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Segni and Medici, Florentine Merchants: Business Letters

 Fonds
Reference Code: GBR/0012/MS Add.8963

Scope and Contents

A collection of sixty-nine business letters, dated between 1616 and 1625, of which twenty-two are addressed to Nicolò Gianni (also spelled "Niccolò Giani") and Lorenzo Segni; three to Lorenzo Segni alone (1624–1625); and twenty-six to Lorenzo Segni and Francesco Medici (1625-1634). The correspondence originates from agents based in various Italian cities as well as Spain (specifically Madrid, one letter, Burgos, two letters, and Cuenca, three letters) and relates commercial and financial matters, including business transactions, expense accounts, and price comparisons.

Some letters refer to the wool trade, while others mention the cochineal dye trade (a brilliant red dye derived from insects native to South America, which was flourishing in Spain and Genoa at the time). Among the correspondents, the names of the Pallavicino and Donghi families stand out—two of the most influential families in late-Renaissance Genoa.

Dates

  • Creation: 1616-1634

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is open for consultation by researchers using the Manuscripts Reading Room at Cambridge University Library. For further details on conditions governing access please contact mss@lib.cam.ac.uk. Information about opening hours and obtaining a Cambridge University Library reader's ticket is available from the Library's website (www.lib.cam.ac.uk).

Extent

0.01 cubic metre(s) (3 envelopes (1 B1 box))

Language of Materials

Italian

Spanish; Castilian

Immediate Source of Acquisition

The first fifty letters were purchased in 1993. A further lot of nineteen related letters was purchased in 1996.

Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin

Repository Details

Part of the Cambridge University Library Repository

Contact:
Cambridge University Library
West Road
Cambridge CB3 9DR United Kingdom