Descrizione

4to (262 x 175 mm). VIII, 222, [1] pp. Collation: 1-28⁴. Contemporary half calf, panels covered by marbled papers (corners slightly rubbed, front joint repaired). Some occasional light foxing, but overall a good copy.  

First edition. Antiquissimae constitutiones synodales provinciae Gneznensis, maxima ex parte nunc primum e codicibus manu scriptis typis mandatae ("The Most Ancient Synodical Constitutions of the Province of Gniezno, for the Most Part Printed Here for the First Time from Manuscripts") is a legal and historical compilation of the earliest ecclesiastical canons, statutes, and synodal decrees governing the Ecclesiastical Province of Gniezno, seat of the primary Archdiocese of the Catholic Church of the Kingdom of Poland. During the Middle Ages, the synods presided over by the Archbishops of Gniezno established many legal codes that regulated not only clerical discipline, liturgy and sacramental administration, but also civil life, marriage, moral conduct, and relations with non-Christian populations. Many of the medieval manuscripts, which this volume takes from, had been carried off from Polish libraries (such as the Załuski Library in Warsaw to St. Petersburg following the late 18th-century partitions of Poland). They where collected and trascribed into print, preventing these forgotten codices of East-Central European canon law and medieval Polish history from a potential loss.
The compiler and editor behind this publication was Romuald Hube (1803–1890), a distinguished Polish legal historian, professor, and scholar of canon and Slavic law. Born in Warsaw, Hube studied at the University of Warsaw and held a professorship there before political upheavals led to his relocation to St. Petersburg, where he held elevated legal administrative roles within the Russian Imperial administration while continuing his academic pursuits. Hube was a pioneer in the critical, scientific study of legal history in Poland, famed for applying rigorous source-critical methods to ancient codices.
Italian Union Catalogue, IT\ICCU\TO0\1176758.