IM-13641: Original incunabula leaf from a medieval fragment of Gratian’s Decretum (Gratianus: Decretum Gratiani sivi Concordantia Discordantium Canonum). Finely printed text in black gothic letters with capital initials and rubrics printed in red and blue ink on handmade paper.
Printed at Nuremberg by Anton Koberger, 28 February 1483.
Size: 13.5 x 9 inches - 340 x 228 mm
This historic leaf is from the first Koberger edition of the first handbook of canon law, written by Gratian, an Italian Camaldolese monk in Bologna about 1130-1140 AD. The Decretum was a fundamental textbook for medieval students and teachers of law, and continued to be a main basis of church law until the early 20th century..
The contents of the central two columns of the leaf are from the Decretum part II, Causa II, questione I, concerning ecclesiastical administration, procedural issues, and marriage.
Gratian’s text is accompanied by later commentaries to interpret aspects of the cases discussed in the main text. These feature a distinctive page layout in which Gratian’s text appears in the center of the page, with the outer and lower margins occupied by the commentary. In this edition the commentary is written by Johannes Semeca and Bartholomaeus Brixiensis.
This is a beautiful and well-preserved large folio leaf from a famous early printer. Anton Koberger, the godfather of Albrecht Durer was one of the most enterprising printers of his time, with 24 presses and about 100 employees. This example shows Koberger’s fine and clear Gothic type and his attempt to conform to the manuscript appearance by the rubrications which required multiple passes of the press to print the multiple colors on a single leaf!
Reference: Goff G-374; Gesamptkatalog der Wiegendrucke, 1136; Hain/Cop. 7899.
Shipped unmatted
