Details

Subjects:

Medici, Bivigliano de'.
Medici, House of -- Archives.
Medici, House of.
Ospedale di San Bartolomeo (Florence, Italy).
Accounting -- Italy -- 16th century.
Hospitals, Medieval -- Italy -- Florence.
Hospital care -- Italy -- Florence -- History -- 16th century.
Hospital care.
History.
Hospitals, Medieval.
Accounting.
Italy -- Florence.
Italy.

Form/Genre:

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

Language:

Italian.

Summary:

Ledger of accounts of the ospedale di San Bartolomeo in Trespiano, in the suburbs of Florence, for the years 1514-1522, written by Bartolomeo di Stefano, hospital administrator (referred to in the text as spedalino). Includes detailed lists of the expenses which occurred during the management of the hospital and the names of the counterparts involved in the transactions. Examples of transactions include the purchase of furniture and food for the guests or patients, as the hospital had the double function of hostel for pilgrims and care of the sick; purchase of cattle and feed; and the payment of wages of the people who worked in the hospital. There is also a small number of debts and credits with members of the local aristocracy (including loans from Bivigliano d'Alamanno de' Medici). The memoranda, often written in the first person and with a more narrative tone, describe the circumstances which lead to a specific transaction, such as a sale, a debt or a credit. According to the memoranda, the Medici family, which purchased the institution later in the 16th century, was a very important source of credit for the hospital.

Contents:

1. f.1v-54v: [Expenses]
2. f.74r-84v: [Memoranda]

Notes:

Ms. codex.
Title supplied by cataloger.
Foliation: Paper, 96; [i], 1-17, 19-76, 75-86, [87], 88-94; contemporary foliation in ink, upper right recto. Folio 87 is a stub of a leaf torn out.
Layout: Written in 3 columns with vertical bounding lines in lead; the small column on the left with the transaction number, the large central column with the name of the counterpart and a brief description of the transaction, and the small one on the right with the amount of the transaction. Memoranda written in long lines.
Script: Written in a cursive script, by multiple hands.
Watermark: Similar to Briquet, Balance 2480 (Venice, 1490).
Binding: Contemporary vellum, no. 127 on spine; the heading Ricordanze and letter A with decorative penwork on upper cover; lower cover wraps around upper cover with leather ties. Decorative leatherwork on spine.
Origin: Written in Italy between 1514 (f.1v) and 1522 (f.50v).
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. 212 (Ms. Lea 341).

Cited as:

UPenn Ms. Codex 1420

OCLC:

310752682