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Title: Merchant of Prato: Francesco Di Marco Datini by Iris Origo ISBN: 0-374-96149-2 Publisher: Octagon Books Pub. Date: June, 1979 Format: Hardcover List Price(USD): $32.50

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Average Customer Rating: 5 (2 reviews)

Rating: 5
Summary: A remarkable act of historic recreation.
Comment: In his will, the medieval Tuscan merchant Francesco di Marco Datini ordered that all his account books and correspondence be gathered together and stored for posterity. These archives were lost soon after Datini died in 1410, but found again, remarkably intact, in 1870. These archives, constituting nearly 140,000 letters to and from Datini and 503 files of business documents, constitute the most complete record of medieval Italian life ever found. Iris Origo mined this treasure trove for all it was worth in "The Merchant of Prato," creating a fascinatingly detailed portrait of how people lived, what they ate, and what they thought in late-14th-century Tuscany. Because Datini was a merchant, his ledgers provide an intimate account of what goods were available to affluent Italians of his time, and in what quantity. Even more fascinating than the details of family life are Origo's reconstruction of the lives and personalities of her three central characters: Datini himself, his young wife Margherita, and his best friend Ser Lapo Mazzei. "Certainly he was a difficult man, either to serve or love," Origo says of Datini, and indeed it is a difficult character Datini presents to us through his letters: grasping, imperious, sharp-tongued, morbidly suspicious--in short a model of a self-made tycoon in any age. But a better side of Datini is shown in his correspondence with the spirited, outspoken Margherita--who could give as good as she got--and with the kindly, philosophical Lapo Mazzei. Mazzei--who founded a winemaking dynasty that continues to this day, and whose distant descendant Filippo Mazzei was a close friend of Thomas Jefferson--was constantly reminding Datini of his duties as a Christian, and at length succeeded in persuading him to leave the bulk of his vast fortune to the poor. The foundation for the poor created by Datini's will continues in Prato to this day. Origo recreates Datini and Mazzei as characters of Dickensian richness, with Mazzei--if you will--playing the Ghost of Christmas Present to Datini's Scrooge. This book is a masterpiece, and how it could be allowed to fall out of print is a mystery to me. It should be reprinted in a new edition as soon as possible.

Rating: 5
Summary: The best book on fourteenth century life
Comment: Fransesco di Marco Datini left 150.000 letter detailing every aspect of his personal and business life. Every aspect of life of a successful merchant in Prato, Italy and Avignon, France is clearly detailed. Iris Origo is must reading for history lovers, specially those interested in the Renaissance in Northern Italy.