Re: Dr. Gentile's request on measurements of cloth.
An earlier, but very helpful source for terms in business, shipping,
commerce etc. is F. Melis, _Documenti per la storia economica_ (or a very
similar title) which has facsimiles of medieval accounts with modern
transcriptions & useful glossaries of such terms.
Measurements /prices of course change through the centuries, but other
terms could be found there. It would be a good starting point.
G. Allaire
At 07:08 PM 9/19/00 -0400, you wrote:
>Dear Colleagues,
>
>I am taking the liberty of calling upon you for some information.
>
>In some research that I am doing I come across Italian measurements of
>the 1660s and find that at Faenza un braccio "da panno" of 12 once
>was 0.638 m., "da tela" of 12 once was 0.720 m.
>
>What is the meaning of "da panno" and of "da tela"?
>
>Also, is the word "once" derived from the Latin "unus" from which the
English
>words "ounce" (28.4 g) and "inch" (0.254 m) are derived?
>
>Can it be that the Italian word "once" and the English word "inch" both
>designate a unit of length of about 2.5 cm?
>
>Notice also that in French the word "pouce" means not only "thumb"--
>which can be considered a "finger" corresponding to the Italian
>"dito"--but also "pouce" means "inch."
>
>If it is not inconvenient, I would appreciate your help in answering these
>questions.
>
>Thanks,
>
>Nicola M. Gentili
>
>--
>Mr. NICOLA M. GENTILI
>Administrative Coordinator
> Center for Italian Studies
> Film Studies Program
>Lecturer in Italian
> Department of Romance Languages
>University of Pennsylvania
>549 Williams Hall
>36th & Spruce Streets
>Philadelphia, PA 19104-6305
>Phone: (215) 898-6040
>Fax: (215) 898-0933
>e-mail: [log in to unmask]
>http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~ngentili/
>
>
_______________________
Gloria Allaire
Italian Studies
Gettysburg College
Campus Box 394
Gettysburg, PA 17325
(717) 337-6558 (office)
(717) 642-5167 (home)
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