Girolamo Tagliente was a 16th-century Venetian mathematician and teacher of bookkeeping. His Opera che insegna a fare ogni ragione de mercantia (1525) was a popular text on commercial arithmetic. Several of Tagliente’s works were published in collaboration with a cousin who was a noted calligrapher and this man’s artistic talent may be evident in the Opera.
A block print of two working mathematicians serves as the frontispiece.
The text begins with a discussion on numeration.
“Finger numeral gestures” were very much a part of commercial life at this time.
An illustrated problem involving trade:
The images above are provided courtesy of Columbia University Libraries, George Arthur Plimpton Collection.