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Online Library of Liberty The OLL is a curated collection of scholarly works that engage with vital questions of liberty.

Spanning the centuries from Hammurabi to Hume, and collecting material on topics from art and economics to law and political theory, the OLL provides you with a rich variety of texts to explore and consider.

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The Reading Room

The OLL blog explores the fascinating, vital, and often surprising texts and people that fill our library. Come talk in our library!

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Liberty Matters

The OLL brings people together to debate and discuss important texts and big ideas about liberty.

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Explore the OLL Collection: Images of Liberty and Power Emancipation Proclamation

This decorative print of the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863 was produced in 1864 by engraver W. Roberts, and the printer, C.A. Alvord. The print does far more than just record the text of the proclamation. It provides an illustrated narrative of the document’s importance, and makes visible the changes hoped for from the emancipation of Black Americans.

Explore the OLL Collection: Quotations About Liberty and Power Under Magna Carta the King cannot imprison a freeman without being convicted by a trial of his peers (1215)

Under King John’s reign, Clause 39 of Magna Carta became the foundation of the idea that a freeman could not be imprisoned without first being found guilty in a trial by his peers. This later became the idea behind the principle of “trial by jury”:

Liberty Matters: A Forum for the Discussion of Ideas About Liberty Is there a Role for Monarchy in a Free Society (January/February 2023)

It may seem odd that the topic of monarchy has been chosen for this month’s Liberty Matters. Our stereotypical view of monarchy in the history of liberty is perhaps most often associated with the writings of someone like Sir Robert Filmer who argued that monarchical authority, no matter its origin, was “the only right and natural authority of a supreme father,” making monarchs responsible to Go...