Machine derived contents note: Introduction -- 1. The central courts, commercial law, and the law merchant -- 2. Early exchange transactions: commercial practice -- 3. Early exchange transactions: private law -- 4. Early exchange transactions: public law and policy -- 5. From exchange transactions to bills of exchange: the transformation of commercial practice -- 6. The custom of merchants and the development of the law of bills -- 7. Civilian law and the law of bills in the seventeenth century -- 8. Transferability and negotiability -- 9. The law of bills and notes in the eighteenth century -- 10. The problem of accommodation bills -- Conclusion -- Bibliography -- Index