
EUROPEAN LAW
[EMBRACING LAW OF
“CONTINENTAL HERITAGE”]
A-C
D-F
G-Q R-Z
Ramírez
Carrillo, Alonso. Manuscript document,
unsigned. On paper, in Spanish. Peñafiel, Spain, 1621. Folio (31 cm; 12.25").
15 ff.
$500.00
Detailed here is the last will and testament of the choir master of Popayán, Colombia. Ramírez was an absentee office holder, for he lived in Peñafiel, Spain, indulged in this failure to take up his duties in the New World by the bishop of Popayán—who happened to be his uncle. The choir master’s wealth was considerable and while not itemized as in an estate inventory, it is more than hinted at via the bequests here of real estate (with provenance), of silver and gold chalices and crosses, and of cash in the form of coin. The bequests also give an interesting picture of the size of his family and the ranking of nieces, nephews, etc.
Certified, contemporary copy of the original.
Sewn. In good condition. Very legible notarial hand.
Ramírez
Carrillo, Alonso. Document (“escritura
pública de donación”). In Spanish, on paper. Peñafiel,
Spain, 24 April 1615. Folio. [10] pp.
$450.00

Don Alonso Ramírez was the past choir master of Popayán, Colombia, and by this document gives various properties to María de la Puente, widow of Diego Ramírez Carrillo (Don Alonso’s nephew) and Doña Isabel Ramírez Carrillo, Maria’s daughter. The properties include a vineyard (“nueve viñas” that Don Alonso bought from Diego on 9 March 1591; another (“viña a Manzanillo”) that he bought from Juan Arranz, the elder, citizen of Manzanillo, on 7 December 1612; a third vineyard (“viña a Majuelo”) that he purchased from Francisco Santos and his wife (María Muñoz), citizens of Manzanillo, on 20 April 1614; a piece of land in Manzanillo, in the region called “tierras de las Tapias,” sown with two cargas of seed, purchased from Gaspar Decian on 6 January 1586; and a house in the parish of Nuestra Señora de Mediavilla that he purchased on 16 July 1605 from the administrators of the trust that Joratalina Sarmiento established.
Click the image for an enlargement.
A contemporaneous certified copy of the original document.
Written in a clear notarial hand. Very good condition.

The
GENUINE
Nature of LAW
Reyher, Samuel, praeses. ...Genvina jvrivm naturæ, gentium ac civilium principia, ex limpidissimis verbi divini fontibus, ac vasti juris romani oceano, ejusque interpretibus derivata.... Kiliæ: Literis Bartholdi Reutheri, 1710. Small 4to. 46 pp.
$185.00
Reyher, 1635-1714, directed many, many students through their law
studies at the University of Kiel. In this thesis, to which Johann Michael Eccard
was the respondent, the "genuine nature of law" is explored via the writings
of classical poets and historians, and inscriptions on monuments. There were
several editions, all scarce.
Modern boards covered with old-style German sprinkled brown
paper, with paper label on front cover. Title-page lightly soiled in top margin.

MOST HANDSOME
Ruiz de Bustamante, Pedro. Broadside, begins: “Jesus Christus ... in disserttion auspicali pro supremis in Jure canonico....” [Guatemala City]: Apud [Ignacio] Beteta, 1810. Folio extra (40.5 x 29 cm; 16" x 12"). [1] p.
$750.00
Click the image for an enlargement.
Ruiz de Bustamante declares his degree defense in canon law at the Guatemalan university, his announcement being contained within a three-element typographic border of printer's ornaments.
Above a Neo-Latin poem to Christ is an exquisite, unsigned, copper-engraved image of Christ crucified. The defense was set for 23 December, the verso containing a small printed announcement that the time for the defense was to be 9 AM.
Chain lines are horizontal!
We trace no copy via NUC, WorldCat, COPAC, Catálogo Colectivo del Patrimonio
Bibliográfico, Metabase, or the OPACs of the national libraries of Mexico or Spain. We have failed to find the URL for the OPAC of the Guatemalan National Library.
Medina, Guatemala, 1683. Old folds, left margin irregular.
A very clean, bright, crisp, impressive exemplar. (30336)

Let's NOT Bring Back
the Inquisition
S., Y. O. Anecdota importante relativa a la Inquisicion de España, y varias reflexiones sobre el mismo asunto. Mejico: Impr. de D.M. Ontiveros, 1820. Small 4to. 35, [1 (blank)] pp.
$375.00
Strong but not rabid anti-Inquisition thoughts, expressed in 63 numbered paragraphs. Also addresses the question of freedom of the press and its intersection with the role of the Inquisition in barring unapproved ideas. A good contribution to the history of Human Rights.
Uncommon: OCLC locates only the copies at the Bancroft and Chilean National libraries; although, clearly, there is or was one in the Sutro Library.
Sutro 175. Removed from a nonce volume. A good clean copy. (21742)

Where His Loyalty Lay
Saint-Paul, comte de. Lettre de monsieur le comte de Sainct Paul, a monsieur le prince de Condé. Paris: Jean Bourriquant, 1615. 8vo (16.6 cm, 6.5"). 7, [1 (blank)] pp.
$775.00
First printing of a message from the Comte de Saint-Paul regarding his sense of honor and his obligations to the monarchy, and considering what impact they might have on any assistance he could render to the rebellious Prince de Condé.
Click the images for enlargements.
WorldCat and Lindsay & Neu combine to locate seven copies in the U.S.
Lindsay & Neu 3576. Recent paper–covered boards, front cover with printed paper label. All four leaves pressure-stamped by a now-defunct institution; title-page verso with inked numeral. Additional inked pagination. Clean. (27775)
For BOOKS IN FRENCH, click here.

Historyof the
Council of Trent in GERMAN
Sarpi, Paulo. Historie des tridentinischen concilii mit des D. Courayer Anmerkungen. Halle: in der Gebauer und Stettinschen Buchhandlung, 1761–64. 8vo (19.5 cm, 7.7"). 4 vols. only of 6, in 2. I: [107] ff., 440, [32] pp.; [2] ff., 684, [32] pp. II: [24] ff., 566, [18] pp.; [1] f., 598, [24] pp.
$300.00
Click the images for enlargement.
Later German edition of this unofficial, anti-papal history of the Council of Trent by Fra Paolo Sarpi (1552–1623), first published in 1619. The German text is printed in gothic with Latin footnotes in roman and italic type. Sidenotes, also in German, are found in the main sections of each part, and handsome woodcut initials, headpieces, and tailpieces decorate the text throughout. There is one set of letterpress diagrams in the second part, and the volumes offer
all three engraved frontispieces called for, being portraits of the author, Paul III, and Julius III, by “Bause” (Johann Friedrich Bause, 1738–1814) and “Schleven” (probably Johann Friedrich Schleuen, 1739–84), at the beginning of the first three parts. All four parts have separate title-pages.
Binding/Provenance: Contemporary full vellum with
gilt-stamped supralibros “Fridericus Rex Prussiae. A. 1764.” on front covers of both volumes, suggesting they were presented to the King of Prussia that year, just after the final part was printed. Bright red edges.
Bindings as above, both a little soiled, with noticeable but small spots on back cover of first vol. and front cover of second, spines rubbed erasing old ink titles and library markings. Four volumes only of six, bound in two; old-fashioned institutional rubber-stamps on title-pages and ink markings on front pastedowns. Light foxing, a few small holes from natural paper flaws, and one naturally occurring tear in part two. A single small hole resulting from chemicals in the paper in parts two and four; a few stray ink marks from the press.
In good shape, printed on nice, fibrous paper and remarkably clean. (30343)
Natural Law
Schwarz, Ignaz. Institutiones juris universalis, naturæ et gentium, ad normam moralistarum
nostri temporis.... Augustae: Sumptibus Joannis
Antonii Fesenmayr p.m. haeredum bibliopolarum, typis Antonii Maximiliani Heiss,
1743. Folio (32.2 cm, 12.75"). [5]
ff., 195, [1], 204 pp.
$1850.00

Ignaz Schwarz (16901763) was a Jesuit and a professor of
humanities, philosophy, and history. In this four-part work he discusses the
philosophical foundation of natural law and its basic applications, in the process
discussing matters as diverse as the nature of moral acts; the law of the family;
slavery, employment and service; the nature of property; sovereignty; just war
and the law of war; and treaties and other elements of what is now known as
international law.
Schwarz
critiques Protestant authors, such as Grotius, Puffendorf, Heineccius, and Thomasius,
and other writers on these subjects, pointing out where they agree with and
where they differ from Catholic teaching.
He first published his Institutiones juris in 1741, and, according
to DeBacker-Sommervogel, this is the third of six editions. Present here are
parts 1 and 2 of 4, in which, however, all the matters above listed are discussed. This edition is
printed with the title-page in red and black, a woodcut headpiece and tailpieces,
and a plethora of side- and footnotes.
Provenance:
Inked inscription on title-page, "Rodriguez de Arellano."
DeBacker-Sommervogel, VII, 948. Limp vellum with remnants of ties; spine with inked title. Scattered spots of staining to spine and rear cover. Pp. 4142 of the
first series of pagination has a large chip out of the upper outer corner
with loss of page numbers but no text. Pp. 15556 has a tear in the outer
margin, not touching text. Occasional worming in the outer margins, not touching
text. Scattered age-spotting; a few occasions of light waterstaining in the
outer margins.
Spain. Sovereigns, 1621–1665 (Philip IV). Prematica en que su magestad manda, que ninguna muger ande tapada, sino descubierta el rostro, de manera que pueda ser vista, y conocida, so las penas en ella contenidas, y de las demas que tratan de lo susodicho. Madrid: Pedro Tazo, 1639. Folio (28.2 cm, 11.1"). A4; 4 ff.
$750.00
Scarce royal proclamation forbidding women from appearing in public wearing hats that prevent their faces from being plainly seen and recognized, also printed in Granada in the same year.
Click the image for an enlargement.
Palau 87353 (for Granada printing). Removed from a nonce volume. Title-page with shadow of pencilled numeral and faintly inked earlier numeral in upper margin. Pages creased but clean, with tiny hole along fold of last leaf.
Spain. Sovereigns, 1621–1665 (Philip IV). Prematica en que su magestad manda se executen las penas en ella contenidas, contra los que juraren, declarando, que solo queden permitidos los juramentos que se hazen judicialmente, ò para valor de algun contrato; y que en los Consejos de Inquisicion, Ordenes, y otras comunidades de estatuto, a la pregunta de las costumbres se añada la denotadeste vicio. Madrid: Pedro Tazo, 1639. Folio (28.2 cm, 11.1"). A6; 6 ff.
$750.00
Proclamation regarding swearing and blasphemy, with the woodcut arms of Spain on the title-page. Swearing using the Lord’s name is only allowed for legal matters, including appearances in court or before the Inquisition, and the making of contracts. Scarce.
Click the image for an enlargement.
Not in Palau. Removed from a nonce volume. Title-page with shadow of pencilled numeral and faintly inked earlier numeral in upper margin. Pages creased but clean.

Free Trade for
South America
Spain. Laws, statutes, etc. (1759-1788, Charles III). Real decreto en que S.M. ha resuelto ampliar la concesion del comercio libre, contenida en decreto de 16. de octubre de 1765. Instruccion de la misma fecha, y demás resoluciones posteriores, que solo comprehendieron las Islas de Barlovento y provincias de Campeche, Santa Marta, y Rio del Hacha, incluyendo ahora la de Buenos-Ayres, con internacion por ella à las demás de la America Meridional, y extension à los puertos habilitados en las costas de Chile, y el Perú, &c. Expedido en 2 de febrero de 1778. Madrid: Por Juande San Martin, impresor de la Secretaría de estado y del despacho universal de Indias, 1778. Folio (30 cm; 11.5"). [1], 3 ff.
$1000.00
The king here adds to his 16 October 1765 decree that established free commerce for the Caribbean islands and the provinces of Campeche, Santa Marta, and Rio del Hacha. He now extends the privilege to the viceroyalty of Buenos Aires, the legal ports on the Pacific coast, and elsewhere in South America.
Click the images for enlargements.
Handsomely printed, with the royal coat of arms on the title-page and same page with a handsome decorative border. One large woodcut initial.
Palau 251081. 20th-century quarter vellum with green cloth sides. Spine lettered in black and
red. Crisp copy. (28863)

Protecting Cotton Growers
Spain. Sovereigns, 1759–1788 (Charles III). Begins: “Ambrosio Funes de Villapando ... Por quanto hemos recibido una Real Pragmàtica-Sancion de su Magestad en fuerza de Ley ... por la qual se prohibe la introduccion, y uso en estos Reynos de los Tegidos de Algodòn, ò con mezcla de èl, de Fàbrica Estraña....” Barcelona: 1771. Folio. [4] ff.
$385.00
Click the images for enlargements.

War with England => Free Trade in American Corn & Wheat
Spain. Laws, statutes, etc. Real provision de su magestad, y señores del consejo, por la que se declara que el comercio de granos ultramarinos debe quedar libre.... Zaragoza: Imprenta Real, 1771. Folio. [4] pp.
$275.00
Click the images for enlargements.

War & Taxes & Exceptions
Spain. Sovereign (1788–1808, Charles IV). Broadside. Begins: “Miguel la Grua y Talamanca y Branciforte ... En real orden de 13 de mayo último....” [Mexico City: No publisher/printer], 1797. Folio (42 cm.; 16.875"). [1] f.
$650.00
The continued unplanned-for costs of participating in the War of the First Coalition (attempting to contain the French Revolution) are causing tax increases but the king has decided to exept “lanzas y medias-anatas de los titulos.”
Click the image for an enlargement.
Not in Medina, Mexico. Very good condition. (27952)
Spain.
Sovereigns, etc., 1808–33 (Ferdinand VII). Broadside.
Begins: “Don Francisco Xavier Venegas...`Exmô, Señor = La Regencia
del Reyno se ha servido dirigirme el Decreto que sigue...Deseando las Córtes
generales y extraordinarias facilitar á los súbditos Españoles,
que por qualquiera línea traigan su orígen del Africa, el estudio
de las ciencias, y el acceso á la carrera eclesiástica....’”
Mexico, 25 September 1812. Folio extra (48 cm; 17.25"). [1] p.
$8775.00
First New World printing of a major human rights act. The decree granting all Spanish subjects of African heritage the right to an education through the university and post-graduate level and the right to take orders and habits in the clergy.
Click the image to the left
for an enlargement.
While Ferdinand VII remained the prisoner of Napoleon, the Regency promulgated several important human rights acts, and this was one of the most important. The Regency ratified and published it 29 January and on 31 January it was ordered distributed throughout the empire.
Not in Medina, Mexico; not in Garritz, Impresos novohispanos; not in Sutro. One horizontal fold, top margin a little crumpled and irregular; left margin with a V-shaped bit of blank margin missing at fold, otherwise only a little irregular. Revenue stamps on the verso. Viceroy Venegas’s paraph (“rúbrica”) below his printed name.
A very good copy.

A Truly PECULIAR Publication
Spain. Sovereigns. (Ferdinand VII). El Rey ha expedido los decretos siguientes. Puebla: Impreso ... en la oficina del gobierno, 1820.
$475.00
Click the image for an enlargement.
Bizarre concatenation of document and newspaper accounts: A royal decree forbidding government employees to receive two salaries, another ending taxes and fiscal impositions of the already abolished Inquisition, a circular from the Minister of War, a news report of a boy in South Carolina who suffered severe burns and how the application of raw cotton helped.
No copy located via NUC Pre-1956 and WoldCat locates only the copy at Yale.
Medina, Puebla, 1842. Folded as issued; never bound. Light foxing. (29988)
The KEYSTONE
of Hispanic-American
Colonial Law
A Very
HANDSOME
Edition
Spain.
Laws, statutes, etc. Recopilacion de leyes de los reinos
de las Indias. Madrid: Boix, 1841. Small folio. 4 vols. in 2. I: [6]
ff., 335, [1 (blank)] pp. II: [1] f., 334 (i.e., 332) pp., [1 (index) f. III:
[1] f., 319, [1 (blank)] pp., [1] f. IV:[1] f., 147, [1 (blank)] pp., [1] f.;
105, [1], 31, [1] pp. (all indices).
$2150.00
Click
the interior images for enlargements.
Handsome mid-19th century edition of the first comprehensive
compilation of the laws of the Spanish Indies. Antonio Rodríguez
de León Pinello compiled it by 1635, but it circulated only in manuscript
until Fernando Jiménez de Paniagua brought it up to date and saw the
result through the press in 1681. Prior to the publication of this massive work,
it was common practice for lawyers and courts in the various legal districts
of the New World (i.e., audiencias) to compile in manuscript the laws
in force in order that they might be used as precedents. Upon publication of
this code, the number of precedents did not (as might have been expected) decrease
via "regularization" but instead increased: The courts continued to accept the
cases and laws on point in the old local manuscript compilations and also
those contained in the Recopilación!
In sum, this is a major work for all collections of international and Hispanic-specific
law. The first edition is very uncommon in today's marketplace, meaning most
scholars and collectors must settle for a later edition, such as this fifthwhich
has the happy advantage of being
handsomely
printed in double-column format. This copy is attractively
bound, as well.
Palau 137466; Sabin 68390. Victorian acid-stained sheep with
gilt spines extra. Marbled edges. Tape adhered to one title-page at inner
margin. Ownershjp signatures on title-page. A nice set.

Abolition
of a
Tobacco
Monopoly
Spain.
Laws, statutes, etc. 17 March 1814. Begins: "...Sabed: Que las
Cortes han decretado lo siguiente: ...1.o Queda abolido el estanco del tabaco
en todas las provincias de la monarquía española en ambos mundos...."
[in text at end: Madrid, 17 March 1814 with final subscription in italic type
of 20 March 1814]. Folio. [2] ff. (final page blank).
$850.00
The first printing of the 31-clause decree abolishing the Crown's tobacco monopoly, creating free trade in the commodity "in both [the Old and New] worlds," scrapping the old tax structure and instituting a new one, and addressing what is to be done with the government employees in the Tobacco Branch.
Not in Palau (?); not in Maggs, Bibl. Amer.; not in Harper, Catalogue XVI. Excised from a volume and leaves no longer integral, but now rehinged. Light stain in inner margin. Rubber-stamped numbers in upper margins. Manuscript notes indicating that this copy was sent to authorities in Chile. Now housed in a quarter cloth (faux leather) folder with marbled paper sides. A nice copy of an important economic document.
Spain.
Sovereigns, etc., 1808–33 (Ferdinand VII). Broadside.
Begins: “Don Francisco Xavier Venegas...`Exmô. Sr. = ...sabed: que
en las Córtes generales y extraordinarias, congregadas en la Real Isla
de Leon, se resolvió y decretó lo siguiente...Articulo I. Todos
los cuerpos y personas particulares, de qualquiera condicion y estado que sean,
tienen libertad de escribir, imprimir y publicar sus ideas politicas sin necesidad
de licencia, revision ó aprobacion alguna anteriores a la publicacion....”
Mexico, 5 October 1812. Folio extra (48 cm; 17.25"). [1] p.
$8775.00
First New World printing of the 12 November 1810 human rights act
granting freedom of the press to the inhabitants of the Spanish empire. This
20-article decree does set a few limits on the freedom, but none that are onerous,
simply making one liable for slander, sedition, and the like. While Ferdinand
VII remained the prisoner of Napoleon, the Regency promulgated several important
human rights acts; the Regency ratified and published this one 10 November 1810,
but Viceroy Venegas delayed publishing it because of the Hidalgo and other rebellions.
Garritz, Impresos novohispanos, 1612. Not in Medina,
Mexico; not in Sutro. One horizontal fold; right margin a little crumpled.
Revenue stamps on the verso. Viceroy Venegas’s paraph (“rúbrica”)
below his printed name. A very good copy.

Barcelona
Speed Limits, 1787
Spain. Sovereigns,
1759–1788 (Charles III). Begins: "Don Francisco Gonzalez de Bassecourt...Por
quanto hemos recibido una Real Cédula en que se dispone lo conveniente
para evitar los daños que ocasiona el abuso de correr con los Coches
dentro de la Poblaciones...." Barcelona, 1787. Folio. [2] ff.
$300.00


Troublesome Soldiers to Face
Criminal Courts
Spain. Sovereigns (1788–1808, Charles IV). Broadside, begins: “El Rey. -- Para evitar en lo sucesivo las disputas entre los Gefes de los Cuerpos de mi Exército en Indias con las Audiencias.... Mexico: No publisher/printer, 1800. Folio. [1] p.
$250.00
Mexico City printing of the royal decree of 31 August 1799 in which the crown declares null and void the use of the fuero militar in cases of mutiny, attempted mutiny, and rebellion. He orders that all such cases fall under the jurisdiction of the audiencias and not the military courts.
Not in Medina, Mexico; not in González de Cossío, Cien; not in not in González de Cossío, 510. Removed from a nonce volume. Left margin irregular. (25824)

An Art Collector's Estate
Suárez de Toledo, Juan. Collection of documents in Spanish on paper relating to his death and estate. Talavera: 1669–79. Folio, 100 ff.
$950.00
Click the images for enlargements.
Suárez de Toledo seems to have been a serious collector of oil portraits — including one of Hernando Cortés and one of the Queen of France — as well as of religious art, silver, and other “objets d'art.” The several inventories present in this cahier document his passion, with the other documents further telling the story of the complicated settlement of the estate by the heirs.
Written by several notaries so hands are varied. Stitching starting to loosen. A very few leaves with small loss of text to a hungry rodent. (27598)

Nihil obstat — Documents from the Vatican Archives
A Bit of Skullduggery in the Background
Theiner, Augustin. Vetera monumenta historica Hungariam sacram illustrantia. Rome: Typis Vaticanis, 1859–60. Folio (35.6 cm, 14"). 2 vols. I: [ii], xlii, [2], 837 pp. II: [ii], xxvi, [2], 815 pp.
$500.00
Click the images for enlargements.
A compendium of letters and documents from the Vatican Library concerning the ecclesiastical history of Hungary in the years 1216–1352 and 1352–1526, respectively — primary sources in Latin and Italian, listed in a table of contents at the beginning of each volume and indexed “virorum et locorum praecipuorum” at the end.
The Catholic canonist Augustin Theiner (1804–74) went to the Vatican Archives in 1850 at the invitation of Pius IX, who five years later appointed him Prefect. During his tenure at the BAV, Theiner published numerous collections of primary source material, including the present set. In 1870, however, he was dismissed from his esteemed post for sharing documents related to the Council of Trent with opponents of the Curia during Vatican Council (1869–70).
Provenance: Bookplates of Madison University Library and Colgate University Library on the front pastedown of each volume, and Madison again on the half-title.
NCE, 14, 9 (Theiner); A. Mauri, “A. Theiner”, in ArchStorIt 21 (1875), pp. 350–91; H. Gisiger, “Theiner und die Jesuiten,” in Bilder aus der Geschichte der katholischen Reformbewegung, 1.5–6 (1875), pp. 213–314; ADB 37, pp. 674–77; LTK 10, pp. 27–28. Half roan and green cloth over boards with marbled edges and gilt to spines, a bit rubbed and with evidence of onetime shelf-labels; offsetting from leather turn-ins visible at edges and internally on some leaves. Very minor foxing to a few leaves in vol. I, and scattered small inkstains in both volumes. Title imprint in vol. II smudged in printing. (29409)
Vallejo, Fernando de. Pregon en que su magestad manda, que por quanto el abuso de las guedejas y copetes con que andan algunos hombres, y los rizos con que componen el cabello ha llegado à hazer escandalo en estos reynos, ningun hombre pueda traer guedejas ni copete. Madrid: En la imprenta de Francisco Martinez, 1639. Folio (28.2 cm, 11.1"). [4] ff.
$750.00
Proclamation regarding acceptable and unacceptable hairdressing practices for men — in particular, the scandalously long hairdos or wigs worn by fashionable beaux.
Click the image for an enlargement.
Palau 236209. Removed from a nonce volume. Pages creased, with small areas of light waterstaining to upper and lower inner margins; title-page with early inked numeral and shadow of pencilled numeral in upper margin.
Vallejo, Fernando de. Pregon en que su magestad manda, que ninguna muger de qualquier estado y calidad que sea pueda traer, ni traiga guardainfante, ò otro instrumento, ò trage semehante, excepto las mugeres que con licencia de las justicias publicamente son malas de sus personas. Madrid: En la imprenta de Francisco Martinez, 1639. Folio (28.2 cm, 11.1"). [4] ff.
$750.00


Declaration forbidding farthingales (the “guardainfante” was so-called because it could be used to conceal pregnancy) and excessive displays of decolletage by women except for prostitutes and ladies with special licenses.
Click the image for an enlargement.
Palau 236212. Removed from a nonce volume. Title-page with small early inked numeral and shadow of pencilled numeral in upper margin; publication authorization leaf with small hole just touching letters, without loss of sense.

A Manual for Inquisitors with
Interrogation Questions
Vilaplana, Hermenegildo. Enchiridion canonico-morale de confessario ad inhonesta, & turpia solicitante: nec non de decretis, & constitutionibus pontificiis ad hoc nefarium crimen exterminandum emanantis. Mexico: ex typographia editioni Bibliothecae Mexicanae destinata, 1765. 4to (20 cm; 7.75"). [14] ff., 217 pp.
$1200.00
Click the images for enlargements.
A theological and legal treatise on confessors and confession and the sacrament of penance with the emphasis on abuse of the confessional by priests. Telling a priest one's moral and legal transgressions empowers the weak or corrupt priest to then blackmail the parishioner for money or sex or other “favors.”Father Vilaplana (1712–63), a native of Benimarfull, Valencia, Spain, was a Franciscan, a university lecturer in theology, and an “examiner” for the Inquisition. His handbook gives examples of abuses, lays out the pertinent canon laws and papal edicts, and has a section of questions to be asked of accused priests during court proceedings. The work also discusses punishment and other disciplines that the crimes demand.
Since abuse of the confessional fell under the authority of the Inquisition, this work is de facto a manual for Inquisitors.
This is the “Editio secunda locupletior in paucis.” The Bibliotheca Mexicana was the private press of the great bibliographer, writer, and secular cleric Juan Jose de Eguiara y Eguren.
Medina, Mexico, 5026; Palau 365782. Contemporary limp vellum, rodent-gnawed along several edges with a small loss of vellum. Front endpapers with loss to silverfish. Text unwormed and clean. (29773)

Uncommon & Oft-Cited
Treatise on Baptism
Visconti, Giuseppe. Iosephi Vicecomitis Ambrosiani collegii doctoris Observationes ecclesiasticae in quo de antiquis baptismi ritibus, ac caeremoniis agitur.... Parisiis: Apud Laurentium Sonnium, 1618. 8vo (18.5 cm, 7.25"). [6], 912, [70 (index)] pp.
$475.00
Click the images for enlargements.
Second edition: Important study of the development of canon law on baptism. A historian and antiquarian, the author was one of the earliest members of the college of doctors associated with the Biblioteca Ambrosiana, the historic Milan library established in 1609; he was invited to join the college by the library's founder, Cardinal Federico Borromeo, who tasked him with studying ecclesiastical rites.
The first edition of 1615 is scarce, as is this second edition, of which at least two variant issues appeared in 1618. All have the same pagination but attribute their publication to Droüart, Cramoisy, or (as in this case) Laurent Sonnius; presumably at least one of the title-pages is a cancel. All are uncommon: OCLC locates only two U.S. institutional holdings of this Sonnius printing. The work bears a woodcut title vignette, headpieces, and initials, with copious printed shouldernotes to the text.
Starr, Baptist Bibliography, V551. On Visconti, see: Feller, Dictionnaire historique, 71. Later quarter mottled calf and speckled paper–covered sides, spine gilt extra with gilt-stamped leather title-label, rebacked preserving most of original spine; edges and extremities rubbed, spine with area of discoloration from now-absent shelving label, original spine leather chipped and cracked. Title-page with institutional rubber-stamps, numeral, and pressure-stamp; one additional page pressure-stamped. Pages age-toned with occasional light spotting and title-page dust-soiled; one spot of pinhole worming to first quarter of volume, not touching text. Early inked inscription on title-page inked over, one instance of early inked underlining. Sound and handsome. (25877)

The ENDURING LAWS of the
VISIGOTHS
Visigoths.
Laws, statutes, etc. Fuero juzgo en latín y castellano,
cotejado con los más antiguos y preciosos códices por la Real
Academia Española. Madrid: Por Ibarra, 1815. Folio (34.2 cm, 13.5").
[7] ff., pp. [iii], ivliv, [2] ff., X, 162 pp., [2] ff., XVI, 231, [1]
pp.
$300.00
Click the interior images for enlargements.
The best pre-20th century edition: Edited by scholars of the Spanish Royal Academy. The Fuero juzgo (in Latin, Forum judicum) is, basically, the customary law of the Visigoths of Spain that existed and was maintained outside of and in parallel with the Leges romanæ, the Fuero juzgo being the code to which German-origin Spaniards were liable and the Leges romanæ that to which inhabitants of pre-Visigothic origin had to answer. The Visigoths achieved the code in written form during the high middle ages.
As a social and historical document of medieval Spain, the Fuero juzgo
is of outstanding importance, but its significance does not stop there, for
the code continued unrepealed into the 19th century and, indeed, was an important
element in the formation of the legal status of the Indians of America under
the Spanish rule. The verso of the seventh unnumbered leaf at the beginning
of this edition has an engraved facsimile of a page from the Codex murcianus
of the Fuero juzgo.
Palau 95528. Original printed wrappers with a little tattering and a small chip from the base of the spine; light waterstaining in the outside margins of some leaves and title-page with some staining in the inside margin, not affecting printed area. Wrappers, edges, first and last leaves with smoke discoloration; many upper margins with intrusion of same. (3312)
Ward, Robert Plumer. An essay on contraband: Being a continuation of the treatise of the relative rights and duties of belligerent and neutral nations, in maritime affairs. London: J. Wright & J. Butterworth (pr. by G. Woodfall), 1801. 8vo (19.5 cm, 7.75"). vii, [1 (blank)], 173–255, [1 (blank)] pp. (lacking i/ii, i.e., the half-title).
$150.00
Paginated continuously with Ward’s Treatise of the Relative Rights and Duties, and apparently also issued as the second part of that document, this work discusses international law regarding trade in wartime; the 1793 stoppage by the English of American corn exportation to France is included and analyzed as an example.
Goldsmiths'-Kress 18239; NSTC W529. Recent paper wrappers. Some instances of light foxing and offsetting.

Opera Juridica: Roman & Spanish Legal Analysis
Yañez Parladorio, Juan. Rerum quotidianarum libru duo ... Editio ultima caeteris longe elegantior, & emendatior. [and] Quotidianarum differentiarum sesqui-centuria. Amstelaedami: Janssonio-Waesbergios, 1688. 4to (20.2 cm, 8"). 2 vols. Vol. I: [26], 492 (i.e., 498), [54 (index)] pp. Vol. II: [2], 507, [45 (index)] pp.
$600.00
Click the images for enlargements.
17th-century gathering of these important writings by a distinguished 16th-century Spanish advocate. “De ratione juris discendi” follows the main work in the first volume, with the companion volume adding the title work, “Quaestiones selectae forenses duodeviginti,” and “De ratione in jure scribendi ad filios.” The title-page vignette of vol. I depicts Minerva and the olive tree, labelled “Oliva Minervae.”WorldCat, Copac, STCN, and NUC Pre-1956 do not find any locations of this Jansson-Waesberg edition; Palau does not list it.
Provenance: Front free endpapers each with early inked inscription mostly inked over, title-page verso with inked inscription “de los libros . . . D. Emanuel Lopez Forrecilla y dela Fuente.”
Not in STCN. See Palau 377674–377683 for other eds. Contemporary vellum over paste boards, spines with early hand-inked title; minor staining and back outer (yapp) edge of vol. I chipped, ties on both volumes still partially present. Pages age-toned with intermittent spotting; vol. I with light waterstaining to margins of some leaves and a few early inked corrections and marks of emphasis. Vol. II: Text block pulling away from spine, first few leaves separating, some leaves with worming in inner margins touching text without obscuring sense, one leaf with tear from outer margin extending into text without loss. All edges stained red, and both volumes with inscriptions as above. (29082)
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