BALUZIUS, Stephanus. Capitularia Regum Francorum. Additae sunt Marculfi monachi & aliorum formulae veteres, & Notae doctissimorum virorum. Stephanus Baluzius, Tutelensis in umum collegit, ad vetustissimos codices manuscriptos emendavit, magnam partem nunc primum edidit, Notis illustravit. Pariis [Paris]: Excudebat Franciscus Muguet Regis & […] typographus, 1677. Two volumes. Folio (365mmx250mm); [72] pp, 1448 columns (printed two per page) & [1 blank leaf], [8] pp, 1660 columns. Illustrated with engraved title page to Volume 1, beautiful woodcut head and tail pieces; three woodcut plates (one folding) in Volume 2. Illustrated initials. Contemporary full vellum; some sunning, soiling and light edgewear to boards and spine; neat writing in ink to spines. Armorial bookplates of well-known German theologian and orientalist Christian Ernst von Windheim(1722-1766) on inside pastedowns; attractive bookplates of the Writers Library on front endpapers, and contemporary inscriptions to both. Slight sunning to and scattered foxing to some pages. Occasional staining to margins of some pages (mainly to top edge in Volume 2, and to some pages at fore edge in Volume 1), but text unaffected and clear; interior crisp and clean. An impressive complete set. Rare. Stephanus Baluzius (aka Etienne Baluze) was a distinguished French scholar. He entered the service of Colbert (Finance Minister) in 1667 and was in charge of the latter's invaluable library until 1700. Subsequently, Baluze was appointed Professor of Canon Law at the College of France and directed it until 1710. The Capitularia Regum Francorum is a landmark in leading the way to a fresh classification of early law under the Frankish kings. Graesse I, 284.Capitularies were a series of legislative and administrative acts emanating from the Court of the Merovingian and Carolingian dynasties, especially that of the first emperor, Charlemagne. They were so called because they were formally divided into sections called capitula (plural of capitulum, a dimunitive of caput meaning 'head(ing)', i.e. chapters.

An impressive complete set. Rare.