Notes of R. Parker - upon the lectures delivered by Professor Davis to the junior class of law - the session of 1832-3

This college notebook belonged to Virginia congressman and jurist Richard Parker, judge in the trial of abolitionist John Brown. The book contains lecture notes taken from 1832 to 1833 during a University of Virginia class on law.

Richard Parker’s cloth-covered notebook contains notes on a series of law lectures given by John A. G. Davis from 1832 to 1833 at the University of Virginia. The notes reference several textbooks including "Nattel," "Blackstone," and "Tate."

The first three lectures, dated September 1832, were on the subject of international law. Following these lecture notes, the pages were left blank until the page numbered 51. The next lectures, dated June 1833, describe various offenses and their corresponding punishments. Other subjects covered by the lectures include "Accomplices," "Means of Prosecuting Offences," "Summery Convictions [sic]," "Arrests," "Of Commitment and Bail," "Of the Several Modes of Prosecution," "Process upon an Indictment," "Of Plea and Issue," "on Judgment and Its Consequences," "Reprieve and Pardon," and "Execution."

A manuscript dealer’s description is tipped in at the front of the volume. It notes, "In the sentence read to the court after the trial of John Brown – November 1859 – Judge Parker followed, to the letter, his early note on ‘Execution:- One that directs that Judge at time of pronouncing sentence of death, shall appoint day of execution – which shall not be less than 30 days from delivery of judgment’."

The accession folder also contains related materials donated by the Moyerman family: a pamphlet entitled "John Brown: Saint or Madman" by Dr. William W. Hassler; a letter to Samuel Moyerman from Charles K. Pulse, a John Brown scholar, expressing his interest in the notebook; a photocopy of a letter by Richard Parker sent by Pulse to be used as a handwriting sample; a letter to Samuel Moyerman from Boyd B. Stutler regarding the location of other of Parker’s papers.