WILLIAMS
KF352.A7 P73 2006
Law and jurisprudence in American history: cases and materials (Stephen B. Presser & Jamil S. Zainaldin eds., (St. Paul, Minn.: Thomson/West Group 6th ed. 2006).
WILLIAMS
KF361.A2 M36 2001
The Many Legalities of Early America (Christopher L. Tomlins & Bruce H. Mann eds., Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press 2001).