Learing the Law: Justinian's Institutes
This truly pocket-sized copy of the Institutes would have been attractive for the student who needed a textbook that was both inexpensive and easily portable. Its minute size, however, did not stop its owner from making extensive use of the margins for notes. This is the only known copy of this edition.
Johann Friedrich Böckelmann. Compendium Institutionum Caes. Justiniani. Leiden: Felix López de Haro, 1681.
This abbreviated copy of the Institutes appeals directly to students. The illustration shows two paths available to the prospective student: in the path on the right – “either slowly or never” – a student struggles up a steep hill with a cumbersome basket full of books on their back. On the path on the left – “neither slowly, nor with difficulty” – the student proceeds along a series of well-defined steps with only a single book – this book – in hand.
Bartolomé Cartagena. Synopsis juris civilis. Cologne: Wilhelm Metternich, 1719.
This small volume of Roman law presents the most important parts of the Institutes as a series of easy-to-understand questions and answers – a format that proved popular for legal study guides.
Imperatoris Iustiniani Institutionum libri IIII. Passau, 1700.
An engraving of Justice adorns this small copy of the Institutes.
–Ryan R. Martins, Rare Book Fellow
“Learning the Law: The Book in Early Legal Education” is on display October 1 to December 14, 2018, in the Rare Book Exhibition Gallery of the Lillian Goldman Law Library, located on Level L2 of the Yale Law School (127 Wall Street, New Haven CT). The exhibition is open to the general public 10am-6pm daily, and open to Yale affiliates until 10pm.
A full catalogue of the exhibit can be found here: https://digitalcommons.law.yale.edu/amlaw/18/
