Aritmetica Mercantile.
Naples, T. Longo 1604.
4to. [xi], 720 [r. 270], [2 blank]p.
Contemporary limp vellum (early signature on the rear panel), flat spine with a contemporary manuscript title.
First Edition of this book of exchange for the Italian peninsula and its main trading partners. It was a vital reference through mid-century for merchants whose business complexities rendered conversion tables inadequate. Lando denominated the coins in circulation in the eight leading commercial cities in Italy and paired these coins in turn with coins issued by ten to twenty foreign cities, like Nürnberg, Frankfurt, Antwerp and London. He then illustrated the exchange rate for every pairing through two calculations, one in each direction, enabling traders to do the math themselves. A nice copy (short clean split in five blank margins).
¶Hoock & Jeannin, Ars mercatoria: Handbücher und Traktate…1470-1820 II/L8.1 & III: 20; Riccardi, Biblioteca matematica italiana I(2): 14-15 “Raro”; no printing in the BL or Einaudi.
Price: $3,200.00