JUSTINIAN I, EMPEROR OF THE EAST, ACCURSIUS. - Institutiones. Nuremberg: Anton Koberger, 27 December 1486

[Justinian I, Emperor of the East (483-565 CE)]. [Accorso, Francisco (Accursius) (c.1182-c.1260), Glossator]. [Institutiones]. [Nuremberg: Anton Koberger, 27 December 1486]. 90 ff. Collation: a-b10, c8, d6, e-f10, g12, h10, i6, k8. Text in parallel columns. 42-line main text surrounded by 80-line gloss. Folio (12-3/4" x 8-1/2"). Recent morocco, gilt title and raised bands to spine with decorative blind tooling, endpapers renewed. Printed throughout in red and black in late-Gothic rounded type, guide initials are not rubricated. Light to moderate toning, occasional faint dampstaining, endleaves repaired and mounted, repairs to margins and corners of a few leaves with no loss to text, occasional light soiling, minor worm holes to margins of a few leaves. Contemporary and somewhat later annotations to endleaves and portions of text, mostly to margins. Ex-library. Two small inkstamps to a2 (Fol. 1). A handsomely bound copy of fundamental text and a monument of early printing. $15,000. * With the Glossa Ordinaria of Accursius. Along with the Digest, Code and Novels, the Institutes is one of the writings known collectively as the Corpus Juris Civilis. It is an elementary treatise on Roman private law for students. Like its companion volumes, its subsequent influence on European jurisprudence is difficult to underestimate. It received a great deal of commentary during the medieval and early modern eras. The first significant commentator was Accorso (Accursius), a Professor of Law at Bologna and a leading figure in the revival of classical jurisprudence. He examined every extant note and commentary when he prepared his epochal edition of the Institutes, Digest and Code. This massive effort eliminated much of the obscurity and contradiction introduced by earlier writers. His gloss on this edition, which superseded all previous attempts, was often cited as the Glossa Ordinaria or Magistralis. It remained definitive until its 1583 revision by Denis Godefroy. OCLC locates 5 copies in North America, 1 in a law library (University of Michigan). Goff, Incunabula in American Libraries J-529. Gesamtkatalog der Wiegendrucke (GW

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