CATHOLIC. - GRATIAN. [Decretum Gratiani.] Decreti huius plenissimum argumentum. Paris: John Petit and Thielmann Kerver, 1516. Signed in 8s (214 x 151mm.) Gothic letter, title in red and black with printer’s device, double-column text surrounded by commentary, large woodcut verso title of Gratian in his study with numerous popes and cardinals, woodcut of the ‘Tree of Kindred and Affinity’, decorative woodcut initials, 2pp. of contemporary bound-in leaves to front and rear with manuscript notes. (Marginal loss to title affecting woodcut verso, a 3-inch tear to ‘Tree of Kindred’, occasional marginal damp-staining and corner creasing.) Contemporary calf over wooden boards (rebacked, endpapers replaced), housed within a 20th century brown cloth-covered solander box, gilt lettering to spine (minor marks). Note: dated to the title and to colophon at p.582. Better known as the ‘Decretum Gratiani’ or ‘Concordia discordantim canonum’, it is a compilation of Catholic canon law compiled in the 11th century and in use until the ‘Decretals’ of Pope Gregory IX in 1234. Provenance: Robert Rickman (near contemporary name (Latinized) to title-page.