Della mercatura e del mercante perfetto – On Commerce and the Perfect Merchant (by Benedetto Cotrugli).

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TO THE MOST ILLUSTRIOUS AND MAGNANIMOUS M. GIACOMO RAGAZZONI
It has now been more than 110 years since M. Benedetto Cotrugli Raugeo, a man excellent in every doctrine and a most experienced merchant, wrote four books on a subject that, as he asserts, had never before been treated by anyone from the beginning of the world until his time—namely, the art of commerce. Under this title, beyond the methods of trade, he sought to shape a merchant of the highest degree of excellence, just as Xenophon and Cicero, among the most esteemed writers, had previously undertaken to depict, with their pens, a perfect King and Orator in every respect. In shaping this merchant, he adorned him with all virtues and honorable qualities, so that one can well judge that he had in mind a most perfect ideal.