Harvard University Library OASIS: Online Archival Search Information System

Frames Version Questions or Comments   Copyright Statement

Descriptive Summary

Repository: Baker Library, Harvard Business School
Call No.: Arch GA 41
Creator: Nathan Isaacs, 1886-1941
Title: Nathan Isaacs papers, 1915-1941
Quantity: 2.25 linear ft. (5 boxes, 1 oversize folder, and 2 volumes)
Abstract: The collection documents the work of Professor Nathan Isaacs while teaching business law at the University of Cincinnati and Harvard Business School. The collection contains speeches, writings, correspondence, research notes and course materials.

Processing Information:

Provenance:

Access Restrictions:

Preferred Citation:

Biographical Note:

Professor Nathan Isaacs was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1886, one of eight sons of Abraham and Rachel Isaacs. He was a graduate of the University of Cincinnati (BA, 1907; MA, 1908; Ph.D., 1910) and Cincinnati Law School (1910). He became Professor of Law (1912-1918) at the University of Cincinnati and also served as Assistant Dean (1916-1918).

Professor Isaacs served as Captain of Military Intelligence during World War I. Soon after the war ended he joined Harvard University as an Ezra Ripley Thayer Teaching Fellow (1919-1920). He taught law at the University of Pittsburgh (1920-1923) and later joined Harvard Business School as Lecturer of Business Law (1923-1924) and Professor of Business Law (1924-1941). He was also a member of the faculty of the Harvard University Graduate School of Public Administration (1936-1941).

In addition to teaching, he was active in religious and civic organizations. He was appointed a director of Gimbel Bros., a department store in New York City (1933) and was elected member of the Advisory Council of the American Arbitration Association (1931). Professor Isaacs was married to Ella Davis and had one daughter. He died December 18, 1941.

Scope and Content Note:

The papers of Nathan Isaacs (1886-1941) document his teaching career at the University of Cincinnati and Harvard Business School. The collection consists of course materials, articles, speeches, teaching notes, research notes, manuscripts and related ephemera.

Of particular note is a brief history of Business Law courses taught by Isaacs at HBS; records related to Business Law courses taught at the Yale-HBS degree program during the late 1930s; and typescripts, articles and speeches regarding contemporary legal and economic issues.

Series Outline

The collection is arranged in the following series:

• Series I. Correspondence and Subject Files, 1915-1940
• Series II. Teaching Material, 1922-1941
• Series III. Articles and Speeches, 1917-1941
• Series IV. Biographical Information, 1924-1941

Detailed Description of the Collection

• Series I. Correspondence and Subject Files, 1915-1940
  Scope and Content: This series contains correspondence between Professor Isaacs and attorneys, government personnel, colleagues and businessmen, including members of the American Arbitration Association, Simpson Investment Company, Taylor, Mayer & Shifrin and Sayers Brothers.

  This series also contains correspondence, memoranda, exam questions, and "Business Training for Lawyers," a catalog promoting the unified law and business school curricula offered jointly by Yale Law School and HBS during the 1930s. Other topics include the Curriculum Committee of Harvard Law School, and the Medici Collection at Baker Library. Note that correspondence related to articles and books can be found in Series III. Writings.
  Processing Information: Arranged chronologically.
  • Box 1 Correspondence, undated
  • Box 1 Correspondence, 1915-1921
  • Box 1 Correspondence with Wallace B. Donham, 1923-1932
  • Box 1 HBS Memorandum related to Law School Conference, 25 March 1924
  • Box 1 Correspondence, 1927
  • Box 1 Medici Collection at Baker Library, 1928
  • Box 1 Correspondence, 1935-1940
  • Box 1 Yale Law School joint program, 1938

• Series II. Teaching Material, 1922-1941
  Scope and Content: This series contains miscellaneous teaching material for courses taught by Professor Isaacs at HBS, the Army Industrial College, Boston Trade Union College, the New York Chamber of Commerce and Columbia University. Subjects include legal history, business law, trends in retail distribution, private property and business policy.
  Processing Information: Arranged chronologically.
  • Box 1 Miscellaneous teaching notes, undated
  • Box 1 Exam "Blue Books," undated
  • Box 1 "Private Property" lecture, undated
  • Box 1 Private Property lectures, undated
  • Box 1 Boston Trade Union Collection lectures, undated
  • Box 1 Chamber of Commerce (New York) lecture, undated
  • Box 1 Columbia- Notes to accompany Assignment I, undated
  • Box 1 Columbia- Assignment X, undated
  • Box 1 HBS and Harvard University lecture notes, undated
  • Box 1 Lectures and courses (non-HBS), 1920s
  • Box 1 HBS exam questions, 1922
  • Box 1 Legal History, 1922
  • Box 1 Lecture on legal history, 5 October 1922
  • Box 1 Lecture on legal history, 27 October 1922
  • Box 1 Lecture on legal history, 8 January 1923
  • Box 1 Lecture on legal history, 15 January 1923
  • Box 1 Business Law course, [1924]-circa 1930
  • Box 1 Business Law course, 24 April 1924
  • Box 1 HBS courses and lectures, 1925
  • Box 1 HBS and Harvard University lecture notes, 1925-1927
  • Box 1 Business Policy lecture notes, 1927-1928
  • Box 1 John Gurney Callan engineering classes notes, 1927-1933
  • Box 1 HBS and Harvard University lecture notes, 1931-1935
  • Box 1 Legal Aspects outline, [October] 1931
  • Box 1 Legal Aspects lecture notes, October 1931
  • Box 1 Legal Aspects lecture notes, November 1931
  • Box 1 Legal Aspects lecture notes, December 1931
  • Box 1 Legal Aspects lecture notes, January 1932
  • Box 1 Purchasing and Sales lecture notes, 1934-1935
  • Box 1 Army Industrial College lecture notes, 1934-1935
  • Box 2 Trends in Retail Distribution course notes, 1938-1939
  • Box 2 HBS and Harvard University lecture notes, 1938-1941

• Series III. Writings, 1915-1941
  Scope and Content: This series contains manuscripts, drafts, typescripts, reprints and reviews of published and unpublished books, articles, speeches and offprints by Nathan Isaacs. Of interest are materials relating to The Law and Business Problems by Lincoln F. Schaub and Nathan Isaacs (1921) and Cutler Lectures on the New Deal delivered at the University of Rochester in 1934. Subjects include the history of business organizations, installment selling, arbitration, statutory party walls, and a textbook for high school students.
  • Subseries A. Loose material, 1917-1941
    • Box 2 The Law in Business Problems by Lincoln F. Schaub and Nathan Isaacs, 1921
    • Box 2 Correspondence regarding articles and books, 1917-1919
    • Box 2 Correspondence regarding articles and books, 1920-1921
    • Box 2 Correspondence regarding articles and books, 1922
    • Box 2 Correspondence regarding articles and books, 1923
    • Box 2 Correspondence regarding articles and books, 1925-1928
    • Box 2 Correspondence regarding articles and books, 1929
    • Box 2 Correspondence regarding articles and books, 1930
    • Box 2 Correspondence regarding articles and books, 1931-1940
    • Box 2 Articles and reviews, undated
    • Box 2 New Deal-Cutler Lectures (University of Rochester), 1934
    • Box 2 Cincinnati: Decline of Caveat Emptor lecture notes, 1927
    • Box 2 History of Business Organization, undated
    • Box 2 Rough memo on credit, Summer 1933
    • Box 2 Installment Selling, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc., 1939
    • Box 2 National Recovery Act, undated
    • Box 2 Notes on Supreme Court Decisions, 1936-1937
    • Box 2 Paradox in Arbitration, undated
    • Box 3 Statutory Party Walls, Notes, 1921
    • Box 3 Speeches, 1924-1921
    • Box 3 Speeches, 1934
    • Box 3 Speeches, 1935
    • Box 3 Speeches, 1937
    • Box 3 Speeches, 1938-1941
    • Box 3 Unpublished writings, A, undated
    • Box 3 Unpublished writings, B, undated
    • Box 3 Unpublished writings, C, undated
    • Box 3 Unpublished writings, E, undated
    • Box 3 Unpublished writings, J, undated
    • Box 3 Unpublished writings, L-P, undated
    • Box 3 Unpublished writings, S, undated
    • Mapcase Unpublished writings, "The Story of Pacacelsus," undated (Oversized item)
    • Box 3 Unpublished writings, T, undated
    • Box 3 Textbook outline, circa 1920
    • Box 3-4 Business Law, undated
    • Box 4 The Scope of Business Law introduction, undated
    • Box 4 Credit, undated
    • Box 4 The Market, 1938
    • Box 4 Organization, undated
    • Box 4 Use of Law in Business- Outline and Chapter I, undated
    • Box 4 Use of Law in Business- Chapter II-IV, undated
    • Box 4 Use of Law in Business- Chapter V-VI, undated
    • Box 4 Use of Law in Business- Chapter VIa-X, undated
    • Box 4 Use of Law in Business- Part II, undated
    • Box 4 Chapters in books possibly published, undated
    • Box 4 Bibliography, undated
    • Box 4 "The Merchant and His Law," June 1915
    • Box 4 "'The Law' and the Law of Change," June 1917
    • Box 4 "The Standardizing of Contracts," November 1915
    • Box 4 "The Schools of Jurisprudence," January 1918
    • Box 4 "Fault and Liability," May 1918
    • Box 4 "The Teaching of Law in Collegiate Schools of Business," November 1919
    • Box 4 "The Aftermath of Codification," August 1920
    • Box 4 "John Marshall on Contracts: A Study in Early American Juristic Theory," March 1921
    • Box 4 "The Revival of Justum Pretium," May 1921
    • Box 4 "The Law and the Facts," January 1922
    • Box 4 "Contractual Control over Adjective Law," November 1922
    • Box 4 "American Government and Politics," August 1922
    • Box 4 "Statutory Party Walls," 1923
    • Box 4 "The Economic Advantages and Disadvantages of Various Methods of Selling Goods on Credit," April 1923
    • Box 4 "How Lawyers Think," June 1923
    • Box 4 "Business Security and Legal Security," 1923
    • Box 4 "The Limits of Judicial Discretion," February 1923
    • Box 4 "The Place of Business Law in the Curriculum of the School of Business," circa 1923
    • Box 4 "The Promoter: A Legislative Problem," 1925
    • Box 4 "Two Views of Commercial Arbitration," 1927
    • Box 4 "The Dealer-Purchaser," November 1927
    • Box 5 "Business Postulates and the Law," June 1928
    • Box 5 "Trusteeship in Modern Business," 1929
    • Box 5 "Business Data for the Lawyer," 1931
    • Box 5 "Traffic in Trade Symbols," September 1931
    • Box 5 "On Business Facts," January 1932
    • Box 5 "Principal-Quantum or Res?," 1933
    • Box 5 "Legal Aspects of Business," October 1933
    • Box 5 "The Securities Act and the Constitution," December 1933
    • Box 5 "The NIRA in the Book and in Business," 1934
    • Box 5 "The Industrial Purchaser and the Sales Act," February 1934
    • Box 5 "The Consumer at Law," May 1934
    • Box 5 Address at Jackson & Curtis, 3 November 1934
    • Box 5 "Contractual Control over Adjective Law: Recent Developments," December 1934
    • Box 5 "Installment Selling: The Relation Between its Development in Modern Business and the Law," April 1935
    • Box 5 "Liability for the Lawyer of Bad Advice," November 1935
    • Box 5 "Some Thoughts Suggested by the Restatements, Particularly of Contracts, Agency, and Trust," April 1936
    • Box 5 Address at Meeting of Oil Men's Association, 22 October 1936
    • Box 5 "The Robinson-Patman Law-Some Assumptions and Expectations," Winter 1937
    • Box 5 "The Implementing of Arbitration Statutes," January 1938
    • Box 5 "Trade-mark Protection and Unfair Trading," January 1938
    • Box 5 "Legal Aspects of Controller's Job," March 1940
    • Box 5 "The Implementing of Industrial Arbitration," May 1940
    • Box 5 "Barrier Activities and the Courts: A Study of Anti-Competitive Law," Spring 1940
    • Box 5 "War Emergencies and Trade Practices," October 1940
  • Subseries B. Bound volumes, 1915-1941
    Scope and Content: This subseries consists of bound offprints of articles written by Nathan Isaacs. "'The Law' and the Law of Change" contains handwritten annotation by Isaacs as well as typescripts pasted into the volume. The Collections Essays of Nathan Isaacs contains offprints of articles gathered and bound into a single volume with a typed table on contents.
    Acquisition Information: Volume 1 and volume 2 were donated by Paul Wotitzky, May 2008.
    • Volume 1 "'The Law' and the Law of Change," 1917 annotated offprint, circa 1930
    • Box 5 Material removed from Volume 1, 1919-1930
    • Volume 2 Collected Essays by Nathan Isaacs, 1915-1941

• Series IV. Biographical Information, 1924-1941
  Scope and Content: This series contains newspaper clippings about Professor Isaacs and materials relating to his death in 1941.
  • Box 5 Newspaper clippings, 1924-1941
  • Box 5 Obituary, 1941