"Using documents, glosses, legal commentaries, and the first paleographical study of manuscripts since the mid-nineteenth century, the authors of this book trace the circulation of the Corpus Iuris Civilis from late antiquity until the early twelfth century. " "They demonstrate that only the Novels found any significant readership in the early Middle Ages, and that Justinian's Institutes, Code, and Digest emerged from obscurity only in the mid-eleventh century, when they were taken up by northern-Italian specialists in Lombard law. Separate chapters then consider the evidence for the textual history and reception of the Institutes, Code, and Digest. " "Included in the volume are plates of all of the most important early manuscripts of Justinian's works, most of which have never been published before. "--BOOK JACKET.