Modern international business has its origins in the overseas trade of the Middle Ages. Of the various communities active in trade in the Islamic countries at that time, records of only the Jewish community survive. Thousands of documents were preserved in the Cairo Geniza, a lumber room attached to the synagogue where discarded writings containing the name of God were deposited to preserve them from desecration. From them Professor Goitein has selected eighty letters that provide a fascinating glimpse into the world of the medieval Jewish traders.
As the letters vividly illustrate, international trade depended on a network of personal relationships and mutual confidence. Organization was largely through partnerships, based usually on ties of common religion but often reinforced by family connections. Sometimes the partners of Jews were Christians or Muslims, and the letters show these merchants working together in greater harmony than has been thought, even in partnerships that lasted through generations. The services rendered to a friend or partner and those expected from him were great, and the book opens with an angry letter from a merchant who believed he had been let down by his friend.
The life of a trader was full of dangers, as the letter describing a shipwreck illustrates, and put great strain on personal relationships. One of the most moving letters is that written to his wife by a man absent in India for many years while endeavoring to make the family's fortunes. Although never ceasing to love her and longing to be with her, he offers to divorce her if she feels she can wait for him no longer. A decisive event in the life of the great Jewish philosopher, Moses Maimonides, was the death of his brother David, who drowned in the Indian Ocean. Printed here is the last letter David wrote, describing his safe crossing of the desert and announcing his intention to go on to India, against his brother's instructions.
Professor Goitein has provided an introduction and notes for each letter, and a general introduction describing the social and spiritual world of the writers, the organization of overseas trade in the Middle Ages, and the goods traded. The letters demonstrate that although it reached from Spain to India, the traders' world was a cohesive one through which these men could move freely and always feel at home.
Originally published in 1974.
The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These paperback editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.
Le informazioni nella sezione "Riassunto" possono far riferimento a edizioni diverse di questo titolo.
EUR 39,83 per la spedizione da U.S.A. a Italia
Destinazione, tempi e costiEUR 25,42 per la spedizione da U.S.A. a Italia
Destinazione, tempi e costiDa: Windows Booksellers, Eugene, OR, U.S.A.
Hardcover with dust jacket. VG/VG 359 pp. Codice articolo 745130
Quantità: 1 disponibili
Da: Antelope Books and Rare Maps, Eastend, SK, Canada
Hardcover. Condizione: Fine. Condizione sovraccoperta: Very Good. 1st Edition. Fine copy, clean pages, tight binding. Very slight, small tear at bottom of dust jacket. Codice articolo 000356
Quantità: 1 disponibili
Da: Ted Kottler, Bookseller, Redondo Beach, CA, U.S.A.
Hardcover. Condizione: Very Good. No Jacket. 1st Edition. xviii, 359, [1] pp; 3 illus.; map. Original cloth. Ex-library: remains of spine label, bookplate on pastedown, card on rear flyleaf. Else Very Good, without dust jacket. Codice articolo 17964
Quantità: 1 disponibili
Da: Bryn Mawr Bookstore, Cambridge, MA, U.S.A.
Soft cover. Condizione: Fine. 1st Edition. 359pp. 2 maps: p. 24: "The Mediterranean Route"; p. 176: "The Route to India". 4 pp of facsimile reproductions of letters (between pp. 156-157. Introduction by translator: pp.3-21. Glossy light gray flexible card wrappers with title lettering in red across top third front cover; translator name in red at right lower center front cover; black remainder dot on lower edge; spine lightly-to-undetectably sunned, with all lettering (in red) sharp and distinct; very minor 1/2" x 1/16" (at deepest: on rear cover top edge near midpoint, diminishing inward to undetectable at about p. 307 (of 359): describes much worse than it is: no text is affected: still essentially As New: tight spine, sharp corners, no wear, no previous owner names, register receipt laid in shows book was purchased on 10-7-93 at the "Princeton University Store." No previous owner names. Codice articolo 005985
Quantità: 1 disponibili
Da: Three Geese in Flight Celtic Books, Los Angeles, CA, U.S.A.
Hardcover. Condizione: Very Good+. Condizione sovraccoperta: Very Good+. Collectible First Edition Very Good+ Hardcover Very Good+ Dust Jacket . Clean excellent condition. Price snipped dust jacket else NO Chips. NOT a library copy. Excellent NO signatures. Clean 357 pp. See our Three Geese in Flight Book Scans to see Cover and Table of Contents Subjects of Medieval Jewish Merchants and Travellers. Their letters and routes. Codice articolo 8534428593113808
Quantità: 1 disponibili
Da: Toscana Books, AUSTIN, TX, U.S.A.
Hardcover. Condizione: new. Excellent Condition.Excels in customer satisfaction, prompt replies, and quality checks. Codice articolo Scanned0691052123
Quantità: 1 disponibili