[Ledger of Medici debtors and creditors].

Format:

Book

Manuscript

Language:

Italian

Subjects (All):

Medici, House of--Archives.

Medici, Fabrizio de'.

Medici, Niccolo de'.

Medici, House of.

Accounting--Italy--16th century.

Accounting.

Italy.

Genre:

codices (bound manuscripts)

accounts

credit records

ledgers (account books)

Manuscripts, Italian.

Manuscripts, Renaissance.

Archives.

Penn Provenance:

Sold by Bernard M. Rosenthal, 1961.

Physical Description:

288 leaves : paper ; 334 x 227 mm bound to 344 x 231 mm + 1 booklet (18 leaves) and 4 notes

Place of Publication:

[Italy], 1575-1580.

Language Note:

Italian.

Summary:

Ledger of debtors and creditors of the brothers Fabrizio and Niccolo de' Medici, sons of Luigi de' Medici, for the years 1575-1580. Often includes the nature of a given credit or debt and its amount, as well as listing the names of the individuals that hold the debt or credit. An alphabetical index, with 18 lettered tabs, containing names of individuals that appear in the ledger, is laid into the manuscript.

Notes:

Ms. codex.

Title supplied by cataloger.

Pagination: Paper, i (paper) + 288 + i (paper); versos numbered 1-275, [276-288], contemporary pagination in ink, modern pagination in pencil, upper left verso; rectos numbered [i], i-cclxxv, [cclxxvi-cclxxxvii], upper right recto (leaves after p. 175 are blank but ruled). Each opening has a matched arabic numeral on the left and roman numeral on the right.

Layout: Written in 2 columns with vertical bounding lines in lead; the large column on the left with the debtor or creditor and a brief description of the credit or debt, and the smaller one on the right with the amount of the credit or debt in arabic numerals. Usually credits are 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.

Script: Written in a cursive script, perhaps by multiple hands.

Watermark: Similar to Briquet, Couronne 4844 (Lucca, 1580); Armoires Lion 1883 (Florence, 1529), but with the lion's snout more defined; and unidentified watermark containing a Greek cross, a circle and a winged horse.

Binding: Contemporary vellum, no. 13 on spine; the heading Debitori e creditori, no. 136, letter C with decorative penwork on upper cover; lower cover wraps around upper cover with leather strap; decorative leatherwork on spine.

Origin: Written in Italy between 1575 (p. 1) and 1580 (p. 175).

Forms part of: Gondi-Medici Business Records.

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. 196 (Ms. Lea 240).

Cited as:

UPenn Ms. Codex 1296

OCLC:

297239809