§ 25-1218.Works of history, science, or art; presumptive evidence.

Proving a fact of general history or common knowledge through live witnesses can be needlessly hard, since nobody alive necessarily witnessed events like a historical battle or a scientific discovery firsthand. Section 25-1218 offers a shortcut. Historical works, books of science or art, and published maps or charts, when made by persons indifferent between the parties, count as presumptive evidence of facts of general notoriety or interest.

Two conditions limit the shortcut. First, the author or publisher has to be indifferent between the parties, meaning someone without a stake in the outcome of the particular dispute, so the source is not a party-created document dressed up as independent scholarship. Second, the fact in question must be one of general notoriety or interest, not a narrow, case-specific fact that ordinary evidence rules would otherwise require a witness to establish.

The word “presumptive” matters. This evidence creates a presumption in favor of the fact stated, not an unchallengeable conclusion. A party can still contest the accuracy of what a historical work, map, or chart states; the section lets that source carry evidentiary weight on its own, without a live witness vouching for it first.