Bound by Law: Durand

The binding of this volume gives us some idea as to the provenance of the book.  While the book itself was printed in 1470, the binding of the copy in the Jacob Burns Law Library was done over one hundred years later.  It is bound in pigskin leather over wooden boards, which, in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, was a method primarily found only in Germany.  Additionally, we know that the binding was added later based on the date and initials stamped (probably in sulfide silver) on the front cover dating the binding to 1604.  The initials I.P.A. are likely those of the owner, though exactly who this refers to remains a mystery.  The closer images shows the delicate design engraved on the cover, almost completely invisible now due to the wear and tear of five hundred years of use.  The beautiful rubrications found inside, however, remain as beautiful as the day they were drawn.