Corpus juris civilis
The famous copy of Justinian’s Digestum vetus owned by the humanist Hartmann Schedel (1440–1514), printed in Nuremberg by Koberger on November 22, 1482.
A magnificent, complete, illuminated copy, preserved in its remarkable contemporary pigskin binding made around 1483 in a Nuremberg workshop.
Hartmann Schedel (February 13, 1440, Nuremberg – November 28, 1514, Nuremberg) was a German physician, known in particular as a humanist and for having written one of the most remarkable incunabula: The Nuremberg Chronicle.
Nuremberg, 22 novembre 1482.
Fol. 403 ll gothic type; type 7-BMC 92 (Burger 162, text. Woolley 65. Ges. f. Typ. 1153, 1154. BMC xxxix) ; type 6 -BMC 65 (Burger 162, glose. Woolley 65. Ges. f. Typ. 1153, 1154. BMC xxxix). Printed in black and red. 2 col. 57 ll., 78 ll., a-f10 g8 h-k6 l8 m8 n-t10 v8x6 A-C10 d-f10 G-T10 V8 X10 Y10.
Contemporary blindstamped pigskin binding complete of its 10 copper cabochons. A remarkable contemporary binding from a Nuremberg’s workshop.
350 x 230 mm.
Corpus juris civilis. JUSTINIANUS Imperator. Digestum vetus c. apparatu. —
Nuremberg Antoine Koberger, 1482, 10 cal. decembres (22 novembre).
Fol. 403 ll gothic type; type 7-BMC 92 (Burger 162, text. Woolley 65. Ges. f. Typ. 1153, 1154. BMC xxxix) ; type 6 -BMC 65 (Burger 162, glose. Woolley 65. Ges. f. Typ. 1153, 1154. BMC xxxix). Printed in black and red. 2 col. 57 ll., 78 ll., a-f10 g8 h-k6 l8 m8 n-t10 v8x6 A-C10 d-f10 G-T10 V8 X10 Y10.
Contemporary blindstamped pigskin binding complete of its 10 copper cabochons. A remarkable contemporary binding from a Nuremberg’s workshop.
350 x 230 mm.
Third edition of this part of the Corpus Juris civilis, a splendid Koberger incunable in an exceptionnally fine copy from the library of noted physician, humanist and historian Hartmann Schedel, author of the Nuremberg Chronicle, with his owner’s entry in red ink on the front pastedown, foliation in red ink probably from his hand, lacking initial blank l., otherwise complete, rubricated throughout, lombard initials suplied in red or blue, larger ones in both colours, a fine 7-lines initial « O » to l. a2r in gold and colours, old library stamp of Moscow Imperial University to lower blank margin, finie, in a beautiful formerly chained binding of blind-tooled pigskin over wooden boards from a Nuremberg shop excellently preserved.
GW 7662; HC, 9550 ; Proctor, 2026 ; BMC II, 423b; Goff J, 549; BSB-Ink C, 602; Pelle. 6768 u. 6808; Pollain, 2363; Voull. Bln. 1689; Hase, 447,70.
Dritte Ausgabe dieses Teils des Corpus juris civilis.
Justinian regarded the codification and streamlining of the Roman legal system as essential to his plan to restore Rome’s former dominance. To this end, he appointed the jurist Tribonian to head a commission tasked with codifying all existing imperial constitutions: this gave rise to the Codex. Next, they turned their attention to the body of work by earlier jurists, a task that required consulting some 2,000 codices; the final Digest marked a turning point in Roman law, as the often contradictory case law of the past was now subsumed into an orderly legal system. The Institutiones, the third part of the Corpus Juris Civilis, was conceived as an introductory textbook that provided a clear and concise overview of the law, based in part on the compilation by the 2nd-century jurist Gaius. The work continued to serve for centuries as a basic text with which students began their studies of Roman law, and more than 85 incunabula editions are listed. Koberger published the Digest in 1482 (reprinted in 1483) and the Codex in 1488.
The Digest constitutes the most substantial part of the Corpus Juris Civilis.
Divided into 50 chapters, it compiles all the decisions and opinions of the great jurists, decisions to which the force of law was attributed.
The Digest comprised three parts—Vetus, Infortiatum, and Novum—which were published separately and simultaneously in Rome, Padua, Milan, and Venice.
Infortiatum is usually considered as the main section.
This legal monument, established by Justinian’s eminent jurists, had a considerable impact on Western societies, particularly from the 12th century onward, when Italian glossators and jurists secured its universal acceptance and successfully set it against Germanic and local customs.
Die Bibliothek Hartmann Schedels, in der ein Teil der Sammlung seines äl-teren Vetters Hermann (1410-1485) aufgegangen war, blieb wie die seines Fachkollegen Munzer zunächst im Familienbesitz. Erst 1552 verkaufte Melchior Schedel die Bücher seines Großvaters an Johann Jakob Fugger, mit dessen Sammlung sie 1571 von Herzog Albrecht V. für die Hofbibliothek erworben wurden. Immerhin etwa die Hälfte der Scheclelschen Bibliothek, der umfangreichsten Nürnberger Humanistensammlung, gelangte so nach München, wo sie bis heute in der Bayerischen Staatsbibliothek aufbewahrt wird. Doch auch andere Mitglieder der Familie Schedel hatten bibliophile Neigungen: Ein Sebastian Schedel, vielleicht der Sohn oder Enkel Hartmanns, klebte auf den Vorderspiegel einer Ausgabe des Narremchiffs von Sébastian Brant sein gedrucktes und koloriertes Wappen mit dem Motto Ich laß passiern ein. Ein Lesevermerk von 1677 zeigt, daß sich die Inkunabel noch im 17. Jahrhundert im deutschsprachigen Raum befand; in die Bodleiana gelangte sie 1834 als Teil des Vermächtnisses von Francis Douce, des Leiters der Handschriftenabteilung des Britischen Museums in London (heute British Library).
Weniger günstig als der Bibliothek Hartmann Schedels war das Schicksal der kleineren Sammlung des Nürnberger Arztes Hieronymus Münzer, deren Hauptteil zusammen mit derjenigen seines Schwiegersohns Hieronymus Holzschuher (1469-1529) am Ende des 16. Jahrhunderts von dem österreichischen Bibliophilen Ferdinand von Hoffmann (†l607) erworben wurde. Hoffmann lebte seit 1586 vorwiegend am Hof Kaiser Rudolfs II. in Prag; als seine Familie zwei Generationen nach seinem Tod in der männlichen Linie ausstarb, schenkten Hoffmanns Urenkelinnen die Bücher ihrem Vormund, Fürst Ferdinand von Dietrichstein. Nachdem die Jesuiten von Brünn theologisch anstößige Literatur aussortiert (und für sich reklamiert) hatten, kam die Bibliothek schließlich 1669 nach Nikolsburg (Mikulov) in Mähren, wo sich noch 1928 zahlreiche Münzer-Bände fanden. Bei der Versteigerung dieser Bibliothek in den Jahren 1933 und 1934 wurde Münzers Sammlung jedoch auseinandergerissen; in Oxford konnte bisher keine Inkunabel aus seiner Bibliothek entdeckt werden.
After earning his master’s degree at the age of twenty-three, he went on to study medicine at the University of Padua. While in Italy, he wrote a general history of Italian antiquities. Upon his return to Germany, he established himself as a physician and also served as treasurer of the diocese and of St. Sebald’s Church in Nuremberg.
His most famous work is titled The Nuremberg Chronicles (Liber Chronicarum), produced with numerous collaborators and published in 1493. It is one of the most important German incunabula, both because of the scope of the editorial project and the quality of its execution.
One of the most beautiful and precious copies on the market for half a century.
