Beschreibung:

Reformacion der Bayrischen Lanndrecht . Munich: [Johann Schobsser, not before 23 April 1518].
Reformacion der Bayrischen Lanndrecht . Munich: [Johann Schobsser, not before 23 April 1518]. 2° (298 x 203mm). PRINTED ON VELLUM in red and black. Xylographic title with large woodcut by Caspar Clofigl of the Dukes Wilhelm Ludwig of Bavaria, double-page woodcut tree of consanguinity on BB3v-4r. With blank f6 and without final blank Dd8, overslip on heading on Bb6r. (A few minor wormholes in first and last 3 leaves, neat marginal repair in one leaf.) Contemporary blindstamped pigskin over bevelled wooden boards, two fore-edge clasps renewed (note on their renewal at end, inner hinges reinforced). Provenance : early naive sketch in margin of L4v -- Passau, Augustinian Canons of the Lateran Congregation of St. Nicolaus (18th-century bookplate; dissolved 1803) -- Bertram, 4th Earl of Ashburnham (1797-1878; sale Sotheby's, 25 June 1897, lot 343, £11 to Leighton] -- Charles Fairfax Murray (booklabel; sale Christie's, 10 Dec. 1917, lot 56, £56 to Maggs) -- John Roland Abbey (1933 bookplate, annotations at end; sale Sotheby's, 24 October 1967, lot 455, £620 to Breslauer). FIRST EDITION. The Reformacion codified and systematised the laws of Bavaria. Based largely on common practice and custom, including those specific to individual regions, it treats more of legal casuistry, rather than legal theory; it shows little influence of Roman civil law. Laws govern subjects ranging from malfeasance, theft and assault to fishing rights, marriage rights, inheritance and commercial transactions. Its utility is emphasised in the extensive systematic register beginning the work. This is the second appearance of the handsome title woodcut by Caspar Clofigl, a Munich artist who served as court-painter to Duke William IV (Hollstein V, 195, Clofigl 2; Dodgson II, pp.266-67). Cf. Stobbe, Geschichte der deutschen Rechtsquellen , 2, pp.363-5. Davies, Murray German 50; Schottenloher, Schobser 153; Van Praet, Bibl. nat. , I, p.240 (citing this copy as one of 3 then in Munich); VD-16 B-1007.