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‘Segmented Trade’. Merchants, Mercantile Practices and Mercantilism 585

As a result of these mechanisms, by the 1790s the physiognomy of
the Trieste emporium was a consolidated one as was its role in global
trade. It was a physiognomy which was summed up for Trieste in the
mid-1790s in Il Mentore perfetto dei Negozianti [The perfect mentor for
traders], or «sure guide for the same and instructions to facilitate their
speculation and make them less uncertain». Underlying this was the
port’s ability to act as linchpin in the circulation of goods which varied
in quality, price and type between diverse geographical areas and,
above all for the purposes of this essay, between the Atlantic Ocean
and continental and eastern Europe. Thus the Trieste emporium was
described by contemporaries as «the most essential communication
marketplace between east, west, Italy, Germany and other kingdoms
in northern Europe». From Trieste «part of the goods coming from the
sea route pass along the Ljubljana road in the Caesarean Hereditary
States, Germany and Hungary and part by the Gorizia and Villach
roads through Innsbruck and Salzburg in the Empire, Switzerland and
others that way. The goods reaching it by land are sent all around the
42
Adriatic, the Mediterranean, the east and the rest to the west» . The
port continued to be popular not only with Mediterranean flags, but
also by those sailing under Atlantic and northern European flags such
as English, Dutch, French, Danish and Swedish ships. From the port
goods from Portugal and Spain, Italy, the Mediterranean coast of
Africa, the Levant, England, Holland, the East Indies and the Americas
43
were sent to central Europe and the Empire .
The Mentore, lastly, lists the prices and principal characteristics of
the goods passing through the port most frequently. In some cases,
when the differences were such as to require specific classifications,
the part these played in Atlantic circuits was expressively referred to.
A rapid and incomplete list examining these latter goods alone gives
an idea of the complexity of Trieste’s trade and the atmosphere at the
port’s quay and warehouses. Alum, white lead, dyes, camphor, paper,
clay, wood, pepper, minium, ammonia, sugar, tin, tamarind, vitriol and
cardamom came in from England. White lead, cheese, cinnamon,
camphor, paper, fish gelatin, minium, pepper, tamarind, tea and sugar

Andreozzi, Croissance et économie licite, illicite et informelle, cit. pp. 173-87; S. Olgivie,
“Whatever is, is Right”? Economic Institutions in Pre-industrial Europe, «Economic History
Review» 60, 4 (2007), pp. 649–684; R. Suddaby, W.M. Foster, A.J. Mills, Historical Insti-
tutionalism, cit., pp. 100-123.
42 Il mentore perfetto de’ negozianti ovvero guida sicura de medesimi, Hoechenberger,
Trieste, t. V., 1797, p. 336.
43 Ivi, p. 337.

n.44 Mediterranea - ricerche storiche - Anno XV - Dicembre 2018
ISSN 1824-3010 (stampa) ISSN 1828-230X (online)