The following tables have been compiled from data contained in two loose, untitled manuscript pages preserved in the Archivio Storico Civico di Milano, Materie Cartella 429. The pages appear to have originally formed part of a private account book of a cotton textile firm, as indicated by the notation at the bottom of page 2: ‘In the above price we have not included rent of the shop nor salaries of factors nor our other annual business expenses. ’ The folios, which are undated, are written in Italian in an early sixteenth–century hand. Marginal notations giving the length of each type of cloth in braccia have been added in another hand.

According to the information presented below, the highest labor costs were represented by weaving and spinning. The cost of weaving was determined by both the dimensions and the density of the cloth. The piece rate for fine, closely woven cloth which required more time and skill was higher than that for grosser fabrics. In the tables of cloth production, the cost of spinning is included in the total price of cotton weft yarn. However, two separate tables provide a breakdown of the costs incurred in the processing of one libbra of dyed cotton yarn. According to these figures, spinners were paid from 4 to 10 soldi per libbra, depending on the fineness of the yarn.