Second book by Dr. Francesco Lambardi

ASUPg, Sapienza Nuova, Entrate e Uscite, registro n. 100

Parchment-bound paper accounting book

This accounting book shows expenditures and revenues as well as outflows and inflows of goods for the period that goes from May 13, 1638 to March 30, 1639. It is one of the last books from the XVII Century to be bound in parchment as, starting from the second half of the century, it begins to be replaced by simple cardboard. In the first pages of the register we find an address book, used as a quick reference for the goods and people mentioned inside, thus making it easier to find the required information. Address books (or alphabetical lists), not always included in registries, could be an integral part of the documents or, as in this specific case, could have an oval shape and be separate from the document to which they referred to, that is to say inserted under the flap of the register book.

The address book on display is open under the letter “L” and shows the related goods, that is lupini, lente, lana, lino [lupin beans, lentils, wool and linen], followed by the names of the people involved in the transaction (suppliers, workers, etc.). The term “lente” is no longer used to indicate lentils. Lentils were both nutritious and inexpensive and were therefore often present, together with other legumes, on the menus of the Collegio. The term “lenticchia” comes from the Latin term “lens” and its flat shape inspired, in the XVII Century, the name of the first optical lenses.