Libri di Commercio e di Famiglia

Item

Country

IT

Name of institution (English)

State Archives of Florence

Name of institution (official language of the state)

Language of name of institution

ita

Contact information: postal address

Viale Giovine Italia 6, 50122 Florence

Contact information: phone number

0039 055263201

Contact information: web address

Contact information: email

asfi@archiviodistato.firenze.it

Reference number

Libri di Commercio e di Famiglia

Type of reference number

Archival reference number

Title (English)

Trade and Family Books

Title (official language of the state)

Libri di Commercio e di Famiglia

Language of title

ita

Creator / accumulator

Archivio di Stato di Firenze

Date note

15th century/18th century

Language(s)

ita
spa

Extent

5,537 storage units

Type of material

Textual Material

Scope and content

The Libri di Commercio e di Famiglia fonds is composed of documents resulting from economic activities in Florence and other Tuscan cities dating from the second half of the 14th century to the second half of the 19th century. There is a preponderance of 17th- and 18th-century records. It includes trade records, accounting books kept by diverse professional categories, registers from manufacturing and financial activities, family papers, etc. By providing a comprehensive view on the bourgeois classes of Tuscany, this fonds is also rich in information regarding some Sephardic merchants. It is the case of the 32 books with records from the Ergas and Silvera company (1930 to 1961, dating 1703-1745), containing letters (copies and originals), accounting books, inventories and ledgers of this firm managed by Isaac Ergas and David Silvera and headquartered in Aleppo and Livorno. These books were accurately analysed by Francesca Trivellato in her work The Familiarity of Strangers and other studies mentioned above. It is also possible to find in these records evidence regarding other Sephardic merchants with whom the Ergas and Silvera firm kept businesses. An example is the Londoner merchant Benjamin Mendes da Costa (1953 and 1957). The fonds also contains records regarding other merchants probably of Sephardic origins, such as Abram Saraiba (4658 and 4659, dating 1704-1723) or Abram and Salomon Eminenter (1929, dating 1680-1716).

Archival history

The documents of this fonds derive from various provenances and were gathered by their thematic unit: material related to economic activity. In 2012, under the direction of Vanna Arrighi, Stefano Calonaci and Veronica Vestri, the fonds was reorganised and catalogued. Items were arranged alphabetically by record owner(s), such as institutions, families and individuals. Indexes of names and places were also produced and are currently available on the archive's website.

Administrative / Biographical history

On February 20, 1852, Grand Duke Leopold II of Tuscany established a Direzione centrale degli archivi di Stato (Central Directorate of State Archives) in Florence and appointed Francesco Bonaini to direct this office, as well as a commission to propose a method to arrange the collections and favour their access to the public. Months later, on September 30, the Archivio centrale dello Stato was established, originally incorporating the Diplomatico, Riformagioni, Mediceo, Regie Rendite, Regio Diritto, Decime granducali, Monte Comune and Demanio fonds, as well as the archives of extinct religious corporations.
The first director, Francesco Bonaini, wished to emphasise the historical character of the archives. This intention was reflected in the archive's arrangement: the collections of the Republican era were followed by those of the Mediceo and the Lorenese periods.
After the unification of Italy, the State Archives received the documentation no longer used by the current administration. Then, the Archivio di Stato di Firenze also incorporated papers from the peripheral offices of the state, such as the civil register (containing birth, marriage and death certificates of all the communities of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany from 1808 to 1865) or the archives of the Prefettura and judicial offices. Other relevant incorporations were the "modern" notary archive, the 19th century Tuscan land registry as well as numerous private archives.
These new entries created a problem of lack of space. In the 1950s, the change of facilities was already an urgency. Yet, a flood on November 4, 1966, which damaged part of the collection, precipitated the need to find a new location for the archive. Then, a new building, designed under the direction of architect Italo Gamberini, was constructed in Piazza Beccaria and officially inaugurated on February 4, 1989.
At present, the Archivio di Stato di Firenze holds more than 600 fonds, for a total of over 75,000 linear metres of documents since the 8th century.

Access points: locations

Access points: persons, families

Access points: subject terms

Access points: document types

System of arrangement

Records are arranged alphabetically by creator

Links to finding aids

Author of the description

Carla Vieira, 2021

Bibliography

Item sets

Linked resources

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Title Alternate label Class
Archivio di Stato di Firenze Collections (official language of the state)