JUSTINIAN Ist, Emperor of the East
£1,500
Auction: 1 February 2005 at 11:00 GMT
Description
Trium digestorum seu pandectarum liber in ordine secundus qui infortiatum dicitur summa cum vigilantia emendatum crebrisque laboribus tum impressoris tum notabilum in iure cesareo professorum egregiis additamentis ordine congruo margini insertis ... Titlepage printed in red and black with the large printer's device of Louis Martin, ff. 276, printed in red and black throughout, in two columns surrounded by scholia, large woodcut on the verso of a2 of the Emperor seated on his throne with bishops and men of high rank, contemporary oak boards, rebacked, lacking clasps, titlepage remargined, stained and with damage chiefly to the outer margin (but no loss of text), similar damage to the subsequent two leaves (not affecting text), some further patches of staining throughout and occasional marginal damage to other leaves, a few leaves with parts of the lower margin cut out, f. 275 with repair to piece removed from the lower part of the outer margin just touching a few letters of text, lacking q1 and apparently lacking the last signature N, folio, Lyons: Louis Martin, 1514
Note: Apparently an unrecorded impression of the Infortiatum, it has similarities to an edition printed by another Lyons printer François Fradin on 26 January 1514, and given the obvious expense of production, it would seem not unlikely that there was some connection between Fradin's edition and that of Martin issued 28 April 1514. The Fradin edition has the same woodcut and tallies in other respects, but is clearly a separate publication (e.g. 306 leaves) and collates differently. Furthermore, the Fradin edition ends with "Liber XXIIII" and begins "Liber XXV" on b2 recto. Tipped in at the front is correspondence of 1955 about this volume between the Keeper of the National Library of Scotland and Dennis Rhodes, writing as an Assistant Keeper in the Department of Printed Books at the British Museum, on behalf of C.B. Oldman. Rhodes reports that he has been unable to trace any reference to the present edition.
Provenance: At f.3 ownership inscription of Alexander Mylne (1474-?1548), first President of the Court of Session in Scotland from 1532 and Abbot of Cambuskenneth from 1519, who records his ownership of the present volume as a Canon and official of Dunkeld Cathedral. "Liber Alexandri myln Canonicj et Officialis Dounkelden(sis) Anno 1516:" Six other books owned by Mylne are recorded, Durkan & Ross Early Scottish libraries (1961) pp. 132-3 with five items, and one in The Bibliotheck 11 (1982) p. 35. The inscription in our volume is earlier than the other Mylne inscriptions so far recorded. There are some other marginalia in 16th or 17th century hands, including a variant of the poem "In my defence god me defend" (f. 217).