Call Number:

C0012

Repository:

Princeton University Library: Manuscripts Division

Extent:

3 boxes

Language:

English

Preferred Citation:

Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Curtis Bok Collection, Box and Folder Number; Special Collections, Princeton University Library.

Date:

1941-1948 (inclusive)

Creator:

Princeton University. Library. Special Collections and Bok, Curtis, 1897-1962

Form:

Manuscripts, American -- 20th century.

Abstract:

Consists primarily of several versions, reflecting the printing stages, of Backbone of the Herring (1941), Curtis Bok's fictionalized look at courtroom justice seen through the eyes of a judge. Bok was a common pleas court judge in Pennsylavnia at the time.

Born in Wyncote, Pennsylvania, Curtis Bok became a common pleas court judge in Pennsylvania in 1937 and was elected as a justice of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in 1958. He published a number of books dealing with aspects of law.

The collection contains several versions, reflecting the printing stages, of Backbone of the Herring, Bok's fictionalized look at courtroom justice seen through the eyes of a judge: the typed manuscript (carbon) of the book under its earlier title, Midmost of the Fish; a later typed copy marked for the printer; first galleys with corrections; and partial author's proofs. Also included is a manuscript, a typescript, and printed drafts of Bok's decision involving his definition of obscenity in literature, handed down in the case of Commonwealth v. Gordon et al, tried in the Court of Quarter Sessions, Philadelphia, June, 1948.