Vol. 9 No. 2 (2018)
Selling & Collecting: Printed Book Sale Catalogues and Private Libraries

Book prices and monetary issues in Renaissance Europe

Francesco Ammannati
University of Udine, Italy

Published 2018-05-15

Keywords

  • History of the book; Economic history; Price history; Money of account; Early modern Europe

How to Cite

Ammannati, Francesco. 2018. “Book Prices and Monetary Issues in Renaissance Europe”. JLIS.It 9 (2):179-91. https://doi.org/10.4403/jlis.it-12454.

Abstract

The difficulties associated with the creation of a large database of book prices include giving effective answers to questions such as how prices were formed during the various steps of the production process (sedimentation of production costs, costs related to the sale) or what the nature of the assigned value is (estimated in the case of used books, or of stock inventories, or the result of special conditions offered to specific customers, etc.). But first it is necessary to reflect on the interpretation given to the figures provided by the heterogeneous documentation which supports the creation of such a database. The many reference currencies in which these prices are expressed, depending on the monetary area of action of the economic operators (printers, booksellers, customers) are likely to confuse and mislead if their exact meaning is not clearly understood. This problem becomes even more urgent when, for example, the primary sources are the private notes of a collector who recorded how much he had paid for a book, or when two different currencies in place or in time have the same name. This aspect is also crucial in comparing different places and markets. Was the price expressed in money of account or in coined money? In domestic or foreign currency? Is it possible to relate two prices expressed in different currencies?
The purpose of this paper is therefore to explore in greater depth some of the economic-monetary aspects of Renaissance Europe in order to help clarify any doubts or misreadings by building a reliable picture of the various types of currency used in Europe between the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. This is an essential step to subsequently address the possibility of comparing prices expressed in different currencies as they emerged on different markets.

Metrics

Metrics Loading ...

References

  1. Ammannati, Francesco, and Angela Nuovo. 2017. “Investigating Book Prices in Early Modern Europe : Questions and Sources.” JLIS.it 8, 3: 1–25. Doi: 10.4403/jlis.it-12365.
  2. Boyer-Xambeau, Marie-Thérèse, Ghislain Deleplace, and Lucien Gillar. 1991. Banchieri e principi. Moneta e credito nell’Europa del Cinquecento. Turin: Einaudi.
  3. Braudel, Fernand, and F. C. Spooner. 1967. “Prices in Europe from 1450 to 1750.” In The Cambridge Economic History of Europe. IV. The Economy of Expanding Europe in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries, edited by E.E. Rich & C.H. Wilson, 374–486. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  4. Cavaciocchi, Simonetta, ed. 1992. Produzione e commercio della carta e del libro, secc. XIII-XVIII. Atti della “Ventitreesima Settimana di Studi”, 15-20 Aprile 1991. Serie II - Atti delle “Settimane Di Studi” e Altri Convegni. Florence: Le Monnier.
  5. Cherubini, Paolo, Anna Esposito, Anna Modigliani, and Paola Scarcia Piacentini. 1983. “Il costo del libro.” In Scrittura, biblioteche e stampa a Roma nel Quattrocento. Atti del II Seminario, 6-8 Maggio 1982, edited by Massimo Miglio, Paola Parenga, and Anna Modigliani, 323–553. Città del Vaticano: Scuola Vaticana di paleografia, diplomatica e archivistica. Doi: 10.1117/12.2234235.
  6. Cipolla, Carlo M. 1950. “Storia dei prezzi e storia della moneta. Considerazioni critiche.” L’industria 4: 1–10.
  7. Cipolla, Carlo M. 1967. Money, Prices and Civilization in the Mediterranean World. New York: Gordian Press.
  8. Cipolla, Carlo M. 1975. Le avventure della lira. Bologna: Il Mulino.
  9. Conway, Melissa. 1999. The Diario of the Printing Press of San Jacopo di Ripoli, 1476-1484. Commentary and Transcription. Florence: Leo S. Olschki.
  10. Da Silva, José-Gentil. 1969. Banque et crédit en Italie au XVIIe siècle. Paris: Klincksieck.
  11. Danesi, Daniele. 2014. Cento anni di libri: la biblioteca di Bellisario Bulgarini e della sua famiglia, circa 1560-1660. Ospedaletto, Pisa: Pacini; [Florence]: Regione Toscana.
  12. De Roover, Raymond. 1953. L’évolution de la Lettre de Change, XIVe-XVIIIe siècles. Paris: Armand Colin.
  13. De Rosa, Luigi. 1955. I cambi esteri del Regno di Napoli dal 1591 al 1707. Naples: Banco di Napoli.
  14. Denzel, Markus A. 2010. Handbook of World Exchange Rates, 1590-1914. Farnham: Ashgate.
  15. Dittmar, Jeremiah E. 2015. “New Media, Firms, Ideas, and Growth: European Cities after Gutenberg.” London. http://www.jeremiahdittmar.com/files/dittmar_new_media_firms.pdf.
  16. Edler De Roover, Florence. 1953. “Per la storia dell’arte della stampa in Italia. Come furono stampati a Venezia tre dei primi libri in volgare.” La Bibliofilia, 55:107–15.
  17. Gascon, Richard. 1971. Grand commerce et vie urbaine au XVIe siècle. Lyon et ses marchands (Environs de 1520 - Environs de 1580). Vols. 1–2. Paris-Mouton-La Haye: S.E.V.P.E.N.
  18. Goldthwaite, Richard A., and Giulio Mandich. 1994. Studi sulla moneta fiorentina (secoli XIII-XVI). Florence: Leo S. Olschki.
  19. Hirsch, Rudolf. 1974. Printing, Selling and Reading, 1450-1550. Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz.
  20. Judges, A. V. 1967. “Scopi e metodi della storia dei prezzi.” In I prezzi in Europa dal XIII secolo a oggi: saggi di storia dei prezzi, edited by Ruggiero Romano, 519–37. Turin: Einaudi.
  21. Lapeyre, Henri. 1955. Une famille de marchands: les Ruiz. Paris: Armand Colin.
  22. Maclean, Ian. 2009. Learning and the Market Place. Essays in the History of the Early Modern Book. Leiden-Boston: Brill.
  23. Malanima, Paolo. 2002. L’economia italiana. Dalla crescita medievale alla crescita contemporanea. Bologna: Il Mulino.
  24. Marsilio, Claudio. 2008. Dove il denaro fa denaro. Gli operatori finanziari genovesi nelle fiere di cambio del XVII secolo. Novi Ligure: Città del silenzio.
  25. Matringe, Nadia. 2016. La banque en Renaissance. Les Salviati et la place de Lyon au milieu du XVIe siècle. Rennes: Presses Universitaires de Rennes.
  26. Mueller, Reinhold C. 1997. The Venetian Money Market. Banks, Panics, and the Public Debt, 1200-1500. Baltimora: Johns Hopkins University Press.
  27. Nuovo, Angela. 2013. The Book Trade in the Italian Renaissance. Leiden-Boston: Brill.
  28. Nuovo, Angela. 2017. “The Price of Books in Italy (XV-XVI Centuries).” In I prezzi delle cose nell’età preindustriale - The Prices of Things in Pre-Industrial Times, 48:107–27. Florence: Firenze University Press, Fondazione Istituto Internazionale di Storia Economica.
  29. Panciera, Walter. 1995. “Aspetti tecnologici delle stamperie veneziane tra Cinque e Settecento.” Miscellanea Marciana 10-11:184–98.
  30. Parenti, Giuseppe. 1981. Studi di storia dei prezzi. Paris: Maison des sciences de l’homme.
  31. Pezzolo, Luciano, and Giuseppe Tattara. 2008. “‘Una fiera senza luogo’: Was Bisenzone an International Capital Market in Sixteenth-Century Italy?” The Journal of Economic History 68, 4: 1098–1122. http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayFulltext?type=1&fid=2681296&jid=JEH&volumeId=68&issueId=04&aid=2681288.
  32. Richardson, Brian. 1999. Stampatori, autori e lettori nell’Italia del Rinascimento. Milan: Edizioni Sylvestre Bonnard.
  33. Romano, Ruggiero, ed. 1967. I prezzi in Europa dal XIII Secolo a oggi: saggi di storia dei prezzi. Turin: Einaudi.
  34. Vázquez De Prada, Valentín. 1960. Lettres marchandes d’Anvers. Vol. 1–4. Paris: S.E.V.P.E.N.
  35. Vigne, Marcel. 1903. La Banque à Lyon du XVe au XVIIIe siècle. Paris-Lyon: A. Rey-Guillaumin.
  36. Voet, Leon. 1969. The Golden Compasses. The History of the House of Plantin-Moretus. Vols. 1–2. Amsterdam-London-New York: Vangendt & Co., Routledge & Kegan Paul, Abner Schram.
  37. Wagner, Klaus, and Manuel Carrera. 1991. Catalogo dei libri a stampa in lingua italiana della Biblioteca Colombina di Siviglia = Catalogo de los impresos en lengua italiana de la Biblioteca de Sevilla. Ferrara: ISR; Modena: Panini.