our book collection
For an overview of the Library’s books we could start with the oldest volumes. For example, the extremely rare 1552 edition of the Tractatus de assecurationibus by the Portuguese Pietro Santerna and the one on the Charters of the town of Albenga, published in Asti in 1519, which represent an original contribution to that town’s history.
Then, to bear witness to the issue of this contract’s legitimacy – which was much discussed by fifteenth-century theologians and canonists – the Tractatus de contractibus et usuris by S. Bernardino of Siena (handwritten on parchment which can be dated back to ca. 1470) or the Trattato de' traffichi giusti by Tommaso Buoninsegni printed in 1588 in Venice can be mentioned.
Also worthy of notice are the studies on the probability theory and those on actuarial mathematics, such as the Ars conjectandi by Jakob Bernoulli published posthumously in Basel in 1713, the 1731 Annuities upon lives by Abraham De Moivre and the Dottrina degli azzardi which is the relative translation printed in Milan in 1776.
Also to be remembered is a large collection of nineteenth-century prospectuses through which authors such as De Courcy, Judenne and Reboul tried to spread the idea of insurance. Also worthy of mention are the numerous celebratory volumes published by insurance companies and institutions which outline their history and at the same time are a source of information on the evolution of the insurance industry in various countries. The recollection of their glories, which are often still vivid memories, is evidenced by the celebration, among others, of the 250th anniversary of the Sun Office, the 225th anniversary of the Landes Brand Versicherung or the 175th anniversary of the Stockholms Stads Brandforsakringskontor. A substantial number of essays on the history of insurance which have appeared on present-day periodicals has also been selected and indexed.
