A Lawyer’s Studies

One of the oldest holdings in The Addison's collection is a 2-volume set of Corpus Juris Canonici, also known as the Decretum Gratiani, published in 1615.  Though these particular books originate from the 17th century, the text was written in the 12th century by Gratian of Bologna, an Italian monk and jurist known as "The Father of Canon Law."  It served for centuries as a compilation of rules for the Christian church to abide by until 1917, when it was officially replaced by The Code of Canon Law.

Very little is known about these books' previous ownership.  Despite the incomplete provenance, these books still contain some subtle clues historians can use to explore the people of the time period.  There are zero handwritten inscriptions or notes on the pages of these books, and the spine is relatively tight, indicating that these books were probably not handled very often.  However, tabs made of vellum were pasted intentionally throughout the text.  Examining the content of the marked pages can help identify the parts of the text that were potentially considered the most important by 17th century readers.