Details

Subjects:

Medici, House of -- Archives.
Medici, Andrea de'.
Medici, Vincenzo de'.
Medici, House of.
Accounting -- Italy -- 17th century.
Textile industry -- Italy -- Early works to 1800.
Textile industry.
Accounting.
Italy.

Form/Genre:

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

Language:

Italian.

Summary:

Ledger of forward contracts between the brothers Andrea and Vincenzo de' Medici, sons of Carlo de' Medici, and members of other aristocratic families of Florence, for the years 1605-1616. 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. Most transactions are related to the textile business, which was of crucial importance for the Medici family. The counterparts in the transactions are often members of other aristocratic families from Florence, the most important being the Capponi, the Morelli, the Salviati. More precisely, the ledger contains detailed summaries of contracts to sell a standardized quantity of a textile product of standardized quality (agreed between the counterparts) at a certain date in the future, at a price determined at the time of writing of the contract. The future date in which the transaction is to be settled is also noted.

Notes:

Ms. codex.
Title supplied by cataloger.
Foliation: Paper, 256; each folio has the same number on both recto and verso; rectos numbered [i], 1-215, 217-250, [251-257], contemporary numeration in ink, modern numeration in pencil, upper right recto; versos numbered 1-214, 216, 217-249, [250-257], 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, the large central column with the transaction, a brief description of it, including the name of the counterparts and the settlement date, and the smaller one on the right with the amount of the settlement in arabic numerals. In certain cases the large central column contains itemized accounts of a transaction within one entry.
Script: Written in a cursive script, perhaps by multiple hands.
Watermark: Similar to Briquet, Ange 675 (Pisa, 1569); Sirene 13894 (Pisa, 1597); Fleur-de-lis 7105 (Rome, 1565), but with rounder petals.
Binding: Contemporary vellum, unreadable number on spine; the faded heading (Compere?), faded letter C (note inside upper cover) with decorative penwork and unreadable number on upper cover; lower cover with remnants of leather ties wraps around upper cover; decorative leatherwork on spine.
Origin: Written in Italy between 1605 (f. 1v) and 1616 (f. 249v).
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. 198 (Ms. Lea 255).

Cited as:

UPenn Ms. Codex 1309.

OCLC:

298320893

Access Restriction:

Access to this item is subject to staff review.