Abstract
The Archivio di Stato of Prato (Fondo Datini) allows the researcher to verify some of the main characteristics of the merchant letter during the years 1363-1410, although these sources mostly lack in formal regularity and homogeneous models. The analysis of the economic content of the letters exchanged within the wide network of Datini’s company allows to enlighten clearly some crucial aspects of the distribution of the correspondence, transports, postale services, the development of the maritime insurance, rural and non-rural productions (textiles, metallurgy, leather). Moreover, the late medieval merchant letter turns out to be a model for many contemporary specialised tools of the daily economic practice, first and foremost the cheque.
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