BRIEF HISTORY OF THE BARCELONA BAR ASSOCIATION  

The Barcelona Bar Association was founded in 1833 as a consequence of the Royal Order of Fernando VII, which permitted the formation of professional associations throughout the state. Nevertheless, antecedents of the grouping of Barcelona lawyers already existed, since, at the beginning of 1295, Jaume II, King of the Crown of Aragon, conceded to the city of Barcelona, and to its lawyers, recognition as a homogenous professional group.

The origin of the Library is as old as the Association itself, since its Statues cite the need to create a Library composed “principally of selected works of jurisprudence for the use and instruction of the members …” indispensable for professional practice. The first budget of the Library was 1,320 reales.

Throughout the second half of the 19th century, the Association lacked a stable location. It was usually located in the home of the President, although the Library was located in the Sala de Togas de la Audiencia [the room in the Courthouse where the lawyers' robes were kept?].

In 1858, a new initiative by the Governing Council supported the acquisition of a considerable number of works to increase the Library's holdings. A seal was also devised to indicate the ownership of the books. Nevertheless, it was Don Manuel Duran y Bas who, in 1859, gave great support to the library by allocating one fourth of the Association's budget for the purchase of books.

Duran y Bas proposed a series of practical and quite bibliographically advanced budgets to the Governing Council:

“First (…) the acquisition of works on law and related sciences; second: that there be consideration of the fact that works are needed that, first, serve a practical purpose, such as legal sciences, treatises, and commentaries on ancient and modern common and statutory law; second, theoretical works on the science or those branches of law which are of less immediate application in the courtroom, although useful because they form part of the wealth of general ideas; third, works on related sciences, such as legal medicine, public health, political economy; publications that contain advances in science or the changes that our legislation experiences, such as Spanish and foreign journals; let a catalog be created of these works and publications from these four classes which should be acquired for the Library, with the purpose of effectuating their purchase as funds allow; third, that a double catalog be created, one by author's name and the other by subject, of the works that the Library owns, printing it when it reaches one thousand volumes, in order to circulate it to all the members; fourth, that when there are one thousand volumes we should try to facilitate the reading of these books in a location and during hours that are convenient for the membership.”

In this declaration of Duran y Bas, in which his profound enthusiasm for the Library is evident, one can already make out the strategic points that would mark the trajectory of the Library for all time: increase bibliographic holdings, publish catalogs and establish a definitive location – with generous operating hours – in order to facilitate access by members. Thanks to the influence that Duran y Bas exercised, the Library ceased to be a project, and turned into a reality, always at the service of the membership.

In 1865 the Association inaugurated its first location at 14 Leona Street, and, a year later, in 1866, the Library's first catalog was published. It consisted of 248 works organized by subject.

In 1877, the Association approved its internal by-laws, including those of the Library, and in 1890 the first Library by-laws were approved, under the deanship of Manuel Duran y Bas.

The by-laws, consisting of nine articles, specified that the Library would be in the care of a Librarian and his assistant; it established generous operating hours (including Sundays); it defined patrons who had access, especially the members of the Bar in Barcelona and other legal professionals authorized by the Dean; it regulated the provision of service and limited the lending of materials to very special, justified occasions (as for example their use in a trial).

In 1891, a Commission was created to publish a new catalog, composed of Josep Domènch i Col, Francesc de Paula Vergés i Matas, Josep Pella i Forgas, Antoni-Josep Torrella i Mauri, Guillem M. Brocà y Manuel Duran y Bas. The latter substituted for Joan Martí i Miralles due to his multiple activities. One of the first initiatives of this Commission was that of creating a list of old and new books which needed to be acquired, in spite of their high cost. Moreover, a flyer was circulated to all members, requesting the donation of legal works, an initiative which was well received by Barcelona attorneys.

At the end of 1895, the Association moved to the Ardiaca House, in Cathedral Plaza, since their quarters had proven too small to efficiently accommodate their great activity.

The 20th century began as a fruitful period for the Library. In 1904 they acquired a collection of legal books from the XVI, XVII and XVIII centuries, considered to be the embryo of the great historical holdings of the library. More than 1500 titles belonged to the library of the politician and lawyer Valentí Almirall i Llotzer, and came from two illustrious scholars: Pere Nolasc Vives i Cebrià and Pau Puig i Llàzer. To increase the older holdings of the Library, in 1906 the Bar bought, on the suggestion of Guilem M. Brocà – an early edition of the Constitutions and other laws of Catalunya. It would be the first initiative by the Governing Council to form a Catalonian law library composed of original editions or reprints of works of the most prominent jurists. It was also during this time that Guillem M. Brocà proposed the purchase of various editions of the Book of Maritime Consulate.

Between 1908 and 1909, the Bar Library was able to complete an ambitious project directed by Joan Martí i Miralles during the deanship of Permanyer i Ayats. In 1908 it published its first catalog of books , and a year later the catalog of journal articles.

In 1911, cataloging was begun on a very valuable part of the Library's holdings – decisions, judicial pleadings, awards – and the following year the purchase of an extraordinary codex from the 15th century, Usatges de Barcelona, took place. Nevertheless, in spite of the exceptional interest of the Library in increasing their older holdings, they didn't cease their parallel acquisition of modern books – on legislation, jurisprudence and doctrine – invaluable for the practice of law. Proof of this is the construction of display shelves for housing the Library's recent acquisitions.

In 1913, Guillem M. De Brocà's proposal to create a Catalonian Law Library was solidified, although it was not actually a library, but rather a bibliographic project.

“One of the things that Brocà was most grateful to Permanyer about was the facsimile publication of the Barcelona edition of the Constitutions and other laws of Catalonia which contains the compilation of 1704, and more than anything the agreement of the Council of his time to form a Catalonian law library that, as a complement to the great Library of the College, would bring together all that was possible to collect of legal publications from the Royal and Municipal Courts originating in Catalonia, and of copies of all the editions of treatises, legal dissertations and manuscripts of like subjects.”

The Library, throughout its history, has always enjoyed many donations, given by members or by people outside the institution, that have considerably increased the bibliographic holdings. Among these donors, a few stand out: the figure of diplomat, historian, patron of the arts, and lawyer Eduard Toda, who donated part of his collection of Anglo Saxon law; Francesc de Bofarull, who donated the library of his father, Pròsper de Bofarull, former director of the Archive of the Kingdom of Aragon; the collection of judicial pleadings given by Leonci Soler i March. But of great importance would be the magnificent donation of Guillem M. de Brocà, who died in 1919, of Catalonian legal materials.

In 1921, the City Council of Barcelona purchased the Ardiaca House, which had been the location of the Bar Association until that time. This fact obliged the Association, sadly, to move again, and, in 1922, it was installed in its own building, the Palauet Casades. It was during this time that the Governing Council was expanded, creating new positions: those of the Librarian and the Accountant. The first Librarian was Joan Martí i Miralles, who preceded the well-known lawyer and historian Ferran Valls i Taberner.

This change in location also brought a chance in the by-laws of the Library, modifying the original by-laws of 1890. Article 3 fixes its objective: “to collect and make useable all possible elements of study, for knowledge of the past and present in the lands of our language, and of every document or instrument of general legal culture.” The new by-law also established in Article 4 how the Library's collection will be organized:

• I. Catalonian section: texts, commentaries, briefs, decisions, charges, sentences, edicts, awards, decrees and rule books, published or manuscript.
• II. Ancient law section: Roman and Canon law to 1835 (so-called Customary Law)
• III. General culture section: Collections of all types of manuscripts, papyri, encyclopedias, dictionaries, diplomatic collections.
• IV. Modern section: Judicial and auxiliary sciences (legal medicine, architecture, etc.)

Articles 5, 6 and 7 established that the Library would be composed of books and collections belonging to the Bar Association, as well as donations and depository materials. In order to assist the Governing Council, the Library would be directed by a Cultural Commission, and the staff who would be in charge of the Library would consist of a head, the clerk, and subordinate personnel necessary for its smooth functioning.

Coinciding with the move to the new quarters in Palauet Casades, the Librarian, Ferran Valls i Taberner, acquired a valuable copy of the Spanish edition of the Book of the Marine Consulate, published in Valencia in 1539.

The Library continued to be a pioneer in many ways. Proof of this is the implementation of the new system of classification for libraries from the University of Brussels. With the new times, focus returned to completing the rare book collection. During this period, a collection of the Corpus Iuris Civilis, printed in Lyon in 1618, and various works of Antoni Agustí, published in Lérida in the last third of the 16th century.

The many acquisitions and donations that were increasing the holdings of the Library had caused the catalog published in 1908 to become obsolete. To bring it up to date, and to take advantage of the celebration of the Centennial of the founding of the Bar Association, the 1932 Catalog was published, under the deanship of Raimon d'Abadal and the Librarian Cervera Matas. Moreover, in 1934, the Catalonian legal dictionary was published, edited by Rafael Folch i Camarasa and Lluís G. Serrallonga i Guasch. Today this work is considered to be one of the most relevant of the genre.

After the obligatory slowing of Association activities during the Civil War – which fortunately did not cause irreparable damage to the Library – the Association returned to normal. The need to expand the Library's quarters arose again, since in 1949 it already housed more than 60,000 volumes. For this reason, it was decided that the Library would move to other suitably remodeled quarters in the Palauet Casades building. In this same year, 1953, to celebrate its opening, the Library's Catalog of authors, the work of Dean Condomines, was published. This new location is where the Library can be found today.

A year later, in 1954, the Library received a large donation to its antiquities collection: the collection of Farré-Duat, composed of a miscellany of highly relevant legal works from the XVI, XVII and XVIII centuries. We must not forget that, at the same time, the Library was attending to the growth of the modern collection.

The Library was also the promoter of celebrations, such as the 900th anniversary of the Usatges de Barcelona. One of the rooms in the Library, the most beautiful, was named the Usatges Room for this reason.

In 1980 a new by-law was approved, given the constant interest of the subsequent Governing Councils to adapt to the new needs of new times. It should be pointed out that the Library has continued to evolve and adapt to new technologies: improving its infrastructure, equipment, security measures, … as for example the creation of a special room – the Reserve Room – to preserve the most valuable works with innovative elements (humidity and heat monitors, smoke detectors, alarms,…)

The urgent problem of lack of space obliged the Governing Council to buy the building next to Llúria 113. To commemorate the purchase of the new building, whose primary purpose was the expansion of the Library and the relocation of the important bibliographic collection, the first Catalog of manuscripts was published in 1991. This new building, opened in 1993, included the plan to restructure member services, with Library services on the first and second floors.

Today, the Library contains some 300,000 volumes and 1,000 periodical titles. It also contains more than 100,000 antiquarian works (XI-XIX centuries), 21 incunabula, 4,000 legal parchments, 40,000 pleadings and 250 manuscript codices.

The primary objective of the Library has always been services to members of the Bar. And in the last few years, it has been able to merge its characteristic traditional, venerable aura with modern methods introduced by new technologies.