Details

Subjects:

Medici, House of -- Archives.
Medici, Andrea de'.
Medici, Vincenzo de'.
Medici, House of.
Accounting -- Italy -- 16th century.
Accounting.
Italy.

Form/Genre:

Codices.
Accounts.
Credit records.
Ledgers (account books)
Manuscripts, Italian.
Manuscripts, Renaissance.
Manuscripts, European.
Archives.

Language:

Italian.

Summary:

Ledger of accounts of the brothers Andrea and Vincenzo de' Medici, sons of Carlo de' Medici, for the years 1597-1605. Often includes the nature of a given transaction and its amount, as well as listing the names of the individuals that act as counterparts in the transaction. The counterparts in the transactions are often members of other aristocratic families from Florence, the most important being the Capponi, the Morelli, the Salviati, as well as the Landi, from Piacenza; in certain cases prestigious Florentine institutions, such as the Ordine dei frati di Santa Croce, also appear. Less frequent are other kinds of counterparts, such as employees or tenants of the two de' Medici brothers, who can pay in kind, or receive in kind payments. The memoranda, more detailed descriptions of the aforementioned transactions, with descriptions of the events which lead to a debt or a credit, are scattered throughout the accounts.

Notes:

Ms. codex.
Title supplied by cataloger.
Foliation: Paper, i (paper) + 352 + i (paper); each folio has the same number on both recto and verso; rectos numbered [i], 1-2, iii, 4-129, [130], 131-303, [304-311], 312-322, [323-352], contemporary numeration in ink, modern numeration in pencil, upper right recto; versos numbered 1-210, [211-212], 213-290, [291], 292-303, [304-311], 312-321, [322-352], contemporary numeration in ink, modern numeration in pencil, upper left verso (leaves 304-311 and 323-352 are blank but ruled).
Layout: Written in 3 columns with vertical bounding lines in lead; the smaller column on the left with the transaction number or the year in which the transaction took place, the large central column with the transaction and a brief description of it, and the smaller one on the right with its amount in arabic numerals. In certain cases the large central column contains itemized accounts of a transaction within one entry. In the occurrence of both a debt and a credit with a specific counterpart, credits are usually listed on the left page and debts on the right page of an opening, with the same individuals appearing as debtors or creditors on facing pages. Memoranda written in long lines.
Script: Written in a cursive script, perhaps by multiple hands.
Watermark: Similar to Briquet, Agneau pascal 48 (Florence, 1498); Couronne 4844 (Lucca, 1580); Fleur-de-lis 7105 (Rome, 1565), but with rounder petals.
Binding: Contemporary vellum, no. 55 on spine; the heading Quaderno e ricordi, letter B with decorative penwork on upper cover; lower cover with remnants of leather ties wraps around upper cover; decorative leatherwork on spine.
Origin: Written in Italy between 1597 (f. 1r) and 1605 (f. 280r).
Forms part of: Gondi-Medici Business Records.

Penn Provenance:

Sold by Bernard M. Rosenthal, 1961

Cited in:

Described in Zacour, Norman P. and Hirsch, Rudolf. Catalogue of Manuscripts in the Libraries of the University of Pennsylvania to 1800 (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1965), p. 197 (Ms. Lea 249).

Cited as:

UPenn Ms. Codex 1305

OCLC:

298125587