CACCIALUPIS, Johannes Baptista de.

The charming covers were produced most probably in Rome in the second quarter of the C18. The arms may be those of Giulio Cesare Colonna di Sciarra (1702-87), V Principe di Carbognano, or his wife Cornelia Costanza Barberini (1716-97), 4th Princess of Palestrina, the bees and column being the arms of the Barberini-Colonna, Princes of Palestrina.

An excellent, large, crisp copy of the scarce third edition of these two important treatises on fugitive debtors and contracts, first published in Siena in 1486. The anonymous printer from Pavia has been variously designated as the ‘Printer of Sandeus’ (BMC), Franciscus de Nebiis (GW) or Ulrich Scinzenzeler (Proctor). All of these were connected to the bookseller and papermaker Johannes de Legnano, specialised in textbooks for schools and universities; in Pavia, he produced several legal treatises, in the 1490s. The preface in this edition is indeed addressed to students.

G.B. de Caccialupis (1420-96) was a jurist from Ancona who taught at the university of Siena for 20 years. ‘De debitoribus suspectis et fugitivis’ is entirely devoted to the civil law concerning fugitive debtors. It clarifies the definition of ‘fugitive’ (i.e., who abandons his abode for the purpose of committing or eschewing a crime) and ‘suspect’, and proceed to examine the circumstances in which a fugitive may be apprehended, how the law differs according to the subject (e.g., soldier, cleric, adolescent, woman, etc.), what may happen to prevent apprehension, and what happens if the fugitive escapes from prison. Originally written in 1468, and interrupted, as the first few lines explain, due to a plague scare, ‘De pactis’ is an examination of contracts according to civil law. As always, it begins with a definition of ‘contract’ (with usurers’ contract receiving special attention), how it differs from a ‘conventio’, a ‘promissum’ or a ‘policitatio’ (which is unilateral promise which is not accepted therefore not binding), the typology of contracts (e.g., between father and son, without written evidence), their implementation, and related issues such as donations, oaths and stipulations. A handsome copy.