New acquisition: 1613 edition of Justinian's Institutes

The main focus of our collection is English and early American law books, but thanks to gifts by Professors Daniel R. Coquillette and Michael Hoeflich, we also have a strong collection of Roman law books. This new acquisition is a 1613 Venice edition of Justinian's Institutes, the synopsis of the Roman legal system that was designed to instruct law students. It's a key piece of the body of Roman law known as the Corpus Juris Civilis, organized and preserved by Emperor Justinian in the 6th century. 

This edition was edited and annotated by Silvestro Aldobrandini (1499 — 1558), a Florentine legal expert. It features red and black printing on the title page and woodcut initials throughout. As it typical in Roman law books, the original text is printed in the center, with the gloss (or commentary) and other annotations printed around it.