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Mathematical Treasure: 15th-Century Commercial Arithmetic

Author(s): 
Frank J. Swetz (The Pennsylvania State University)

Giovanni, student of Maestro Luca of Florence, wrote out the commercial arithmetic Libro sopra aristmetricha in 1422 (Plimpton MS 172). This is the first folio of the text:

First folio of Libro sopra aristmetricha, Giovanni, 1422

Folio 125v contains a problem about a well.

Folio 125 (verso) of Libro sopra aristmetricha, Giovanni, 1422

The images above have been obtained through the kind cooperation of the Rare Book and Manuscript Library of the Columbia University Libraries. These and more images may be accessed via Digital Scriptorium, a digital collection of medieval and early Renaissance manuscripts made available by a consortium of cooperating university libraries headed by the University of California, Berkeley. 

Index to Mathematical Treasures

Frank J. Swetz (The Pennsylvania State University), "Mathematical Treasure: 15th-Century Commercial Arithmetic," Convergence (June 2018)