MARINGO, Mariano Corleonense.
UNRECORDED IN US
Practica super ritu mag[nae]. regiae curiae ac caeterarum totius regni Siciliae curiarum.
Palermo, Apud Franciscum Ciottum Venetum, Ex Typographia Jo. Baptistae Maringhi, 1619£2,250.00
Folio. pp. (xii) 224. Roman and italic letter, double column. T-p in red and black, woodcut printer’s device. Woodcut initial, typographical headpieces. T-p with small inkspot, very light waterstain to lower margin, diminishing, a very good, crisp copy in original vellum. Ink shelfmarks to front pastedown, ms. ex libris of Dewitt Miller (1857-1911), American bibliophile, to rear.
Third edition of this extremely rare work, a comprehensive guide to the legal procedure of Sicilian courts under Spanish rule, first published 1597.
The work is organised according to the formulae used in civil law courts, including precedents for documents that will be presented by lawyers, with texts in italic, as well as recommendations that might also be useful for judges, such as how to deal with a contumacious witness. Some of the examples used are copied from medieval charters and documents dating back to the C14th. Maringo, about whom very little is known, but who was evidently a Dominican friar with legal training, then presents notes on each formula or case. The work is dedicated substantially to contract and inheritance law, also covering Sicilian feudal tenure, which remained in force on the island far longer than in most European countries.
The title-page advertises the work as being a ‘treasury for youth, aid to the poor, and staff for the old,’ and useful to lawyers, judges and notaries. It also states that the work is ‘now brought to light for the first time,’ though this seems to have been simply copied over from the titles of the two earlier editions, which were also printed by Giovanni Battista Maringo, no doubt related to the author.
All editions are extremely rare. OCLC notes only five copies of the third edition, with none in the US, while copies of the first and second (1598) editions are only to be found in Italian libraries.
USTC 4022657. Not in BM STC C17 It.In stock
