JUSTINIANUS (482-565). Digestum vetus. With the Glossa ordinaria of Accursius. Nuremberg: Anton Koberger, 22 November 1482.

Early edition of an essential text of Roman jurisprudence, with an illuminated initial. Also known as the Pandects, this work is a compilation of excerpts from the writings of the Roman jurists, created at the order of Emperor Justinian in the 6th century. A near-contemporary manuscript copy of this text was rediscovered in the 12th century, revolutionizing the study of Roman law in the Middle Ages. HC 9550*; BMC II 423; BSB-Ink C-602; GW 7662; Bod-inc J-248; Goff J-549; ISTC ij00549000.

Median folio (333 x 225mm). 402 leaves (of 404, without first and last blanks). Printed in red and black. Illuminated initial on first leaf, large red and blue particolored initials at beginning of each book, smaller blue and red initials, red paragraph marks (a few small marginal repairs, repaired wormholes at top margin of last two leaves just touching letters, some leaves with toning or stains, last leaf a bit soiled). 18th-century marbled calf, speckled edges (rebacked and recornered, with new spine sections peeling away). Provenance: erased library stamp on first leaf – Isaac St. Goar (Frankfurt bookseller's label) – Roderick Terry (1849-1933, Newport philanthropist and President of the board of the Redwood Library & Athenaeum; bookplate, his sale, part III, 14-15 February 1935, lot 230).