[Bartolo Spagnolo] Diego de Covarrubias y Leyva - Opera Omnia (T. Primus) - 1614

Didaci Covarruvias y Leyva Toletani, Episcopi Segoviensis, Philippi Secundi Hispaniarum Regis Summo Praefecto Praetorio. All Works much more corrected than before…
Tomus Primus. Venice, by the heirs of Girolamo Scoto, 1614.

In-folio (mm 325 x 225 in the binding). Pp. (96), 710, (2).

Text in two columns, ornate woodcut initials, printer’s mark at the title page. Contemporary full parchment binding on raised cords, manuscript titles on the back (“Prim.”), cut edges blackened. First blank leaf detached from the gathering; worm tracks light but widespread throughout the work; general browning; binding somewhat loose; wear to edges and caps as seen in the photo. Overall a solid and fully usable copy.

First volume of the Opera omnia of Diego de Covarrubias y Leyva (Toledo 1512 – Madrid 1577), one of the greatest canonists and jurists of the sixteenth century, bishop of Segovia and a leading figure of the Salamanca School. The Venetian edition, edited by the heirs of Girolamo Scoto, collects the author’s main works in a more correct and expanded form than the previous editions: Commentary and treatises De Testamentis, De Matrimonio, Variarum resolutionum, Practicarum quaestionum, as well as the numismatic treatise Veterum numismatum collatio and other papal, royal, and imperial law tracts. The volume is completed by a rich Index rerum maxime notabilum.

Covarrubias is regarded as the greatest canonist of the XVIth century; his opinions were widely cited by Hugo Grotius and by numerous authors of the Second Scholasticism. The Opera omnia constitute the summa of his legal thought and remained a fundamental reference for canon and civil law until the eighteenth century.
The Venetian edition of 1614 (revision/reprint of the 1604 by the same Scoto heirs) is one of the rare and sought italian complete folio editions; complete copies of only Tomo I in usable condition are increasingly scarce on the antiquarian market.

Genuine copy, with good legibility, suitable for both collectors of ancient law and specialized libraries.