The Library of the Faculty of Law is enriched with four valuable collections of old books: the Senj Archbishopric Collection, the Ružić Collection, the Academician Lujo Margetić Collection, and the Petar Simonetti Collection. The library provides access to these unique book collections.
Old and Rare Book Collections
The library hosts four valuable collections of old books:
Senj Archbishopric Collection
This collection, donated by the Rijeka-Senj Archdiocese in 1999, consists of important legal titles collected by Rijeka lawyers in the 19th and early 20th centuries, primarily from the Špehar family of lawyers. The collection includes legislation relevant to the Rijeka area and is notable for the exceptional preservation of the books and their leather bindings, custom-made by the first owners, reflecting their love and respect for books. The collection is housed in glass display cases in lecture room 3.
Dr. Viktor Ružić Donation
This collection comes from the estate of Dr. Viktor Ružić (1893–1976), a renowned lawyer, former Minister of Justice, member of the City Council of Sušak, and an intellectual figure in Rijeka. He collected works not only in social and human sciences, law, philosophy, sociology, and history but also in fine literature, music theory, and poetry. Most of the collection is written in German, primarily using Gothic script. The collection is housed in specially designed shelves with glass doors in the Faculty’s hallway. The collection can only be accessed in the library’s reading room.
Legal Book Collections
Academician Lujo Margetić Donation
This donation includes over 2,000 titles from the estate of Academician Lujo Margetić, an emeritus professor at the Faculty of Law, University of Rijeka. The collection covers topics in legal history, the history of the state, Croatian and world history, paleography, historical geography, heraldry, linguistics, and more, in both Croatian and foreign languages. For more information about the life and works of Academician Margetić, visit the online exhibition Life and Work of Academician Lujo Margetić.
Prof. Dr. Sc. Petar Simonetti Donation
The donation from Prof. Dr. Sc. Petar Simonetti, a professor at the Faculty of Law at the University of Rijeka and long-time judge at the Supreme Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, contains about 1,200 legal books, primarily in the fields of civil law, property law, and land registry law. To learn more about Prof. Simonetti’s life and work, visit the online page Life and Work of Prof. Dr. Sc. Petar Simonetti.