[Ledger of Medici debtors and creditors].

Format:

Book

Manuscript

Language:

Italian

Subjects (All):

Medici, Fabrizio de'.

Medici, House of--Archives.

Medici, House of.

Accounting--Italy--16th century.

Accounting.

Earthquakes--Italy--Early works to 1800.

Earthquakes.

Italy.

Genre:

codices (bound manuscripts)

accounts

credit records

ledgers (account books)

Manuscripts, Italian.

Manuscripts, Renaissance.

Manuscripts, European.

Archives.

Penn Provenance:

Sold by Bernard M. Rosenthal, 1961.

Physical Description:

191 leaves : paper ; 334 x 236 mm bound to 339 x 238 mm + 25 notes (30 leaves)

Place of Publication:

[Italy], 1579-1612.

Language Note:

Italian.

Summary:

Ledger of debtors and creditors of Fabrizio de' Medici, son of Luigi di Bivigliano de' Medici, for the years 1575-1612. 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 credit or debt. In certain cases debts and credits are in kind (examples of the produce used for these payments are chestnuts, grains, cattle feed, cattle, swine). Notes include personal correspondence of Fabrizio de' Medici regarding the transactions and their payment, among which a letter handwritten by Fabrizio de' Medici in which he promises economic help to an underling whose property was damaged during the earthquake of 1611; a printed document dated 1611 from the Ufficiali de Fiumi della Citta di Firenze; and memoranda of various loans and payments.

Notes:

Ms. codex.

Title supplied by cataloger.

Pagination: Paper, 191: versos numbered 1-176, [177-191], contemporary pagination in ink, modern pagination in pencil, upper left verso; rectos numbered [i], i-clxxvi, [clxxvii-cxc], upper right recto (leaves 177-191 are blank but ruled). Each opening has a matched arabic numeral on the left and a roman numeral on the right.

Layout: Written in 2 columns with vertical bounding lines in lead; the large column on the left with the transaction and a brief description of it, and the smaller one on the right with its amount in arabic numerals. 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 and letters written in long lines.

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

Watermark: Similar to Briquet, Sirene 13894 (Pisa, 1597); and unidentified watermark containing a coat of arms, an eagle and a crescent with rays of light.

Binding: Contemporary vellum, no. 18 on spine; the heading Debitori e creditori, no. 87 and letter C 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 1579 (p. 1) and 1612 (p. 173).

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 242).

Cited as:

UPenn Ms. Codex 1298

OCLC:

297415281