Avenionen. jurisdictionis an doctores de collegio Universitatis Aven. dicantur munia universitatis exercere ad effectum &c.

by Antoine-François Payen

Avignon: Georges Bramereau, 1680

11, [9] p. | Folio | A^10 (but leaves following A1 signed B, C, D, respectively) | 312 x 220 mm

A thorough investigation of the legal foundations for the governance of Avignon University, by a local jurist who also happened to be something of an astronomer. This appears to be one of two editions issued the same year, the other with 12 numbered pages and bearing Payen's name at the head of the title. ¶ The first leaf carries 48 numbered statutes broadly outlining the university's rules and the responsibilities of its administrators. "The doctors of the college have the right to visit, appoint, and dismiss reading professors" (38), for example, and, "The conservatory does not support teachers who do not read, nor wandering scholars who do not study" (41). What follows is Payen's legal analysis of the basis of the university's governance, rich in precedent citations. It's unclear to us if Payen has gone beyond simple reporting to issue his own opinion on the matter. His closing paragaph rather impersonally states that the various issues have been "legally weighed" (legaliter ponderatis), and nothing more. Included at end are two apostolic endorsements of the university written in 1599. ¶ A curious integral label title of sorts has been printed in the upper right corner of the final page: Sacr. congre. concilij Avenionen. Jurisdictionis; pro doctoribus de collegio Universitatis Avenionen.; juris (pro suggesting the work was printed in support of the university administrators). This title is roughly 5" x 2" and was printed on the last of four integral blank leaves following the text proper. It calls to mind those perpendicular half-titles that seemed especially common in 17th-century England, which some have suggested might have been used to label bins in a stationer's shop. That seems unlikely in our case, but we wonder if it was perhaps meant to label a file or composite volume of related work. The four integral blank leaves at end are themselves something of a bibliographical oddity. These would add up to a colossal waste of paper for anything approaching a regular print run, so we suspect few copies must have been printed. ¶ We find two copies only of this edition, both in Avignon, and perhaps a single copy of the other edition at Carpentras (we find three records sharing the same call number).

CONDITION: Simple pamphlet stitch through the spine, without a binding. ¶ Foxed and moderately soiled, with mild dampstaining to the upper half; generally a bit ragged at the edges; creased vertically.

REFERENCES: VIAF 10739021 (for the author, noting his work as a astronomer; he began teaching at Avignon University in 1642)

Item #779