Thomas GRAMMATICUS - Allegationes et Consilia - exceedingly rare - 1542

(DROIT; PREMIÈRES ÉDITIONS; ILLUSTRÉ; RARIORA) Thomasus GRAMMATICUS (1473-1556)
Thomae Grammatici neapoli. I.U.D. clariss. Regii Consiliarii allegationes et consilia tam in causis criminalibus quam fiscalibus nunc primum in lucem edita. Eiusdem vota, ac per ipsum castigatione adibita. Accurate recognita, multisque accessionibus locupletata.Additis quinque votis n usquam locorum ante hunc diem impressis. Cum summarijs et repertoriis suis… Venetiis impressa in officina Comini de Tridino Impensis vero Domini Petri de Dominicis mercatoris librorum Nespoli mense Januario. 1542.
§ Large folio (410x275); [8], 95 leaves, (last leaf, blank, missing). Title printed in red and black within large ornamental woodcut frame depicting columns supported by satyrs, at the top Justice, down an oval with Moses holding up the twelve tables, the title boxed in the centre and on the sides the printer's initials. A second title page on verso of leaf 64 (preceding the Vota), monochromatic variant of the first one, with Justice within a large architectural arch and the motto “iustitiam diligite o vos qui iudicatis terram” on the vault; half-page engraving of remarkable workmanship on recto of the following leaf. Later half vellum, a magnificent ,wide-margined and very crisp copy, complete under all respects and practically flawless.
Definitive edition and the only folio- size , of exceptional rarity, apparently only four copies recorded in public libraries worldwide. The five Consilia on fiscal matters are published here for the first time. Judge of the Vicaria in 1496 - appointed by Frederick II of Aragon - tax lawyer in 1506, royal councilor in 1535, Tommaso Grammatico was a leading exponent of the legal culture of the Regnum in the 16th century. In the present work there is extensive discussion not only of the doctrines of the Ius commune, but also of the particular rights of the kingdom and, above all, of the complex jurisdictional and fiscal matters. Adherence to practice, combined with a particular sensitivity to issues of public law (which the Norman-Swabian monarchical system required in the Regnum in much more stringent terms than in other city systems) represent the peculiar characteristic and best quality of Grammaticus' writings. He actually contributed, in a remarkably significant way, to the primacy achieved by Naples in the production of the works that, based on the Decisiones had enormous influence throughout Europe until the mid-1600s.
 V. VENTURA Profilo di Tommaso Grammatico giurista e letterato in: M. Ascheri (ed.) Scritti di St. del Dir. Ital. offerti dagli allievi a Domenico Maffei, Padova, 1991, pp. 353-375; Pazzaglini & Hawks Consilia, G-47