Frankfurt: Hieronymous Polichius, 1663. Large 4to (264 x 216 mm). Contemporary full vellum, soiling, front hinge reinforced, worming to inner front board, chipping along extremities; soiling, later vellum page tabs, some marginal repairs; presentation letter tipped in to Dr. Max Bloch.

The Corpus Juris Civilis was enacted by Emperor Justinian I from 529-534. For nearly five hundred years after it was mostly forgotten; it was first printed in the 16th century but was not given the official title of Corpus Juris Civilis until Godefroy's first translation appeared in 1583. Its core tenets served as the foundation for the Napoloeonic Code, considered to be the single largest legal reform of the modern age.