RENAISSANCE TRADE IN ITALY TOPIC OF NEW HARVARD BOOK

"Florentine Merchants in the Age of the Medici" is the title of the latest book published by the University Press. It consists of letters and documents from the Selfridge collection of Medici manuscripts.

The documents were loaned to the School by H. G. Selfridge of London, who acquired them from the Italian government after they had been confiscated as state papers. They form the record of the Medici family from 1400 to 1600. (They are of significance in the history of the wool Industry and in international trade.) The manuscripts are in two divisions, the account books of "Medici and Company, Merchant Employers," letters of the members of the Medici to kings, artists and celebrities of the time.