The Merchant of Prato The Merchant of Prato

The Merchant of Prato

Francesco di Marco Datini, 1335-1410

    • 4.0 • 4 Ratings
    • $11.99
    • $11.99

Publisher Description

This intimate biography of Francesco di Marco Datini offers fascinating insights into the methods of medieval trade and vibrancy of Italian life in 14th-century Tuscany.

“For God and Profit” is how the medieval merchant Francesco di Marco Datini headed a notebook in which he kept track of his business dealings, and these were certainly his guiding lights. Born in the 1330s in the Tuscan town of Prato, Datini set out at the age of 15 for Avignon, where over the course of the next 35 years he made a fortune trading in arms, armor, artworks, wool, saffron, leather, silk, and much more. Returning home, he expanded his operations, setting up offices all across the Mediterranean, which he oversaw through an unceasing flow of correspondence. When he died, Datini asked that all his papers be preserved in his house. In 1870 they were found—a little worm-eaten and mouse-nibbled but largely intact—in a sack under the stairs. They are one of the great records not only of medieval life but of the emergence of the modern commercial world.

Drawing on this rich archive, Iris Origo offers a wonderfully vivid account of Datini’s public and private worlds. The Merchant of Prato is a masterpiece of modern narrative history.

GENRE
History
RELEASED
2020
July 14
LANGUAGE
EN
English
LENGTH
416
Pages
PUBLISHER
New York Review Books
SELLER
Penguin Random House LLC
SIZE
1.6
MB

More Books Like This

Medieval People Medieval People
2012
The Black Prince of Florence The Black Prince of Florence
2016
The Book of the Courtier The Book of the Courtier
2012
April Blood April Blood
2003
The Renaissance The Renaissance
2011
Medici Money Medici Money
2013

More Books by Iris Origo

War in Val d'Orcia War in Val d'Orcia
2018
A Chill in the Air A Chill in the Air
2018
Images and Shadows Images and Shadows
2019
Leopardi Leopardi
2015
Eine seltsame Zeit des Wartens Eine seltsame Zeit des Wartens
2021

Customers Also Bought

El Norte El Norte
2019
Before Galileo Before Galileo
2013
Byzantium Byzantium
2009
The Wall The Wall
2012
The Four Chinese Classics The Four Chinese Classics
2013
The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
2013