Liber Sextus Decretalium, Strasbourg: Eggestein, c1473

1473. Strasbourg: Heinrich Eggestein, c.1473. Strasbourg: Heinrich Eggestein, c.1473. One of the Earliest Printings of the Liber Sextus Decretalium Bonifacius VIII, Pope [c.1235-1303] D'Andrea, Giovanni [c.1270-1348], Glossator. [Liber Sextus Decretalium]. [Strasbourg: Heinrich Eggestein, c.1473]. 199 ff. Lacking h6 and final leaf, both blanks. Collation: [a-d10, e13, f-g10, h5, i10, k-l8, m-p10, q4, r-v10, x11]. Folio (16-1/2" x 12"; 41 x 30.5 cm). Contemporary reversed calf (on thick wooden boards), brass catches to fore-edges, straps lacking, raised bands and fragment of later paper title label to spine, residue of title label to front board. Moderate rubbing and scuffing to boards, heavier rubbing to extremities with wear to spine and corners, boards beginning to separate but secure, minor worming to pastedowns, upper corner lacking from front free endpaper, which, along with following two leaves, is lightly soiled and edgeworn. Text in parallel columns, 44-line main text with Andrea's 59-line linear gloss. Printed in red and black. Initials in red, blue, and purple, paragraph marks and capital strokes in red. Moderate toning, light browning in places, occasional light soiling and faint dampstaining to margins. Early and nineteenth-century annotations to front free endpaper and first leaf of text (one of them a gift inscription to a convent), bookplate of Theodore Low De Vinne and bookplate of Alexandre P. Rosenberg, designed by Pablo Picasso, to front pastedown, Rosenberg's brief typewritten book description, with Goff number added in pencil, tipped in. $36,000. * Third edition. Issued in 1298, the Liber Sextus of Boniface VIII is one of the primary collections of canon law. It is one of the writings known collectively as the Corpus Juris Canonici. Andrea was an Italian canonist and professor of canon law at the University of Bologna. An eminent figure, his principal writings circulated widely in manuscript and were among the earliest printed works on canon law. His glosses were first published in 1472. All early editions are rare on the market. This Eggestein edition was considered the second for many years, a point upheld by Goff and GW, but it is now widely believed to be the third. De Vinne was a typographer and one of the founders of the Grolier Club. Alexandre Rosenberg [1921-1987], an art dealer, and his wife, Elaine [1921-2020], were important collectors of illuminated ma.