PREFACE.

TO THE BENEVOLENT READER, GREETINGS.

The immortal work of Lord Justinian is produced anew. Printing houses of great fame labored over its production two centuries ago, seeking not the least of their professional glory in the clear impression of Roman laws. After many disorganized editions, Gregorius Haloander was the first who strove to bring to such a great work the splendor it deserved. He was followed by Johannes Hervagius, a printer of Basel, who, having followed the Nuremberg edition of Haloander, boasts that he was aided by the works of Alciatus and other learned men. After him, Antonius Syphrianus caused the Pandectae manuales handy digests to be printed in a smaller format at Lyon by Guillaume Roville in the year 1551, through the zeal and labor of Bernardus Rollandus of Castres. The edition of Hugo a Porta followed in the year 1552, which exhibited the Greek sanctions The Greek constitutions or decrees with the Latin version of Franciscus Hotomannus. Meanwhile, at Florence, Lælius Taurellius and his son Franciscus Taurellius spent a decade working on that venerable Codex of the Digests, which the barbarism of preceding centuries had, by a singular fate, not been able to consume. Under the auspices of the great Prince Cosmus Mediceus, they prepared an accurate edition according to that exemplar, using the labor of Petrus Victorius so that the Greek passages, which were frequent in that Codex, might be produced in a highly corrected state. The labors of these three most learned men could not fail to tend toward a significant increase in more elegant jurisprudence, as the Jurisconsults had profited so much from the mere collation which was instituted through the industry of Angelus Politianus with the Florentine Pandects, and which had fallen into the hands of Haloander. The most learned Antonius Augustinus, Bishop of Ilerda, demonstrated most clearly the utility to be drawn from that Codex; it could be hidden from no one how much good literature and all jurisprudence owe to him. For he, together with Johannes Metellus, having used those most noble books for several months, shared his Four Books of Emendations and Opinions original: "Emendationum et Opinionum Libros IV." with lovers of more elegant jurisprudence in Venice at the house of the Juntas in the year 1543, intending to preface them to the editions of the Digests upon which the Taurellii were working, and which were produced in the year 1553 from the press of Laurentius Torrentinus, the Ducal printer. In our own age, Laurentius Theodorus Gronovius, taken too soon from the literary world, followed the footsteps of this most reverend man. In the year 1685, at Leiden, he published the Emendations of the Pandects examined according to the Florentine exemplar. From this, it is evident that much has still been left for the diligence and learning of later Jurisconsults, which can serve both for the correction of the text and the illustration of Roman laws. We have often heard that Henricus Brencmannus, a Belgian Jurisconsult and Florentine Academician, was laudably occupied in this endeavor. His most learned letter concerning the Consuls, who are mentioned in the Pandects, was sent to the most distinguished Hadrianus Relandus and added to the edition of the Consular Fasti official lists of consuls which the most learned Jurisconsult Petrus Relandus had collected; it whetted our thirst in a wonderful way and made us nearly impatient of delay. Meanwhile, the following age of Jurisconsults turned the Taurellian labors to its own use. The name of Ludovicus Russardus is very famous, who [studied/applied] the law...