Iustiniani/Gothofredi - Codicis Domini Iustiniani/Authenticæ seu Novellæ Constitutiones - 1614

[CORPUS IURIS CIVILIS] – Codicis Domini Iustiniani... (Missing the general title page, 16th-17th century.) BOUND WITH: Authenticæ seu Novellæ Constitutiones (Geneva, Hér. d'Eustache Vignon, 1614). Very large octavo in contemporary full genuine leather with manuscript notes.

Rare gathering of two major texts of Roman law: the Codicis Domini Justiniani sacratissimi principis (general title page absent, datable to the late 16th or early 17th century), enriched with tables and numerous manuscript marginal notes from the period.

Bound with Authenticae seu Novellæ Constitutiones D. Iustiniani... Cum notis Dionysij Gothofredi – Geneva, Apud hæredes Eustathij Vignon, 1604 (magnificent secondary title page within a wood-engraved frame with scrolls and grotesques).

Full brown calf leather of the period in good condition. Spine with 5 raised bands richly decorated with gold-tooling, label in morocco. Red edges. An authentic copy “in its original condition.” Rubs, epidermal wear and stains of use on the boards and spine; headbands and corners worn. Interior on fresh, thick paper, with age-toned yellowing, freckles, stains and a faint marginal damp-stain. Presence of numerous old manuscript annotations in the text and in the margin by a jurist of the period.

This volume is a precious working tool for a practitioner or a scholar of the seventeenth century. The combination of Justinian’s Codex and the Novelles as commented by the great jurist Denis Godefroy and printed by the prestigious Protestant workshop of the heirs of Eustache Vignon in Geneva attests to the rigor of legal teaching in early modern times. The old manuscript annotations add a unique and living dimension to this witness of the history of law.