Difference between revisions of "Corpus Juris Civilis"

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	*''[[Four Books of Justinian's Institutions|D. Justiniani Institutionum Libri Quator, The Four Books of Justinian's Institutions]]''		*''[[Four Books of Justinian's Institutions|D. Justiniani Institutionum Libri Quator, The Four Books of Justinian's Institutions]]''
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	[[Category:Roman Law]]		[[Category:Roman Law]]
	[[Category:Titles in Wythe's Library]]		[[Category:Titles in Wythe's Library]]

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Revision as of 15:28, 9 September 2015

Corpus Juris Civilis
Title page from Corpus Juris Civilis, George Wythe Collection, Wolf Law Library, College of William & Mary.
Author	{{{author}}}
Editor	Denis Godefroy
Translator	{{{trans}}}
Published	Amstelodami: apud Joannem Blaeu, Ludovicum, & Danielem Elzevirios ; Lugd. Batavorum : apud Franciscum Hackium
Date	1663
Edition	{{{edition}}}
Language	Latin
Volumes	2 volume set
Pages	{{{pages}}}
Desc.	Folio (40 cm.)
Location	Shelf M-5
	[[Shelf {{{shelf2}}}]]

Corpus Juris Civilis ("Body of Civil Law") is the modern name for a collection of fundamental works in jurisprudence issued from 529 to 534 by order of Justinian I, Byzantine Emperor. Spurred on by the revival of interest in the study of Roman law in the Middle Ages, Justinian created a commission to collect legal materials of various kinds into several new volumes. He and his minister, Tribonian, effectively "saved and transformed the Roman law library."^[1] During the eleventh century, scholars who studied and commented upon the Corpus Juris Civilis created national legal systems throughout Europe, making it a model for almost every European nation.^[2]

Corpus Juris Civilis is divided into four parts: the Digest, the Codex, the Institutes, and the Novels.^[3] The Digest, the largest of the works, preserved the writings of classical jurists.^[4] The Codex compiled all of the existing imperial constitutiones (imperial pronouncements having the force of law), back to the time of Hadrian. It used both the Codex Theodosianus and the fourth-century collections embodied in the Codex Gregorianus and Codex Hermogenianus.^[5] The Institutes provided an introduction to the law for students, and the Novels were the new pronouncements of Justinian that followed the completion of the other parts of the Corpus.[5]

Evidence for Inclusion in Wythe's Library

Listed in the Jefferson Inventory of Wythe's Library as [?] juris civilis. fol. and given by Thomas Jefferson to James Dinsmore. While the precise title and work are unknown, it is highly likely that Jefferson's notation refers to a copy of Corpus Juris Civilis. Brown's Bibliography^[6] includes the 1726, 2 volume, folio edition based in part on the copy Jefferson sold to the Library of Congress.^[7] George Wythe's Library^[8] on LibraryThing notes "Precise work/edition unknown. Possibly an edition of Denis Godefroy's Corpus juris civilis." The Wolf Law Library moved a copy of the 1663 Amsterdam edition from the general rare books collection to the George Wythe Collection.

Description of the Wolf Law Library's copy

Rebound in quarter-calf with speckled boards. Spine features five raised bands with blind-tooled stamps and red labels. Title page of volume one and half-title of volume two inscribed "Grosley." Half-title in volume one includes an embossed stamp. Purchased from The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd.

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

See also

• Arnoldi Vinnii JC. in Quatuor Libros Institutionum Imperialium Commentarius
• Codex Justinianus ad Vetustorum Exemplarium Fidem Diligẽtissime Recognitus
• D. Justiniani Institutionum Libri Quator, The Four Books of Justinian's Institutions
• George Wythe Room
• Jefferson Inventory
• Wythe's Library

References

1. ↑ Peter Birks and Grant McLeod, "Introduction" in Justinian's Institutes (Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press, 1987), 8.
2. ↑ The Columbia Encyclopedia, s.v. "Corpus Juris Civilis," accessed October 10, 2013.
3. ↑ The Macquarie Dictionary, s.v. "Corpus Juris Civilis," accessed October 10, 2013.
4. ↑ Birks and McLeod, "Introduction," 10.
5. ↑ Ibid, 9.
6. ↑ 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
7. ↑ E. Millicent Sowerby, Catalogue of the Library of Thomas Jefferson, 2nd ed. (Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1983), 2:399-400 [no.2196].
8. ↑ LibraryThing, s.v. "Member: George Wythe," accessed on June 28, 2013.

External links

• Read Volume 1 of this book in Google Books.
• Read Volume 2 of this book in Google Books.