Medieval Notary Manuscripts & Law Books

BAROQUE NOTARY MANUSCRIPT ON VELLUM, Verona, 2 January 1600.

A scroll of parchment (61,5x23 cm), written in a 17th century cursive writing in brown ink. Text in Latin.
At the lower left part of the scroll, the beautiful signum tabellionis of the notary Antonio Ferro from contrada dell'Isolo.

A contract in which Filippo de Cometti sells to the brothers Valentino and Bernardino de Resiis a land to farm with trees.

Lot 170 – Click here for High Resolution Pictures

ENGLISH INDENTURE. County of Dorset, 30 September 1648.

Single leaf of parchment (69x55 cm). 12-lines capital T at the beginning of the document. Five wax seals preserved (out of six). Some different signatures.

An agreement between Thomas Hanham from Wimbourn with his wife Jane (and others) and John Hoskins from Northmaperton for the sale of some lands in the County of Dorset.

Interesting and uncommon, the presence of women's signatures, because they were usually excluded from official trade negotiations and contracts.

References: Raymond Clemens, Manuscript Studies London, Cornell University Press, 2008.



Lot 171 – Click here for High Resolution Pictures

A MANUSCRIPT REFERRING TO TO PERUSIA'S STATUTES AND LAWS MADE BY ONORIO DEODATI

Onorio Deodati Statuta Perusiae 1597-1Deodati, Onorio. [title-page of the first document:]Bulla confirmans Collegium Doctorum Causidicorum et Procuratorum Augustae Civitatis Perusiae erectum et institutum a Statutibus ut lib. prim[o] statut[orum] umbr[orum] [...]. [Perugia:] end on 16th century (years 1579-1597).

Folio, near contemporary mottled calf (the first binding was in vellum and the calligraphic were pasted in ancient time on the front cover), ff. [13, Index], [3, blanks], [1, Calendar], [6, Bulla], [1, blank], 285 (= pp. 570), [1].

Fascinating manuscript by the Perusian jurist Onorio Deodati, worth to be studied, referring to Perugia's Statutes and laws.

Provenance: Contemporary woodcut stamp of Honorius Deodati, Perusian notary and jurist. At verso of the last leaf the woodcut seal of Onorio Deodati.

References: Regarding Onorio Deodati, see G. Cecchini, La Biblioteca Augusta del Comune di Perugia, Roma, 1978, pp. 543-544.

MANUSCRIPT ON VELLUM SIGNED BY HENRY IV, Fointainbleau, 20 June 1607.

HENRY IV of BOURBON. A single leaf of parchment (32x26 cm), written in a 17th century chancery handwriting in brown ink. Text in French.
After the text, the signature Henry.

Original document signed by the King of France Henry IV of Bourbon, containing the Pledge of Allegiance of Claude Dauphin, that becomes Gentilhomme Servant du Roy («Gentleman Servant of the King»).

Henry IV (1553–1610), also known by the epithet "Good King Henry", was King of Navarre (as Henry III) from 1572 to 1610 and King of France from 1589 to 1610. He was the first French monarch of the House of Bourbon.
As a Huguenot, Henry was involved in the French Wars of Religion, barely escaping assassination in the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre, and later led Protestant forces against the royal army.
He initially kept the Protestant faith and had to fight against the Catholic League, which denied that he could wear France's crown as a Protestant, to obtain mastery over his kingdom. After four years of stalemate, he found it prudent to abjure the Calvinist faith. As a pragmatic politician, he displayed an unusual religious tolerance for the era. Notably, he promulgated the Edict of Nantes in 1598, which guaranteed religious liberties to Protestants, thereby effectively ending the Wars of Religion. He was assassinated by François Ravaillac, a fanatical Catholic, and was succeeded by his son Louis XIII.

Lot 173 – Click here for High Resolution Pictures

HANDWRITTEN REGISTER OF LAWSUITS, PURCHASES OF GOODS AND LANDS, TRANSACTIONS OF MONEY AND OTHERS ACTIVITIES REFERRED TO THE PROPERTIES UNDER THE ABBEY OF ST. ANDREW IN RIVER TIBER (ROME), FROM 1621 TO 1741

Ill.mo et R. D. Ludovicus Card. Ludovic[...] Altieri et Commen.rio presso Abb. S. Andrei […] Registrum […]. Without place [nearby Rome], 1621-1741.

Manuscript on paper, 222x164 mm, original full vellum binding, with a folding vellum closure, traces of ties, with dedication and title handwritten at front cover [not easily readable]; leaves [1 b.], [8], [1 b.], [11], [1 b.], [8], [8 b.]; the initial 20 pages are numbered.

The notebook starts on 13 February 1621 and stops on 22 february 1741, having been written by at least three or four different “hands”. The document deserves further studies: anyhow, at first sight, it seems to be a register, taken by a notary or an accountant, referred to all the lawsuits, the purchases of pieces of land or goods, the transactions of money referred to the land and properties owned by Roman Church nearby Rome, depending from the Abbey of Saint Andrew in river Tiber (“Sant’Andrea in flumine”) where the administrator (“Commendatario”) at that time was a Cardinal of the Roman Church [probably one of these Cardinals was Lorenzo Altieri (1671-1741) even if in the title at front cover is mentioned a certain Ludovicus … Altieri].

In the text, inserted free between the pages, there are still some letters, documents and notes of the time; among them, there is a letter dated 1626.

A LITIGATION BETWEEN TWO DISTINGUISHED BOLOGNA NOBLE FAMILIES

Botti, Alessandro (notary). [title-page of the first document:]Processo avanti l'uditore che nella Causa vertente fra Costanza Bonasoni e Giambat(tis)ta Ramponi iugali da una parte, Filippo Carlo, e fra(te)lli Ghisilieri dall'altra per ottenere l'immissione a certi beni nel Com di S. Agostino venduti da Galeazzo Bonasoni al P(ad)re di d(ett)i Ghisilieri li 9 Giugno 1598 a fine di conseguire il compimento si sue Doti, Legati, ed altri crediti ad essa competenti.. [Bologna:] 8 January 1624.

Folio, contemporary blue-grey paperboards (some tears), ff. 257 (= pp. 574). Text in Latin. Chancery handwriting.

A litigation between Costanza Bonasoni (and his husband Giambattista Ramponi) and the brothers Ghislieri for some properties in the municipality of Sant'Agostino.

The Ghislieri (or Ghisleri) Family was one of the oldest noble family of Bologna. Invested since 1022 by Marquise Matilde del Capitanato di Sala, the family dispersed between Cremona, Asti and Madrid. The main branch, the Marquis Ghislieri became extinct in the mid-thirteenth century, the lineage Ghisleri still exists. The family owns the titles of Marquis of Ronsecco and Count of Villa della Torre. Among the famous members of the family are Pope Pius V Ghislieri and the famous political scientist Arcangelo Ghisleri.

The Bonasoni family came in Bologna from San Giovanni in Persiceto in 1472. In 1544, Galeazzo Ghislieri was appointed Cavalier and Count by Charles V. He built the Palazzo in via Ghislieri, still existing. Among the personalities of the past, Giovanni Ghislieri, professor of Canon Law at University.

Provenance: Atti di Alessandro Botti Attuario nel foro civile at front cover.

References: Pompeo Scipione Dolfi, Cronologia delle famiglie nobili di Bologna con le loro insegne, e nel fine i cimieri. Centuria prima, con un breve discorso della medesima città, Bologna, Gio. Battista Ferroni, 1670.

A SCARCE MANUSCRIPT OF CARAVITA'S INSTITUTIONS OF CRIMINAL LAW

[Caravita, Tommaso]. Institutionum Criminalium Libri IV. [at p. 1:] Ubi methodice exponuntur, tum Romanorum Leges ad eam rem pertinentes, tum Leges Regni Neapolitani [...]. (presumably Naples:), End of 17th century-beginning of 18th century.

Large 8vo, contemporary stiff vellum with ochre label and gilt title at spine, red sprinkled edges, pp. [4], 385, [4, Index].

Scarce manuscript of Caravita's Institution of Criminal Law according to Roman Law and to the laws of the Naples Kingdom.

The first edition of the book was printed in 1740 (Naples) and it is possible that this manuscript was taken from lectures at University and precedes the printed edition.

Tommaso Caravita (1678-1744) was a Neapolitan jurist. It is a complete manual of criminal law full of references to classic and modern jurists, «written with admirable order and great brevity not unaccompanied by the clarity that can form the best quality of a book» (Giustiniani, p. 219).

References: L. Giustiniani, Memoria istorica degli scrittori legali del Regno di Napoli, I, Napoli 1787, p. 219. Manna, Della giurisprudenza e del foro napoletano, Napoli, 1839, p. 209.

CONCESSION OF ROMAN CITIZENSHIP TO EUSEBIO SERISTA

OFFICIAL DOCUMENT ON VELLUM WITH THE CAPITOLINE SEAL

Nos Antonius Maria Alterius Bartholomaeus Capranica, Fran. Cecchinus Almae Urbis Conservatores De Probo Viri Illustri D. Eusebio Serista Sabino Romana Civitate Donando S.P.Q.R. auctoritate qua fungimur ita fieri censuimus […]. Ex Capitolio, Anno at Urbe Condita 2403, post Christum vero natum 1651, 20 Mensis Novembris.

Concession of Roman citizenship, for recognition of virtues and merits, to Eusebio Serista, coming from an honest family of the Sabina.

Official folded document (320x510 mm), in gilt types and rulers on vellum with the Capitoline seal, issued by the “Campidoglio” of Rome on Nov. 20, 1651.

Original folded vellum; wax seal of Roman Capitolium (S.P.Q.R.) on paper, stored in a round metal container tied with original rope at the bottom of the parchment.

Provenance: Private collection of a Roman noble family.

SCARCE MANUSCRIPT CONTAINING A REPERTORY OF THE MAIN TERMS USED IN JURIDICAL LANGUAGE
THE COPY BELONGED TO MATTIA TOTI, PRAETOR OF AMANDOLA

Anonymous (Mattia Toti?).Repertorium Universale. Amandola, 1652

A thick volume in-folio, contemporary vellum (traces of use) with calligraphic title at spine.

An interesting and scarce manuscript containing the complete repertory («Repertorium Universale») of all the all key entries, arranged in alphabetical order, used in legal language.

Provenance: The copy belonged to Mattia Toti, praetor of Amandola, (his painted coats of arms? at first inner cover) according to the inscriptions Petri Matthiae Toti Amandulae Pretoris. Amandola is a municipality in the Province of Fermo in the Italian region Marche. The town was founded in 1248 by the union of the castles of Agello Leone and Marrubbione, which formed a free municipality.

AN INTERESTING AND UNCOMMON CASE IN PAPAL STATE

Various Lawyers.R(everendissi)mo D(omino). Molines Decano Romana Assentistatus, seu Relevii Pro Ill(ustrissi)mo D(omino). Jo(s)e(pho) Antonio Paravicino herede R(everendi) P(atri) D(omini) Josephi Paravicini Contra Rev(erendam) Cameram Apostolicam. Romae, typis Rev(rerendae). Camerae Apostolicae, 1698.

Folio, contemporary stiff vellum, ff. 200 (= pp. 400). Text in Latin with many passages in Italian.

Very interesting documents of a scarce case of asiento between the Apostolic Camera (today "Papal Treasury") and Alessandro Zinaghi, architect of Pope Alexander VIII and Innocent XII.

Alessandro Zinaghi received two different asientos (see below) for five papal galleys: then he died without paying the debts for the enormous operating costs for the management of the ships: at his death the debt with the Apostolic Camera was 63,479.34 Roman Scudi.The Apostolic Camera sued the noblemen Antonio Paravicino and Antonio Colonna for the payment of the debts; the first one because was the heir of the papal treasurer responsible of the first asiento (sum to pay 36,735.66 Roman Scudi); the second one because he was Zinaghi's guarantor (sum to pay 26,743.68 Roman Scudi).

Both Paravicino and Colonna refused to pay Zinaghi's debts: these manuscript are the documents, preceding the printed version, of the complicate case (discussed between 29 November 1698 and 3 February 1699), with Paravicino against Colonna and both Paravicino and Colonna against the Apostolic Camera, with a defense counsel formed by the most authoritative lawyers of the time: Jacopo Sardinius, Johannes Julianus, Carolus de Ferraris, Petrus Corradinus and Franciscus Maria Panarius.

Such a deployment of forces is better understood calculating the purchasing power of a Roman scudo, that was approximately equal to $70: Zinaghi’s debt amounted to 4,443,553 US dollars today.

The great (and absent) protagonist of this tangled affair, Alessandro Zinaghi, was the architect that made the very expensive (100.000 Roman Scudi) project to restore the harbour of Anzio, in Papal State: not on the old site but to the east of it, with the opening to the east, a mistake which leads to its being frequently silted up; it has a depth of about 5 metres. According to these documents, we can suppouse that he wanted to start a business in the new harbour with the papal galleys. The historian Rasi describes Zinaghi (p. 32) as uomo di molta abilità nei maneggi («a very able man in monkey business»).

The general meaning of assento or, in Spanish, asiento (from the Spanish verb sentar, to sit, and this from Latin sedere) in Spanish is "consent" or "settlement, establishment". In a commercial context it means "contract, trading agreement.
Through an asiento, a trade relationship was established whereby a set of traders was given a monopoly over that route and/or product.

Provenance: Embossed seals at last leaf.

References: G.B. Rasi, Sul Porto e Territorio di Anzio, Pesaro, 1832, pp. 108 ss.

UNPUBLISHED MANUSCRIPT ON CENSORSHIP

Anonymous (but: Romanelli). De censuris in Comuni [...]. w.p. (but about late XVII cent.).

8vo (188x132 mm), limp binding in contemporary full parchment, handwritten title at flat spine, head-bands, residual closure laces at boards edges (light traces of use, some little spots); unnumbered leaves; pp. (4 b.), (456), (14 b.).
No title-page; text in Latin; handwritten marginal notes in the first 80 pp.

An interesting unpublished manuscript on juridical matters.

Among the issues included in the text: censorship (la censura in generale), excommunication (la scomunica), suspension (la sospensione) and irregularities (le irregolarità).

Provenance: Even if the book has no signature and no ownership inscription, it comes from the private collection of the heirs of the Romanelli's family (a noble family, from the province of Rome, of landowners, priests, lawyers and administrators of church properties).

References: Not present in ICCU; not in OCLC.

17TH CENTURY MANUSCRIPT ON JUSTINIAN'S INSTITUTIONS

Anonymous. Institutiones Justiniani. Romae: Typis Mascardi, 1641 (but between the end of the 17th century and the beginning of the 18th cenury).

8vo (188x128 mm), contemporary full parchment, with little four bands at spine, handwritten title at spine, head-bands (light traces of use, some little spots); pp. (2), 1268, (6 b.); printed title-page with handwritten title in a richly decorated frame with printer's data at bottom (Romae: Typis Mascardi, 1641); text in Latin.

A voluminous and interesting manuscript on juridical matters (Justinian institutions); it is a study copy, written probably on late 1600.

Provenance: Even if the book has no signature and no ownership inscription, it comes for sure from the private collection of the heirs of the Romanelli's family (a noble family, from the province of Rome, of landowners, priests, lawyers and administrators of ecclesiatical properties). Furthermore, it can be attributed to Pietro Angelo Romanelli (Domino Petro Angelo de Romanellis), since the handwriting of the text and the binding of the book are analogous to those of another manuscript written by this author offered in this auction.

References: Not present in ICCU; not in OCLC.