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JUSTINIANUS (483-565, Emperor). Codex Justinianus, with Glossa ordinaria of Accursius. Mainz: Peter Schoeffer, 26 January 1475.
Imperial 2° (480 x 331mm). Collation: [110 28 3-510 68 76 88 910 108 11-1210 13-148 1510 168(+-3 or 6) 1710(+-2 or 9) 188 1910 201 2110 228 2310 24-258 266 27-1810 29-308 31-3210 338 344 358 366 3710] (1/1r prologue with commentary, 1/3r-4 Book I, 5-8 Book II, 9-11 Book III, 12-16 Book IV, 17-19 Book V, 20-26 Book VI, 27-30 Book VII, 31-34 Book VIII, 35-37/8v Book IX, colophon and Schoeffer device printed in red, 37/9r-10r rubrics table, 37/10v blank). 322 leaves (of 324, lacking first leaf of prologue and without blank 20/12). Printed in red and black. 81 lines, double column, text with commentary surround. Type: 5:118G (text), 6:92G (commentary). ILLUMINATED BY A CONTEMPORARY ARTIST, probably active in Erfurt, each of the 9 books opening with an illuminated initial with purple penwork decoration and a 10-12-line inventive foliate decoration, the first with a gymnast, others inhabited by a wild man, beasts, or birds, other initials and paragraph marks alternating in red and blue, headlines and foliation in red, contemporary MS quiring occasionally preserved at centre of extreme lower margin. (Illumination somewhat rubbed, some staining, mostly marginal, heavier in quire 29, neat tear in 3 leaves, first leaf creased and with small marginal loss.) Contemporary Erfurt binding, blindstamped pigskin over thick unbevelled wooden boards panelled and tooled with rosette, pierced heart and other stamps (Schunke-Schwenke Blüte Vierblatt 112, Herz 75 and 77, Rosette 581a and 666a), brass corner guards, corner and central roundels, and a rhomboid of bracing strips, two clasps with shaped catch-plates, vellum quire guards in several quires at beginning, middle and end, remains of index tabs (a few minor tears at spine, some tiny wormholes). Provenance: Johannes Starck (inscription inside front cover) -- unlocalised monastic library of Mons [--] (erased 18th-century inscription) -- Franciscan convent, given by Elisabeth Senck[-], 1762 (inscription).
FIRST EDITION. The Corpus iuris civilis, of which the Codex forms the first part, is 'the basis of civil law in every civilized country' (Catholic Encyclopedia). It is the result of Roman Emperor Justinian's great and noble project to codify all Roman law for his subjects. A LARGE, FRESH COPY, retaining many aspects of its original production and ownership. It was decorated by a contemporary artist with an individual imagination; retains its contemporary binding; and preserves many other original features such as all four pinholes in many leaves, showing their double use for the two-colour printing, and MS index aids added by a contemporary reader. The striking illumination has been linked to a workshop responsible for the Doheny Jerome Epistolare (Mainz: Schoeffer, 1470), also bound at Erfurt. For examples of Mainz rubrication associated with the Schoeffer printing house, in contrast to that in the present Justininan, see L. Hellinga, 'Peter Schoeffer and the Book-Trade in Mainz: Evidence for the Organization', Bookbindings & other Bibliophily, Essays in honour of Anthony Hobson, ed. D.E. Rhodes, Verona: 1994, pp. 247-276. HC *9598; GW 7722; BMC I, 31 (IC.194); BSB-Ink. C-560; Bod. Inc. J-268; Goff J-574.
Imperial 2° (480 x 331mm). Collation: [1
FIRST EDITION. The Corpus iuris civilis, of which the Codex forms the first part, is 'the basis of civil law in every civilized country' (Catholic Encyclopedia). It is the result of Roman Emperor Justinian's great and noble project to codify all Roman law for his subjects. A LARGE, FRESH COPY, retaining many aspects of its original production and ownership. It was decorated by a contemporary artist with an individual imagination; retains its contemporary binding; and preserves many other original features such as all four pinholes in many leaves, showing their double use for the two-colour printing, and MS index aids added by a contemporary reader. The striking illumination has been linked to a workshop responsible for the Doheny Jerome Epistolare (Mainz: Schoeffer, 1470), also bound at Erfurt. For examples of Mainz rubrication associated with the Schoeffer printing house, in contrast to that in the present Justininan, see L. Hellinga, 'Peter Schoeffer and the Book-Trade in Mainz: Evidence for the Organization', Bookbindings & other Bibliophily, Essays in honour of Anthony Hobson, ed. D.E. Rhodes, Verona: 1994, pp. 247-276. HC *9598; GW 7722; BMC I, 31 (IC.194); BSB-Ink. C-560; Bod. Inc. J-268; Goff J-574.
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