Letter from Louis Cantin, Norwich to Bartolomeo Corsini, London, updating him on the progress of his mercantile transactions in the Norwich cloth market [manuscript], 1585 September 28

Norwich, 1585 September 28

1 item ; 21 x 31cm

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Great Britain -- England -- Norwich, -- production place.

272815 MS

From dealer's description: "12. CANTIN, Louis. [Letter signed to Bartolomeo Corsini in London, updating him on the progress of his mercantile transactions in the Norwich cloth market.] Norwich, 28 September 1585. Letter signed, ink on paper, in French. Folio (21 x 31cm) [1] page, with integral manuscript address panel to blank verso, uncut, old folds, very good. This rare example of an Elizabethan mercantile letter from Norwich is dated 28 September 1585, sent by Louis Cantin, a Dutch Huguenot resident in Norfolk, addressed to the prominent merchant Bartolomeo Corsini (1545-1613) in London. Cantin, a merchant stranger, seems to have been acting as Corsini’s agent in the city. Writing to him in French he sends his greetings to Bartolomeo’s older brother Philip who had started trading from London in the 1560’s and had probably assigned to his younger brother the management of the newer market of Norwich, then one of the most important hubs for cloth trade. Here Cantin sends an update on the progress of mercantile transactions including 44 livres of “sayes” he is trading on behalf of Corsini. This was a type of lightweight woollen twill which alongside bayes and serge were first introduced to England by immigrant Dutch Huguenots in the third quarter of the 16th century. He reports on the market prices of wool which remain high on the local market at 16 and 3/4 and on the arrival of merchandise from Paris. Letters of this type were sent via the Merchant Adventurers postal system, mercantile marks penned on the manuscript address panel indicating subscription to the network. Provenance: from the Corsini archive (Christies Robson Lowe, 1984-1988)." Ordered from Samuel Gedge Ltd, D9694, 2023-11-14, Catalogue XXXV, item #12.

272815