History of International Law

Introduction

The Peace Palace Library has an impressive “Old Books” collection of 10.000 titles printed before 1850.
Since its beginning in 1913 the library has acquired an historical legal collection representing the various periods of thinking about international law, dominated by the Spanish, French or English schools. Writers from the 16th century: Jean Bodin, Ayala, Vitoria, the 17th century: Hugo Grotius, Gentili, Pufendorf, Zouche, and 18th century: Bynkershoek, Wolff, von Martens, Vattel, and 19th century Bluntschli, to name only a few. In total about 2400 authors represent the origins of international law. Modern authors on the history of international refer to these sources for their research.

This Research Guide is intended as a starting point for research in the field of the History of International Law. It provides the basic materials available in the Peace Palace Library, both in print and electronic format. Handbooks, leading articles, bibliographies, periodicals, serial publications and documents of interest are presented in the Selective Bibliography section. Links to the PPL Catalogue are inserted. The Library’s classification index code 31. History of International Laws and subject heading (keyword) History of International Law are instrumental for searching through the Catalogue.
Special attention is given to our subscriptions on databases, e-journals, e-books and other electronic resources. Finally, this Research Guide features links to relevant websites and other online resources of particular interest.

Recent Acquisitions

• BUTLER, W.E., Why Study the History of International Law / W.E. Butler. - 2006

Bibliography

Librarian's choice

• Time, history and international law / ed. by Matthew Craven, Malgosia Fitzmaurice and Maria Vogiatzi

   

  This book examines theoretical and practical issues concerning the relationship between international law, time and history. Problems relating to time and history are ever-present in the work of international lawyers, whether understood in terms of the role of historic practice in the doctrine of sources, the application of the principle of inter-temporal law in dispute settlement, or in gaining a coherent insight into the role that was played by international law in past events. But very little has been written about the various different ways in which international lawyers approach or understand the past, and it is with a view to exploring the dynamics of that engagement that this book has been compiled. In its broadest sense, it is possible to identify at least three different ways in which the relationship between international law and (its) history may be conceived. The first is that of a “history of international law” written in narrative form, and mapped out in terms of a teleology of origins, development, progress or renewal. The second is that of “history in international law” and of the role history plays in arguments about law itself (for example in the construction of customary international law). The third way of understanding that relationship is in terms of “international law in history”: of understanding how international law has been engaged in the creation of a history that in some senses stands outside the history of international law itself. The essays in this collection make clear that each type of engagement with history and international law interweaves various different types of historical narrative, pointing to the typically multi-layered nature of internationallawyers’ engagement with the past and its importance in shaping the present and future of international law.

   

  Craven, M., Fitzmaurice, M., Vogiatzi, M., 2007
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• The gentle civilizer of nations : the rise and fall of international law, 1870-1960 / Martti Koskenniemi

  International law was born from the impulse to ‘civilize’ late nineteenth-century attitudes towards race and society, argues Martti Koskenniemi in this extensive study of the rise and fall of modern international law. In a work of wide-ranging intellectual scope, now available for the first time in paperback, Koskenniemi traces the emergence of a liberal sensibility relating to international matters in the late nineteenth century, and its subsequent decline after the Second World War. He combines legal analysis, historical and political critique and semi-biographical studies of key figures (including Hans Kelsen, Hersch Lauterpacht, Carl Schmitt and Hans Morgenthau); he also considers the role of crucial institutions (the Institut de droit international, the League of Nations). His discussion of legal and political realism at American law schools ends in a critique of post-1960 ‘instrumentalism’. This book provides a unique reflection on the possibility of critical international law today.
  Koskenniemi, M., 2002
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• A Concise History of International Law/ A.Nussbaum

  Nussbaum, A., 1954
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Database

Library Blogs

• “John Selden : Scholarship in Context” Conference

  Magdalen College in Oxford hosted the “John Selden : Scholarship in Context” Conference from 24th-26th June, a tribute to England’s “Chief of learned men”.

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• Impressions of the 60 years Genocide Convention

  Impressions of the 60 years Genocide Convention On Sunday 7 and Monday 8 December, The Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies in Amsterdam, the Amsterdam Center for International Law and the Peace Palace Library organized a conference in The Hague to mark the 60th anniversary of the Genocide Convention. At the conference several legal [...]

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Links

See also

More Research guides on Public International Law (Special Topics)

• Agriculture
• Air Law
• Cultural Heritage
• International Environmental Law
• International Labour Law
• International Watercourses
• Law of the Sea
• Space Law
• Sports
• Territory
• World Health Organization

PPL keywords

• history
• International law