Courts

For Sale: Ruth Bader Ginsburg's Private Library

A piece of RBG history can be yours -- for the right price.

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Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg

(Photo by Nikki Kahn/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

Between January 19-27th, over 1,000 books from the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s private library will be on auction at Bonhams. The materials are divvied up into ~165 lots of books, photographs, and other momentos that are currently valued at $60,000. However, Catherine Williamson, Director of Bonhams Fine Books and Manuscripts department, says given the collectable nature of RBG ephemera, “I expect this sale to do many times that amount.”

Williamson also notes that the content of the collection gives a unique insight into RBG herself:

“A person’s library can give us a sense of who the individual is and how she came to be.  Justice Ginsburg’s library is no different, as it records her evolution from student (and voracious reader) to lawyer and law professor, to judge and finally, Justice of the United States Supreme Court.  The books Justice Ginsburg chose to keep on her own bookshelf showcase the rich inner and intellectual life of one of the most influential women in recent American history.”

So how did these exact books come to be included in the auction? According to Columbia Law professor Jane Ginsburg, after her mother’s death, her parents’ (Martin Ginsburg died in 2010) library was divided up. The paperbacks got donated to prison libraries, art books went to family members, and music-related books/CDs went to the Washington National Opera. Family members also selected books for themselves, with everything else going to Bonhams.

Some of the treasures available at this auction are below:

RUTH BADER GINSBERG’S PERSONAL COPY OF THE 1957-58 HARVARD LAW REVIEW, HEAVILY ANNOTATED BY HER 3

RUTH BADER GINSBERG’S PERSONAL COPY OF THE 1957-58 HARVARD LAW REVIEW, HEAVILY ANNOTATED BY HER via Bonhams

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FIRST EDITION OF SONIA SOTOMAYOR’S MY BELOVED WORLD, SIGNED AND INSCRIBED TO RUTH BADER GINSBURG.2

FIRST EDITION OF SONIA SOTOMAYOR’S MY BELOVED WORLD, SIGNED AND INSCRIBED TO RUTH BADER GINSBURG via Bonhams

HONORARY DOCTORATE AWARDED TO RUTH BADER GINSBURG BY SMITH COLLEGE.2

HONORARY DOCTORATE AWARDED TO RUTH BADER GINSBURG BY SMITH COLLEGE via Bonhams

RUTH BADER GINSBURG HANDWRITTEN NOTES ON OPERA AND THE LAW

RUTH BADER GINSBURG HANDWRITTEN NOTES ON OPERA AND THE LAW via Bonhams

I’ll Fight Sheet Music

PRESENTATION COPY OF “I’LL FIGHT” BY DIANE WARREN, SIGNED AND INSCRIBED BY THE SONGWRITER TO JUSTICE RUTH BADER GINSBURG via Bonhams

Other highlights from the collection include:

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Ginsburg’s personal copies of the Reports on the 1978 Equal Rights Amendment Extension Hearings before the House and Senate subcommittees.

Offprints of Ginsburg’s own articles, including “Women in the Federal Judiciary” (1995), inscribed by Ginsburg to Senator Nancy Kassebaum.

A Sandra Day O’Connor legal article “They Often Are Half Obscure: The Rights of the Individual and the Legacy of Oliver Wendell Holmes” (1992), a presentation copy from the Justice to Ruth Bader Ginsburg, just days before her nomination, and subsequently quoted from in her nomination acceptance speech.

Toni Morrison’s Beloved inscribed by the author to Ruth and Martin Ginsburg.

Books relating to important cases adjudicated by Ginsburg, including Citizens United, Bush v. Gore, and Lilly Ledbetter’s fair pay lawsuit, all inscribed to Ginsburg.

A deluxe copy of Antonin Scalia’s Reading Law, warmly inscribed to Ginsburg.

Ginsburg’s own copy of her book, My Own Words, with her personal bookplate.

Williamson says there is no reserve on the items, so “they’ll sell for what they sell for.” While some of the items are estimated at a $500 price tag, you may not get such a good deal. A prior auction of one of RBG’s textbooks saw the tome go for a whopping $18,125. So if you want your piece of RBG history, get your checkbooks ready.

Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of The Jabot podcast, and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter (@Kathryn1).

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