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The Library Heritage

The library holdings are a true gem for book lovers. They include precious manuscripts from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, as well as modern volumes. The collection spans a range of topics, from mathematics to ethics, and from customs to commerce and consumption, offering a fascinating journey through the centuries of the insurance discipline.

An overview of the Library's books can begin with the oldest volumes. For example: the very rare 1552 edition of the Tractatus de assecurationibus by the Portuguese Pietro Santerna, which is fundamental to the discipline of insurance, and that of the Statutes of the city of Albenga published in Asti in 1519, which are an original contribution to their history.

  

Then, as evidence of the problem of the lawfulness of this contract-about which so much was discussed by theologians and canonists in the 15th century-it is enough to mention the Tractatus de contractibus et usuris of St. Bernardine of Siena (a manuscript on parchment datable to around 1470) or the Trattato de' traffichi giusti by Tommaso Buoninsegni printed in Venice in 1588.

    

It is also worth mentioning the studies on the calculus of probability and those on actuarial mathematics such as Giacomo Bernoulli's Ars conjectandi published posthumously in Basel in 1713, Abraham De Moivre's Annuities upon lives of 1731 and the Dottrina degli azzardi which is its translation printed in Milan in 1776.

Also noteworthy is a large collection of popular pamphlets from the nineteenth century, through which French authors such as De Courcy, Judenne, and Reboul sought to popularize the concept of insurance. Additionally, the numerous celebratory volumes published by insurance institutes and companies provide a rich source of information about the development of the insurance industry in various countries, tracing their own histories.

 

The memory of past glories, often still vivid, is highlighted by celebrations such as the 250th anniversary of the Sun Office, the 225th of Landes Brand Versicherung, and the 175th of Stockholms Stads Brandforsakringskontor. Finally, a substantial selection of essays on the history of insurance that have appeared in contemporary periodicals has been curated and indexed.

Parti prese in nateria di assicurazioni, 1605.jpg
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