Difference between revisions of "Four Books of Justinian's Institutions"

Revision as of 11:45, 28 March 2014

D. Justiniani Institutionum Libri Quator, The Four Books of Justinian's Institutions

D. Justiniani Institutionum Libri Quator
Title page from D. Justiniani Institutionum Libri Quator, George Wythe Collection, Wolf Law Library, College of William & Mary.
Author
Editor	{{{editor}}}
Translator	George Harris
Published	London: Printed by J. Purser for M. Withers
Date	1761
Edition	Second
Language	Latin and English
Volumes	{{{set}}} volume set
Pages	iv, 73, 121, 100, 92, [11], [4]
Desc.	4to (27 cm.)
Location	[[Shelf {{{shelf}}}]]
	[[Shelf {{{shelf2}}}]]

Illustration, dedication.

The Justinian Institutes are one of the four parts of the Corpus Juris Civilis, a comprehensive body of Roman Law.^[1] Created under the order of Emperor Justinian and the guidance of his minister Tribonian, the work is the basis of modern civil law systems.^[2] The Institutes serve as an introduction to the law, a way for students unfamiliar with the law to build a legal framework.^[3] To this end, the works organize the law into a three part scheme that includes the law of people, things, and actions. ^[4] Unlike the Digest, “each title appears to be a single, continuous essay.” ^[5] The emphasis is on the avoidance of confusion, the ease of use, and the development of the baseline knowledge necessary to analyze more complex portions of the law. ^[6] In Justinian’s own words, it is a “cunabula legume” or cradle of the law, an apt description both because of how the work instructs and the way in which it contains the law. ^[7]

Tribonian did not create the Institutes from scratch. ^[8] Instead scholars posit that he polished and edited the drafts of two law professors in making the final version. ^[9] In addition, Tribonian relied heavily on older Roman law sources, especially ‘’the Institutes of Gaius’’, a work created by a second-century legal scholar and believed to be the inventor of the institutional scheme. ^[10]

Today, the Justinian Institutes form the basis of modern European Civil Law and their influence is often conspicuous.^[11]

Evidence for Inclusion in Wythe's Library

Listed in the Jefferson Inventory of Wythe's Library as "[H]arris’s Justinian. 4to." and given by Thomas Jefferson to James Dinsmore. Brown's Bibliography^[12] suggests either the first (1756) or the second (1761) edition while noting that Jefferson sold a copy of the latter to the Library of Congress.^[13] George Wythe's Library^[14] on LibraryThing indicates "Precise edition unknown. Editions with similar imprints were published at London in 1756 and 1761" and also mentions Jefferson's copy at the Library of Congress. The Wolf Law Library purchased a copy of the second edition.

Description of the Wolf Law Library's copy

Bound in contemporary full calf, rebacked in period style. Title page signed "J. Wickham 1789." Purchased from The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd.

View this book in William & Mary's online catalog.

References

1. ↑ ‘’The Columbia Encyclopedia,’’ s.v. ""Corpus Juris Civilis," accessed March 28, 2014.
2. ↑ Peter Birks and Grant McLeod, “Justinian’s Institutes” (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1987),8
3. ↑ Ibid. 12
4. ↑ Ibid. 13
5. ↑ Ibid. 12
6. ↑ Ibid.15-16
7. ↑ Ibid. 15
8. ↑ Ibid. 12
9. ↑ Ibid.
10. ↑ Ibid. 16
11. ↑ Ibid. 18-28
12. ↑ Bennie Brown, "The Library of George Wythe of Williamsburg and Richmond," (unpublished manuscript, May, 2012) Microsoft Word file. Earlier edition available at: https://digitalarchive.wm.edu/handle/10288/13433.
13. ↑ E. Millicent Sowerby, Catalogue of the Library of Thomas Jefferson, 2nd ed. (Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1983), 2:397 [no.2191].
14. ↑ LibraryThing, s. v. "Member: George Wythe," accessed on June 28, 2013.

External Links

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