E Libris Constitutionum Theodosii A Libri Priores Octo LongŠ..

1528. Paris, 1550. Paris, 1550. A Scarce Critical Edition of the Codex Theodosianus Theodosius II [401-450 CE], Emperor of the East. Du Tillet, Jean [d. 1570], Editor. E Libris Constitutionum Theodosii A. Libri Priores Octo: Longe Meliores Quam Adhuc Circunferebantur: Sed ab Alarico Rege Gothorum ita Deminuti, Ut uix Decima Pars in his Hodie Appareat Eoru[m], Quae in Theodosiano Codice Continebantur. Posteriores octo integri, Nunc Primum post M. Annos in Lucem Revocati a Io. Tilio Engolism. Paris: Apud Carolam Guillard sub Sole Aureo, & Gulielmum Desboys sub Cruce Alba, 1550. [xii], 123, [12], 580 pp. Octavo (6-3/4" x 4-1/4"). Contemporary vellum, blind frames and large arabesques to boards, raised bands, early hand-lettered title to spine, blind tooling to spine ends. Light soiling to spine, corners bumped and lightly worn, front joints and front and rear hinges starting, early owner signatures and annotations to front endleaves, early manuscript index inserted into rear endleaves, which contain part of index, a few cracks to text block. Moderate toning, occasional light dampstaining, light soiling to title page, light soiling and some edgewear to other preliminaries. $1,850. * Only edition. Commissioned by the Emperor Theodosius II in 429 CE, the Codex is an official compilation of all laws enacted since the reign of Constantine. Completed in 438 CE, and ratified that year by the Senate, it was the standard legal text of the empire, one that superseded all earlier codes. It would later exert enormous influence on the legal systems of the Barbarians who conquered the Western Empire. The first part, Books 1-8, was lost after the fall of empire and it was reconstructed by later scholars from sections preserved in later sources, most notably the Visigothic Code (Lex Romana Visigothorum). The first part in Du Tillet's edition presents the pieces of Books 1-8 in the Visigothic Code. The second part, which has its own title page, contains the rest of the Codex, Books 9-16. A French humanist jurist and associate of Cujas, Du Tillet was also the Bishop of Brieuc, later Meaux. He edited Ulpian's Regulae and assisted Cujas with his edition of the Codex Theodosianus. OCLC locates 3 copies in North American libraries (Library of Congress, Smith College, UC-Berkeley Law School).