This text is part of a larger work called Corpus Iuris Civilis, or “body of civil law”, which contains a rationalised collection of Roman laws, the views of Roman jurists, and new laws. It was composed by the Byzantine Emperor Justinian I between 529-565, and endured as a fundamental reference work for legal studies throughout the Middle Ages. Although the Renaissance humanists despised how medieval commentators had interpreted Justinian’s Latin and abandoned its use, the Corpus Iuris Civilis remained a key part of legal studies until the 18th century. The Novellae Constitutiones was a set of new laws within this corpus that, although initiated after 534, was not compiled until after Justinian’s death.

This 1558 edition is printed in Greek and was edited by the Scottish diplomat, lawyer, and book collector Henry Scrimgeour (c.1504-72). Born in Dundee, Scrimgeour studied at St Andrews before travelling to Paris, where he came to the attention of the French king, Henri II (r. 1547-59). He later embarked on a diplomatic career in northern Italy and Switzerland. It was while in Switzerland he edited the new edition of the Novellae which was published by Henri Estienne, under the patronage of the banker Ulrich Fugger.

Binding description
Light-brown goatskin decorated with the coat of arms of Jacques Auguste de Thou (1553-1617), a French historian and book collector, stamped in gold on both covers. Each compartment of the spine is tooled with initials in the distinctive style of spines of books from de Thou’s library.

This binding was selected as an example of fine bookbinding in the Royal Library by Olwen Hedley (‘Additional Bookbindings’, unpublished, c.1960). His list serves as a supplement to the catalogue of fine bindings compiled in 1893 by the Royal Librarian Richard Rivington Holmes.