Ancient Double Entry Bookkeeping
Ancient Double Entry Bookkeeping
Ancient Double Entry Bookkeeping
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
(By Page Lawrence, C.P.A.)
(By the Author)
IntroduL'tion
Preface
Partial Bibliography
1
3
Historical References
Historical
Discursion in Theory
(" "
Lucas Pacioli
Domenico Manzoni
Reproduced
Title Page
What was his
"
(Author's explanation)
17
(photographic reproduction)
real
name
Pietra
Abbreviations used
Peculiar sayings
Comparative index of the earliest writers
(photographic reproduction)
Entire Text
24-25
33 to 81
Matteo Mainardi
a
((
Jan
Page
Chart
Journal
Ledger
Journal reproduced
Page
27
29
32 to 80
82
83
84
85
85
87
89
91
93
94
95 to 96
(Notes by Author)
photographic reproduction)
97 to 107
(Notes by Author)
107
photographic reproduction)
108
t (
Title
<c
109
Journal
110
112
Ympyn
Christolf els
Title
Page
Simon Stevin
Author's notes
Journal and Ledger reproduced
Richard Dafforne
Balance Sheet
Profit and Loss Account.
Journal
Ledger
Controlling Account
Partially reproduced
Title
Title
Page
Page
Epistle Dedicatory
Antiquity of Bookkeeping
Index
Text
Journal
Ledger
Trial Balance
Afterword
18
21
Don Angelo
14
113
(Notes by Author)
114-118
photographic reproduction)
119
.120
.121
.122 to 127
.128 to 135
).
.136
(Notes by Author)
137
photographic reproduction)
140
141
.144
.145
.147 to 171
.172
.174 to 179
.180
.182
INTRODUCTION
By Page Lawrence,
C.P.A.
Nearly all historians, when tracing the gi'owth of an art or science from mere empiricism to the establishment of recognized principles, are confronted with an apparent insurmountable gap or complete silence
during the period known in history as the Dark Ages.
Archaeological and historical researches have convinced this civilization that in Ancient Babylon,
Greece and Rome there was a high state of civilization both industrial and social.
Aristotle's politics with great profit in our attempts to understand the political
and economic conditions confronting this generation. An acquaintance with the Greek philosophers is essential in undei'standing our present philosophical thought.
It would seem that, since we find so much help in consulting these ancient writers in an attempt to
solve the political problems of today which are presented by this complex civilization, in a large measure
at least our mentors must have been confronted with the same economic and industrial difficulties that we
are attempting to solve now as accountants.
One is convinced that the ancient writers on political economy and commerce were closely allied with
the scribes or accountants who recorded the business transactions of those days.
This allegiance seems to
have been lost after the Roman supremacy (and the consequent growth and spread of commerce), and it
is only within recent years that the modern economist and accountant has acknowledged that a truer understanding of modern commerce can be had with cooperation and that the two sciences (economics and
accounting) are finding so much in common that each is dependent upon the other for a full understanding
of modern business conditions.
Mr. John P. Young, Editor of the San Francisco Chronicle, ably presented accounting in antiquity
before the convention of the American Association of Public Accountants at San Francisco (Year Book
He showed that Rome in Cicero's time was dependent upon the independent verifica1911, page 153).
tion of accounts and statements thereof by one skilled in accountancy.
The familiarity with which he
mentions the accountant would seem to indicate that his place in the Roman social organization was well
established.
However, after the recorded utterances of Cicero the historian finds in the pages of history no further
mention of those individuals acknowledged to be skilled in accounts, which we are pleased to call accountants, until the writings of Paeioli in 1494 and Stevin in 1604.
It seems especially appropriate that one so greatly interested as the author in that work dear to the
hearts of all progressive accountants, and who has done so much to place the education of the accountant
on equal footing with that of law or medicine, should be the first of modern times to translate this first recorded book of the principles of debit and credit into the English language.
It is a significant fact that the rules and principles elucidated by Paeioli are contained in a book given
over to mathematics. One cannot help but believe that the derivation of double-entry bookkeeping is an
explanation of the algebraic equation used with sucli skill by the ancient Greek mathematicians, applied
practically to the scientific recording of business transactions for, just as in algebra, the equation once
established cannot be changed but by the addition of positive or negative quantities.
This work will give an added assurance that the apparently empirical rules of commerce are based
upon an ancient scientific and mathematical foundation, to those who have attempted to instill into the
commercial mind the idea that accountancy is a science, the prime requisite of a mastery of which is a thorough education in the theory of economics and allied sciences supplemented by practical experimentation
in the application of
to correct constantly, or at least modify, the attitude of the business man toward
matters which are his dearest heirlooms handed down from the days of the Ancient Guild system, i. e.,
that the only wa.y to learn how to do business is to do it along the rule-of-thumb method communicated
from father to son by word of mouth.
Accountants, who remember the dearth of accountanc.y literature in this country up to a h\v short
years ago, are dumbfounded at the mass of accountancy publications which are constantly flooding the
market at this time. While I believe that the profession of accountancy as a whole recognizes the inestimable value of these publications, one cannot help but think in perusing their pages that they are largely
influenced b.y the empirical methods of general business, rather than based on scientific principles.
In
other words, on "how" but never "why."
We are wont to look in vain through mazes of descriptions, forms and precedence of some particular
business enterprise for a principle of accountancy which can be applied to the specific difficulty we have
in hand.
It should be the aim of some of the brilliant members of the profession of accountancy to take
the great mass of historical records which have been published in the last few years of how this or that
business should be kept and, with the aid of recognized authorities on economics, codify, with quotation of
their source, the scattered and ill defined principles of accountancy for the benefit of accountancy education, and to this end no better examples of axiomatic principles can be had than in the books of Paeioli,
Pietra and Stevin.
The author, recoguiziug from his experience as an educator in accountancy (coming as he did from
Holland some twenty years ago without knowledge of American commercial practices or language) the
lack of clearly expressed principles in accountancy, commenced researches which have finally culminated
in this published translation in English of the first known writings on the subject of double entry bookkeeping.
At every turn, in the preachment of the scientific principles of his profession to the commercial mind,
in his successful efforts for the passage of the Certified Public Accounts law in Colorado, then in his work
as secretary of the first examining board in that state, in his labors as Dean of the School of Commerce,
Accounts and Finance of The University of Denver, and as an instructor on practical and theoretical accountancy subjects and, finally as Chairman of the Educational Committee of The American Association of
Public Accountants, the author has ever been confronted with the dearth of practical exemplification, historical or otherwise, of the true foundation of what in modern times might be called the Art of Accountancy.
To weld together into a well balanced whole the two plans of accountancy education, as embraced in
the curriculi of universities and colleges offering training to the embryo accountant, has long been the goal
of his educational endeavors, i. e., to leaven the purely academic training by instructors or professors
whose own knowledge of accountancy is in the main pedagogical, with the practical knowledge as imparted
by the practicing accountant and the business man. (The author, in the American Association of Public
Accountants Year Books for 1911-12-13 and 14, has gone into this subject extensively, showing that educational institutions of the country have chosen either the one or the other of the two methods of teaching
the academic training in pure theory, treated in much the same manner as economic subjects are presented
and without the same degree of accuracy, or the practical lecturing upon accountancy subjects by practicing accountants and business men, supplemented by the best text books obtainable and urging the while
the necessity for the development together of the two accountancy educational plans, as is done in Great
Britain.)
While it is true that to men of little or no practical experience in accountancy must be given the credit
for producing some of the finest examples of purely theoretical accounting which the literature of accountancy has today, the first mentioned criticism that this pedagogical instruction does not teach the actual
application of the theory to modern business, again applies. On the other liand, with the practical accountant as the instructor or the writer of text books, too little cannot be said of the difficulty he has in
imparting to students and laymen the principles which seem exceedingly clear to him. And it was through
this research, this labor to combine in accountancy education theory with practice and practice with theory,
that this book was born. It is apparent in reading the ancient works of Pacioli, of Stevin and Pietra, in
their exhaustive explanations and their lengthy and precise instructions that in their endeavors to systematize the recording of the transactions of commerce of their time, they encountered many of the same sort
of, if not the identical, problems with which we are confronted today. The modern translations of their
works, with the author's own views presented as notes, it is believed will shed some light into the darkness
which has so long shrouded the actual foundation of the practice and the theory of the profession of public
accountancy.
PREFACE
As no technical books worth while can be prepared without diligent and persistent research, it naturally follows that no such works can be produced unless there is material furnished to build upon, and the
cheapest and easiest foundation is usually the writings of men who have excelled in the same line of endeavor.
In other words, a library of books is absolutely essential to the advancement of thought on technical and professional subjects.
While studying to Americanize my knowledge of accountancy twenty years ago, I came to the conclusion that there were then on that subject few modern books and still fewer ancient ones.
This conviction was constantly strengthened by conversation with my fellow-workers, and it remained unchanged until a few years ago.
When my duties came to include the teaching of accountancy and the direction of the thought of my
students, the choice of books for their reading became a serious problem.
It was then my privilege to start
the collection of a considerable library of works on accountancy and its allied subjects.
However, I could learn of but few books of ancient date, and they were so scarce, difiScult to get, and
high priced, that most of them remain yet to be acquired. Among those which I did get is an original
copy of the oldest published work on bookkeeping. The price for copies of this book ranges from $50 to
$250, and it is thus not within the means of ordinary students and is even beyond the inclination of acquisition of many of the most wealthy libraries. It became my desire to have it reproduced, together with a
free translation of its most important parts.
my
The Hollanders of ancient New Amsterdam (now New York) have left their unmistakable imprint
on our American political and social life, by the introduction into this country of many things which originated in their mother-coiuitry and which were unknown even in England prior to their use in America.
To this day many of these things remain unused in England, which is one reason why we are so different
from the English. Among these things may be mentioned :*
The recording of deeds and mortgages in a public office the equal distribution of property among the
children of a person dying intestate the office of a district attorney in each comity the practice of giving
a prisoner the free services of a lawyer for his defense the township system, by which each town has local
self-government; the practice of making prisoners work; the turning of prisons into work houses; the
system of university education free public school system the red, white and blue striped flag the principles contained in our Declaration of Independence
the granting of religious freedom the cultivation of
roses the present banking system the use of reading and spelling books for children the telescope the
microscope the thermometer the discovery of capillary circulation of tlie blood the pendulum clock
measuring degrees of latitude and longitude the compass the wind-mill with movable cap the glass hothouse the use of underclothing the bedstead the brick the game of golf.
It has seemed to me fitting that another Hollander should present to his American professional brethren, and put within the reach of every student of accounting, for research and study, a reproduction of
that prized Italian book, which, as we shall see, has influenced us to such an extent that the principles it
enunciates as of use in its day, remain the foundation of our present methods of bookkeeping.
It was not my aim to give a complete literal translation, because much of the text is reiteration and
pertains to subject-matter purely local and now entirely obsolete, which would necessitate lengthy explanations of ancient methods of no present value or use. Therefore, numerous foreign terms and ancient
names have been left untranslated. Furthermore, as the book was written in contemporary Italian, or, in
other words, in the local dialect of Venice, which is neither Italian nor Latin, it is extremely difficult to get
;
work
to translate
it all literally.
The old
the present time but a scholar of some eminence and a linguist of no mean accomplishment, who will presume to say what is correct and what is incorrect ? Such authorities never agree among themselves, and it
would be useless to attempt to please them all. Therefore, we are extending the translations, not so much
for academic purposes as for the practical use of less pedantic people, upon the theory that they who wish
to obtain knowledge of any science must first learn its history and then trace its gradual growth.
There
is hardly another science about which there is as much doubt and darkness as bookkeeping, and therefore we
merely present this translation as a contribution to the history of bookkeeping.
William
Elliott Griffls in
'
'
'
'
The reader is further referred to the German translation of Pacioli 's book by E. L. Jager which appeared in 1876, and the Russian translation by E. G. Waldenberg which was printed in St. Petersburg in
1893.
Pacioli 's book was first photographed and plates made from these photographs. Proof sheets from these
plates were then sent to Rome, Italy, and there transcribed on a typewriter in modern letters, to facilitate
The typewritten transcript was then translated into Engli.sh, which was then compared with
translating.
an existing Grerman translation by Dr. Jager. Discrepancies were carefully noted by reference to the origThis method brought to the surface obvious and glarinal book, and the best possible corrections made.
ing short-comings in the German translation, and it also demonstrated our own inability to comprehend
and properly translate some of the old terms and words, which even the Italy of today has long forgotten.
With it all then, we are free to admit that in numerous places our English translation is defective. However, we are not imposing on those who are better scholars than we, because we give the original Italian
side by side with our English version, and any one so disposed can easily check it and correct our copy to
suit his fancy.
The only object of our endeavors is to give something where there was nothing to those who heretofore could not avaU themselves of the contents of this old and pioneer work on a subject now universally
recognized as being the foundation of all our modern industrial and commercial problems.
We ask your indulgence for errors and omissions, and for the price of this book, as the work had to
be done hastily and cheaply, for the financial success of this enterprise is exceedingly problematical, owing
The work
to the excessive cost of preparation and reproduction, and the very small possible circulation.
therefore should be viewed largely as a labor of love, a voluntary philanthropic contribution to the profession of accountancy.
Acknowledgment is due and most gladly given to my wife, a Certified Public Accountant of the State
of Colorado, who aided with the German translation to Mr. Robert Ferrari, LL.D. Roma, Italy, who
aided with the Italian translation to Mr. Henry Rand Hatfield, PH.D., University of California, who crittruly a veritable comicized the work and to Mr. Page Lawrence, C.P.A., who wrote the introduction
bination (trust) of formidable minds in restraint of duplication (competition) of this work, a combination of love and harmony, for without friends and without consideration for our neighbor there is neither
peace nor accomplishment.
The book, therefore, is the result of a faithful compliance with the motto of the Boers of South Africa
"Eendracht maakt macht," which translated does not mean, as commonly stated, "In union there is
strength," but rather that "United, harmonious, loving cooperation to the same lawful end tends toward
power that brings just results.
J. B. Geijsbeek Molenaar.
:
'
PARTIAL BIBLIOGRAPHY
1494 to 1636.
ITALIAN.
Snmma
de Arithmetica, Geometria,
Proportioni et Proportionalita.
1, Section 9, Treatise 11,
Particularis de Computis et Scripturis.
Part
Venice 1494
Geijsbeek-Lawrence Library, Denver.
Harvard University Library, Cambridge, Mass.
La Seuola
Toscana 1504
Summa
de Arithmetica
duplicate
edition
of
and abbreviations.)
Venice 1523
Quaderno doppio
col
11
costume di Venetia.
Venice 1534
Domenico Manzoni.
Also 1554-1564-1565-1573-1574
gli
economi.
Don Angelo
Pietra de Genoa.
Mantua 1586
Geijsbeek-Lawrence Library, Denver.
La
(Reprinted in 1700 under the title of "L'Economo overo La Scrittura tutelare, Scrittura Mercantile.")
Matteo Mainardi.
Geijsbeek-Lawrence Library, Denver.
II.
Bologna 1632
GERMAN.
Eiu Teutsch vertendig Buchhalten
fiir
Wellischem process.
Johann
Nuremberg 1531
Gotlieb.
Nuremberg 1549
Wolffgang Schweicker.
Kheil Library, Prag.
Edinburgh, Chartered Accountants' Library.
Hamburg
State Library, Stuttgart, Germany.
1594
III.
DUTCH.
Nieuvve lustructie Ende Bewijs der Looffelijeker Cousten des Rekenboeckse ende Rekeuinghe te houdeue nae die Italiaeusche maniere.
Jan
Ympyn
Christoffels.
Fideicommiss-Bibliothek at Maihingen-Wallerstein,
Germany
French )
Verrechning van Domeine (including chapters on) Coopmans Bouckhouding op re Italiaeusche wyse and Vorstelicke Bouckhouding op de
Italiaeusche wyse.
Simon
Stevin.
Amsterdam 1604
Geijsbeek-Lawrence Library, Denver.
Hypomnemata Mathematiea.
Simon
IV.
Stevin.
Leijden 1608
ENGLISH.
1543.)
John
Mellis.
London 1588
London 1636
Also 1651-1660-1684
HISTORICAL REFERENCES
Sehatzkammer Italienischen Buchhaltens.
Hamburg 1654
Johann Beckmann.
Leipzig 1786
London 1852
B. F. Foster.
Library
Chartered Accountants
in England and Wales (Loudon).
of
Institute
of
Stuttgart 1868
Ernst Ludwig
Jiiger.
Stuttgart 1874
Library,
Univei-sity of Cliicago.
Stuttgart 1876
Library,
Luca
Pacciolo, considerato
come ragionere,
Univei-sity of Chicago.
r.
scuolo di commerzio.
e ragioneira
Italia.
Kome 1886
Library of Congress, Washington, D. C.
Ueber einige
iiltere
Pacioli.
Prag 1896
Geijsbeek-Lawrence Library, Denver.
Edinburgh 1905
HISTORICAL
Printing from blocks of wood in which the letters were carved, was known long before the Christian era, but this was cumbersome and slow and hence but few books were published in that manner.
Printing from loose metal type which could be set up in the way known to us to-day did not begin to
be a success until after A. D. 1462, when the German city of Maintz or Mentz (where the first wellknown printer, Gutenberg, and his students lived) was sacked by Adolph of Nassau, and those who
were printers were scattered far and wide through other cities.
Even during the first part of the sixteenth century, one-fourth of all the books printed came from
one city only, i. e., Venice in Italy. Therefore a book produced from loose type in 1494 in Venice, must
have been among the very first printed, and its subject must have been at that time of such prime
importance as to make it worthy of being among the first to be published. The oldest treatise which
lias come dowTi to us either printed or written on the subject of bookkeeping, is included as a part of a
rather large printed volume on arithmetic and geometry. This volume was published in November,
It has been used considerably by later writers on the subject of arithmetic and
1494, in Venice, Italy.
The title
mentioned
in numerous works of bibliographers, botli ancient and modern.
is
and
geometry,
Summa de Arithmetica Geometria Proportioni e Proportionalita. " Bookkeeping is treated in Part
is:
One, Section 9, Treatise 11, under the chapter title of "Particularis Computis et Scripturis," which
translated would mean: "Particulars of Reckonings and Their Recording."
The exact name of the author cannot be established definitely from this work, as his full name does
The author calls himself in this book Frater Lucas
not appear on the title page nor anywhere else.
de Burgo Sancti Sepulehri, which translated into English may be called Brother Lucas of the City of
the Holy Sepulchre. The City of the Holy Sepulchre, or Sancti Sepulehri, is a city in the northern part
On page 67-2, line 5, of Frater Lucas' book "Summa de Arithmetica," he states
of Italy near Venice.
that about A. D. 1470 he dedicated a certain book to his students named Bartolo, Francesco, and Paulo,
the three sons of a prominent merchant of Venice named (Antonio de) Rompiasi. From other writings and other evidence, bibliographers have come to the conclusion through their researches that the
of this "Frater Lucas" was Lucas Pacioli.
The copyright of the book published in 1494 expired in 1504, and about that time a reprint of
the chapter on bookkeeping appeared in Toscana, under the title of "La Scuola perfetta dei Mercanti."
A copy of this reprint was not in the possession of the writer, but it would appear that there the name
In other writings he is known as
of the author was given as Fra. Paciolo di Borgo Santo Sepolcro.
Pacioli.
Latin
for
the
to
be
supposed
which
is
Patiolus,
In 1509, shortly before he died, he wrote a book called "Divina Proportione," in which he gives a
foreword and reproduces several letters he has written. In these he signs himself as Lucas Patiolus.
This book was written in Latin. On page 33-b of this book, in section 6, treatise No. 1, chapter No. 1.
the author refers to his book published in 1494 in the following words: "in opera nostra grande dicta
summa de arithmetica etc. impressa in Venetia nel 1494 et al Magnanimo Diica d'Urbi)w dicata." We
underscored the word "nostra," which means "our."
Lucas Pacioli, as we will call him hereafter, believing that to be his proper name, was born about
real
name
1445 in the little city of Sancti Sepulehri, in the Province of Arezzo, of Tuscany, west south-west of
the City of Urbino. He was a great lecturer, mathematician, writer, scholar, teacher, and traveler, a
well-known and famous man, who was the first to translate into Latin the works of Euclid. Successively he was professor of mathematics at Perugia, Rome, Naples, Pesa and Venice, and was chosen for
He was in Milan with Leonardo da
the first occupant of a professor's chair founded by Louis Sforza.
Vinci at the Court of Louis the Moor until the invasion of the French. It is not improbable that
Leonardo da Vinci helped Pacioli in the writing of this work as there are indications of two distinct
He belonged to the Order of Friars Minor of St. Francis. It is apparent that he
styles of writing.
took the cloth late in life, for protection and standing needed in his many traveling tours, during the
unrest then existing in Italy. He wrote his treatise on bookkeeping when he was about 50 years old,
and died near the end of the year 1509, at the age of 65.
It is but natural that bookkeeping should be always in its greatest perfection in those countries
where commerce has reached its highest stage. It is well known that during the twelfth, thirteenth,
fourteenth and fifteenth centuries Venice was a powerful republic, from which all European commerce
radiated, until in 1498 the East Indian ocean route was discovered, from which time on the commercial
power of Venice waned. It is safe to assume that the book here reproduced faithfully depicts the conditions existing at the time of its writing and the prevailing system of recording the transactions of
commerce. All the world's commerce, practically speaking, was concentrated in this small territory,
therefore its system of bookkeeping must have been the most perfect known in the world at that time.
The existence of a well advanced system of bookkeeping in the centers of commerce must have caused
considerable confusion and correspondence with the places where such a system did not exist, in order
to equalize and settle accounts between the merchants residing in these various places.
probable that a great need existed for taking advantage of the facilities which the
inventions in printing permitted, to present to the commercial world outside of these centers a
systematic treatise of the mo.st important part of commerce, namely, the recording of its transactions
It is therefore
new
Pacioli does not claim that he invented double-entry bookkeeping, but on the otlier hand
results.
mentions in his book the existence of ancient customs and numerous methods named after the places
where they were used. Thus he calls the method of bookkeeping he describes, tlu; metliod of Venice,
as distinguished from those in use in other cities, the names of which appear in the translation we
have made of his book.
While Paeioli gives in his book on arithmetic and geometry copious illustrations, as will be seen
from the sample page of that portion of the book herein reproduced, he did not give examples and illusHis book therefore has never
trations of the day book, the journal and ledger, which he describes.
become as popular as those of later writers who give these examples. Pacioli, however, was very lengthy
and careful in his minute and detailed description of tlie various methods employed. The reading of
his book will be a revelation to those who liave an idea that the present high state of development of
American commerce should have produced methods of bookkeeping unknown at such an early period
They will find that there then existed the little safeguards which are not deas when Pacioli wrote.
scribed or explained in present books of instruction on bookkeeping, but which we accountants are
always wont to preach about to those bookkeepers who come under our observation, and whicli we do
not pass by simply as mere suggestions but upon which we insist emphatically with a "You must do
this." Pacioli especially describes these little things with great emphasis, and in a style cunning in the
extreme, fully punctuated with adages to bring the truth home so no one could forget it. He, however,
on the other hand, does not spend any time in explaining the modus operandi of bookkeeping, which we
learn only by practice (as he puts it), as he doubtless appreciated that he was not writing his treatise
to teach bookkeeping to those who did not know anything about it, but only describing the advantage
of the particular method in use in Venice in order to convert merchants to a change from their system
to the best system then known.
and
Writers who have followed after Pacioli have practically all given full illustrations of the journal
and ledger, but have rather neglected to explain the "whys" and "wherefores" of the little and valuable details upon which Pacioli has laid so much stress, taking them as matters of fact rather than as
fundamental principles. As we all know, it is the little things which throw the safeguards about a
Happily we Americans have the aid of the recent book written in Scotland by Brown and his assoThe treatise they present is exhaustive, brief, to the point, and exceedingly accurate, fully
illustrated, and is of immense value to every student of the subject of accountancy.
ciates.
The writer does not wish to duplicate the work of any of these three, but by the present volume he
desires to emphasize the fact that Pacioli 's work is the real foundation of all books published in Germany, Holland, France, and England within the first hundred years after it was written.
will do
nothing more than describe the effect of Paeioli 's book on Manzoni and Pietra which appeared in
Italian, Gotlieb, Schweieker, and Goes,sens, which appeared in German, Ympyn and Stevin in Dutch,
Ympyn in French, and Ympyn, Oldcastle, Mellis, and Dafforne in English, as these books undoubtedly
have been the basis for subsequent works in these various languages, most of which are at present
available for comparison and study.
The titles of other contemporary books can be found in the bibliography of Mr. Brown's work, for he gives an exhaustive list of over 150 books written on this subject
between Pacioli 's time and the beginning of the nineteenth century. Of these, 50 were written prior to
the publication of Dafforne 's "The Merchants' Mirrour" in 1636, which is really the first popular
English work. Most of these 50 were wintten in Italian, Dutch, or German, with the honors about
evenly divided.
We
As we have said, Lucas Pacioli 's book appeared in Venice in 1494, with a ten-year copyright. At
the expiration of that period, or in 1504, the same printers published an exact duplicate of this book,
under a different title. Twenty-one years after the last date, or in 1525, there appeared in Venice a very
luisatisfactory and incomplete work on bookkeeping by Giovanni Antonio Tagliente, of which the historians do not say much.
his
Forty years after Pacioli 's book of 1494, or in the year 1534, Domenico Manzoni published in Venice
book on bookkeeping, which proved very popular, as during a period of 40 years it went through
or seven editions, which may be termed a tremendous success, considering the conditions of those
six
times.
Manzoni dedicated his book to Alouisius Vallaressus, a rich brother of a friend of his named Petrus.
seems apparent from his preface that he commenced the book years before it was published, when all
three (the author, his friend, and the latter 's rich brother) were going to school in Venice. In the
title he mentions "the method of Venice," but he does not tell anywhere how or where he gained his
knowledge and does not give Lucas Pacioli any mention or credit.
Manzoni wrote in dialect, or what is called "patois." He says in his preface that he is not a
scholar and cannot use flowery language but only the speech of his inother, which he learned by word
It
of mouth.
He
attend schools.
Manzoni's book may be termed a revised reprint of Paeioli. Page after page is identical and word
for word, and the remainder is merely shorn of the religious expressions, adages, and peculiar repetiMuch of value and many of the details given in Paeioli 's book
tions which Paeioli so freely indulged in.
are here omitted.
is divided into two parts, one for the text and the other for examples of journal and
While the text covers but 12 of the 36 chapters of Paeioli, the two parts combined may be said
At the beginning of the writer's translation of Paeioli 's
to reproduce about 18 chapters of Paeioli.
l)ook herein, a comparative index is given, which illustrates just how much of Paeioli 's book Manzoni
copied and what he left out. The only new idea in his book as compared with that of Paeioli, is the
consecutive numbering of the journal entries. In some respects, however, Manzoni is clearer than
Paeioli, as for instance, he gives definite rules for the making of journal entries tabulates six things or
matters of information always contained in every journal entry; describes the form of journal better
by mentioning five "standing" or "down" lines; explains the use of more than one day book and gives
a chapter to the apparent transposition of the terms "A" (our "To") and "Per" (our "By") in the
ledger from its customary use in the journal.
jManzoni gives full illustrations of the journal and ledger, with its entries, which Paeioli, for reasons stated, did not deem necessary. The addition of these illustrations of course has made the book
more popular, and j\Ianzoni, while a plagiarist in other respects, must be given the credit of having
The writer regrets that Manzoni's book is not accessible to him for on
really been the first to do this.
that account only one reproduction can here be given, namely, the last page of the journal, which is
taken from Brown's history of accounting.
In 1586, nearly 100 years after Paeioli wrote, we find that Don Angelo Pietra published a work on
bookkeeping fully illustrated with numerous examples. The book was printed in Mantua by Franz
Osanna. Pietra was a monk, born in Genoa, stationed at the Monastery of Monte Cassino, Neapel,
Province of Caserta, near Sora. He was the auditor, storekeeper, and cellarer of that monastery. He
belonged to the Order of St. Benedict, and dedicated his book to Lastancius Facius, the abbot of the
Benedictine monastery at Mantua. Pietra 's style is very clear and concise, and his book contains some
60 short but pithy chapters. As will be seen from the comparative index heretofore mentioned, and
given farther on in this book, Pietra had for his guide the books of both Paeioli and Manzoni, for he
covered matters which Paeioli did, and also the items which we have just seen Manzoni mentioned in
Especially is this true in the enumeration of the items
his book but which we do not find in Paeioli.
which always must appear in a journal entry. Pietra uses Manzoni's six items in the same order, but
adds thereto two others. He also gives the definite rules for making journal entries, mentions the transposition of "A" and "Per," the five standing lines in the journal, and enumerates several day books.
He gives further some 30 additional items which neither Manzoni nor Paeioli mentions. Jager does not
speak very highly of Pietra, but it seems to the writer that Pietra was an ingenious man, fully as well
educated as Paeioli, and a good deal more experienced in the necessities required of a bookkeeper. He
recommends several innovations, prominent among which is double entry bookkeeping for those who are
not in business for profit but are capitalists or associations not organized for the making of profits,
which we might call eleemosynary corporations. For this purpose he describes three different ledgers,
one for merchants, one for bankers, and one for capitalists and those similarly situated. He calls the
ledger for the capitalist "economic ledger."
Unlike Paeioli and Manzoni, Pietra does not begin with an inventory, but with a proprietorship
account. He is exceedingly careful in the taking of his inventory, and gives in his book a large folded
He gives a tabulation of entries for the ledger which do not
insert containing a tabular inventory.
have to go through the journal (such as closing entries). He advocates the vouchering of disbursements. He minutely explains that expense accounts can show two balances, and that they can show a
The detail of some 30
profit as well as a balance to be carried forward in the nature of an inventory.
items which he mentions in his book and which neither Manzoni nor Paeioli describes, we give farther
on, by the side of the reproduction of some of the pages of Pietra 's book.
In 1632 there appeared in Bologna a work on bookkeeping written by Matteo Mainardi. This book
is of a far later date than the ones heretofore mentioned, but it is somewhat remarkable in that it attempts to describe, besides the system for the merchants, one for the keeping of executor's and trusIn many respects this book compares favorably witli that of Pietra, and Mainardi
tee's accounts.
undoubtedly had all the three books just described at his command. In the reproductions herein, we
are giving only the title, the preface, and two pages of the journal, the last for the purpose of indicating the method then in use of showing journal entries with more than one debit or more than one credit,
and to indicate further that bookkeeping made far greater progress in Holland than in Italy, as will be
apparent from the discussion of Simon Stevin's book published in 1604.
We will now pass to the German authors. We have mentioned before that Venice and other places
in the northern part of Italy were the centers of commerce from which the distribution of merchandise
was made to the inland. The nearest commercial city of the inland known in those days was Nuremberg, and it is therefore but natural that we should find there the first work on bookkeeping published in
the German language.
The author was Johann Gotlieb, and the book was published in Nuremberg in
The author states
1531, three years before Manzoni, the second Italian writer, published his book.
frankly that he has translated his work from the "Welsh," meaning by this term "Italian." His
book is considered a brief and very poor copy of Paeioli.
This book
ledger.
10
After Gotlieb's book we find one published in 1549 at Nuremberg entitled "Zwifach Buchhalten,"
by Wolfgang Sehweicker. This work can not be called excellent, nor is it as exhaustive or as good as
that of either Pacioli or Manzoni, but there is no doubt tliat he had both of these books at his command,
and especially followed Manzoni. The three German books thus far mentioned were undoubtedly not
good enough to have become standards, and they have exerted little infiuenee on tiie methods of bookkeeping used since then in Germany.
The
Goessens, a
Next in importance and period of time, we come to the influence of the Dutch writers on the German, French, and English subsequent authors on the subject of bookkeeping. The Dutch for centuries
controlled the supremacy of the seas, as they were great ship-builders and navigators.
They were excellent, careful and honest tradesmen, and their trade was sought far and wide.
Yet the Italian cities,
through their ancient relation with the eastern nations, had become the world's leaders in commerce
and the Dutch people were therefore forced to trade with these Italian republics until the discovery in
1498 of an all-ocean route to the eastern countries. Thereafter the center of commerce was shifted
from Venice and its surrounding republics to Holland. As the Dutch were such travelers on water,
they naturally sent their young men by water to the trade centers, for education and training, and in
this way the knowledge of commerce also shifted from Venice to the Dutch countries.
Jan Ympyn Christoffels was one of the Dutch merchants who visited Venice and the northern part
of Italy and he remained there for twelve years.
He returned evidently wise in the knowledge of the
keeping of books according to the Italian manner and wrote a book on that subject. He did not, however, live to see his book published, but his widow Anna Swinters published his manuscripts in the
Dutch and French languages during tlie year 1543. Of the Dutch edition there seems to be but one
copy in existence, which is in the City Library at Antwerp. The French work, however, can be purchased. The discovery by Hugo Balg of an English copy of this book in a Ru.ssian library was reported
by the German scholar Kheil, although it was so mutilated that the name of the author does not remain,
and the exact date of its publication is not known. However, from the similarity of the contents Kheil
established the authorship of this book.
The widow of Jan Ympyn Christoffels (better known as Jan
Ympyn), says very distinctly in the preface of the Dutch book that it was written by her husband and
that she merely published it, which statement would indicate that the English book was written prior to
1543.
The illustrations in the book bear date of 1536 and 1537.
Ympyn claims to have obtained his knowledge in Italy, and says he used Italian books for the foundation of his work. He gives credit, however, indirectly to a person who has never been known as an
author on bookkeeping, and historians rather indicate that this person was merely an excellent bookkeeper from whom he gained considerable knowledge. He mentions, however, very distinctly the book
of Lucas Pacioli, although he calls him Brother Lucas de Bargo.
We find Lucas Pacioli 's name thus
quoted in a large number of books subsequently published, from which we may infer that Ympyn 's
work was well known and used by a good many writers, because from no other source could they have
obtained this faulty version of Pacioli 's name.
The next important writer in the Dutch language was Simon Stevin, who wrote in Latin a l)ook on
matiiematics, which was published in Leijden in 1608, in which he includes several chapters on bookkeeping. These were a reproduction of a book published in the Dutch language on "bookkeeping for
merchants and for princely governments," which appeared in Amsterdam in 1604, and was rewritten
in The Hague in 1607 in the form of a letter addressed to Maximiliaen de Bethune, Duke of Sculley.
This Duke was superintendent of finance of France, and had numerous other imposing titles. He had
been very successful in rehabilitating the finances of France, and Stevin, knowing him through Prince
Maurits of Orange, was very anxious to acquaint him with the system which lie had installed and which
had proven so successful. This manuscript of 1607 was published in book form l)y Stevin 's son Hendrick "in the second year of the Dutch Peace" of Munster (1648), which ended the eighty year war with
Spain; this would make the date of publication 1650. Hendrick Stevin dedicated the book to the sister of
the deceased Prince Maurits, expressing the hope that she may continue with the system of municipal
bookkeeping which had made her brother's stewardship of the affairs of government so successful.
Stevin 's book becomes very important to Americans, because he materially influenced the views of his
friend Richard Dafforne, who through his book "The Merchants' Mirrour, " published in 1636, became
practically the English guide and pioneer writer of texts on bookkeeping.
Simon Stevin, who was born in Bruges near Antwerp in 1548, and died in The Hague in 1620, was a
traveler, author, mathematician, engineer, and inventor, a highly educated man who thought bookkeeping important enough to induce Prince Maurits of Orange, the then governor of the Dutch countries, to
11
install double-entry bookkeeping throughout his territory, thus practically putting municipal accounting
on the double-entry system, the very thing we are today after more than three hundred years sighing
Stevin wrote part of the text of his book in tlie form of a dialogue, consisting of questions and
for.
answers, which he says actually occurred in the arguments he had while teaching Prince Maurits the
art of bookkeeping.
his apprenticeship in a mercantile office in Antwerp, where he learned bookAfter that he held important public offices, such as quarter-master-general, surveyor of taxes
of Bruges and, under Prince Maurits was minister of finances and chief inspector of public works.
There he displayed such inventive ingenuity in engineering that he may be said to have been the founder
His discoveries were in dynamics and hydrostatics, and among his many other
of modern engineering.
inventions may be mentioned an important improvement to the canal locks. He was the first to bring
His works on engineering and fortifications have remained staninto practical use decimal fractions.
dards until the last decade or two.
keeping.
a prolific writer on many varied subjects. Among other things, he wrote about the art
as well as on sea, about the construction of buildings, residences, and fortifications, the
improvement of cities and agricultural lands, about water mills, canals, the art of singing, the art of
oratory, rhetoric, mathematics, geometry, and about the weighing of metals and alloys through the
difference in weight above water and under water.
of
Stevin was
war on land
The writer would consider Stevin to be one of the first men of whom we have a record as performing duties equal to those of a modern accountant. We have seen that his regular work was that of
superintendent of finance (secretary of the treasury) and chief engineer of fortifications and public
buildings of Holland, besides being tutor and adviser to Prince Maurits of Orange. In addition to all
of this, he was continually called in to settle disputes between partners, audited numerous mercantile
books and drew therefrom financial statements, made up partnership books to obtain their settlements,
installed systems in all departments of government, in mercantile houses, royal households, municipalities, for construction of specific fortifications and public buildings, traveled to England, Prance, Germany, Italy, Denmark and Belgium, in order to appear before courts to give testimony in the settlement
of financial affairs, and performed numerous other duties of an accountant, which we may infer from
his remarks throughout his book.
Jager, Kheil, and Row Fogo through Brown ridicule to a considerable extent the old writers on
bookkeeping, instead of describing the worthy things about them and marveling at their accuracy and
ingenuity. Especially do they harangue about Stevin 's Latin, but overlook entirely the many worthy
suggestions from Stevin 's inventive genius.
In Brown's book on the history of accounting Stevin 's treatise on mercantile bookkeeping is highly
spoken of but Stevin is ridiculed for his endeavor to put municipal accounting on the double-entry system. We feel this to be an injustice to Stevin, for the reason that while his descriptions on miinicipal
accounting may at first blush appear to be faulty, we learn from the descriptions and illustrations he
gives of mercantile bookkeeping that he was exceedingly brief but accurate, and that therefore in the
text
for granted.
Stevin did not fully illustrate municipal accounting, for three reasons first of all the officials who
to use the system he installed received regular orders with forms attached from headquarters;
therefore his book was not a full exposition of all these orders with their forms, but was merely a review of the entire system. Secondly, (as he states) he was writing an argument in favor of his system
This he did in an
to those officials who were forced to use it and might hesitate to support it loyally.
authoritative manner, by quoting continually the friendly and close association he had with the Prince,
which of course he could not make use of in his official orders. Thus he put power and dignity behind
Thirdly, he fully illustrated mercantile accounting and insisted on the employment only of
his orders.
clerks who were well versed in the art of bookkeeping according to the Italian method. After illustrating mercantile accounting thoroughly, he then simply describes the difference between the two systems, which (he reiterates) is his only aim. He gives eight pages of journal and forty pages of ledger
on municipal accounting, although they contain only opening and not closing entries. The latter he
explains fully in his text by stating deviations from the system used by merchants.
:
were
Yet apparently Stevin 's treatise on municipal accounting is judged only by the absence of illustrabut no credit is given him for the ingenious devices he mentions and which we now call
internal checks. Brown evidently had not read much of the text, nor his son's subsequent book and
notes, which as we have seen heretofore were published in 1650, at which time his son states that while
some defects were found in the previous treatise, the system had survived until that day and had been
improved upon, he describing such improvements in addition to reproducing his father's works.
tions,
Stevin was very ingenious in prescribing methods for what we now are wont to call "internal
checks." For instance, in order to check the pay roll of the soldiers and other public officials, he demanded that the pay roll be sent direct to the auditors (and he calls them auditeurs, the French for
auditors), and then insisted that the cook at the mess-house where all the soldiers and officials were
being fed, should report independently to the auditors the number of meals served.
Another internal check which he suggested in order to stop the making of errors and the stealing
in the collection of taxes and rents, was to make the sub-treasurer's report to the general treasurer each
month of not only the cash receipts and disbursements but the persons remaining delinquent in their payments. After the reported delinquents remained so for three months, he suggested the sending of the
sheriff by the general ti'easurer (not the sub-treasurers) to sell the property of the delinquent tax-payer
12
Towards tlie end of this book we are reproducing Stevin's journal and ledger, and appended therewe have given some further remarks describing the superiorities of Stevin's work, which will prove
interesting reading.
Stevin undoubtedly followed Ympyn, who in turn as we have seen, obtained his
to
knowledge from
Paeioli.
Up
to this date then, we have, besides general mercantile books, records of specific systems of bookkeeping for merchants, branch stores, traveling salesmen, partnerships, household accounts, bankers,
capitalists,
monasteries, executors, and municipalities, as we will see from the specialties enumerated
by these writers.
We
how
it
prob-
AVe find that a school teacher by the name of John Mellis wrote in London in 1588 a book on bookkeeping, which in his preface he states to be a reprint of a book by Hugh Oldcastle, whicii Mellis says
appeared in London in 1543 under the title of "A profitable treatyce called the Instrument or Boke to
learne to knowe the good order of the kepying of the famouse reconynge called in Latyn Dare and
Habere and in Englyshe Debitor and Creditor." No copy exists as far as is known of this book of
Oldcastle, and it is not therefore an absolute certainty that it ever existed.
It might have been a manuscript only, and again, the date may not be reliable.
It may also be that the book was written by some
one else, and given to John Mellis by Hugh Oldcastle. It may therefore have been Jan Ympyn 's book in
English, especially as the dates are so close together.
However this may be, Mellis 's book is nothing
more than a translation of Paeioli 's book, and Mellis states that he had traveled and studied in the
Dutch country. Brown in his historj^ of accounting openly says that every English writer on accounting
in the early days gained his knowledge from the Dutch, because Holland was the training school for
English merchants, and he gives numerous instances to support his statement.
Any one doubting that Mellis 's book is a translation of Paeioli, should compare Mellis 's description of the checking of the ledger, as quoted by Brown, with our translation of this same subject in
That Mellis is undoubtedly a copy of Paeioli, appears from an error he made in referPaeioli 's book.
ring in one of his chapters to a chapter previously mentioned, naming it chapter 15, th(! same as Paeioli
stated in his chapter 16, but as Mellis left out chapter 5 of Paeioli, containing a short introduction, and
also chapter 7 about the certification of books by notaries, Mellis 's chapter 14 is the same as Paeioli 's
16, and Mellis's chapter 13 is the same as Paeioli 's 15; yet Mellis makes reference to chapter 15 the same
The discovery of this error is mentioned in Brown's history of
as Paeioli, instead of using chapter 13.
accounting.
Next in importance, and the last book we will mention in our survey, is "The Merchants' Mirrour,"
by Richard Dafforne. Dafforne says that in Germany, Italy and Holland, there had existed a great
many able writers on bookkeeping, and he gives a large list of authors. He attributes the existence of
He
these books to the demand, stating that there would not be a supply unless there was a demand.
very much deplores the fact that such a demand did not exist in England, nevertheless he contributes
He even speaks of his acquaintance with Simon
his book, which is undoubtedly a very able treatise.
Stevin, and he writes his book on the same order as Stevin, namely, in dialogue style, or questions and
answers. Dafforne 's book was published in London for the first time in 1636, and appeared afterwards
Later English writers have followed Dafforne and Mellis. Therefore, directin 1651, 1660, and 1684.
ly and indirectly, Paeioli through the Dutch, has laid the foundation of our present accounting literature and our present knowledge of bookkeeping.
We are reproducing most of the text of Dafforne 's book and a few pages from the daybook, journal
and ledger. Anyone doubting that Dafforne followed Simon Stevin and other Dutch writers on bookkeeping will be convinced by reading his text. Numei'ous quotations are made from these and other Dutch
authors throughout the text and even in the title page. In one place an abstract from the bible is rendered in the Dutch language. Further Dafforne states that he received his knowledge and ideas in Holland and that part of the illustrations and text was written in Holland. The mentioning of so many Dutch
customs and Dutch names in the ledger accounts shows that he himself succumbed to what he feared:
"They being then at Rome, will do as there is done."
"While we have described thus far the oldest text books in existence on the subject of bookkeeping,
the records of books of account predate these considerably, and for further information on this subject
we can do no better than refer you to Brown's history of accounting, where not only detail is given but
where also convincing illustrations are repi'oduced. However, the purpose of presenting to the reader
a correct idea of what was done in this line, we mii^lit state that the books of the steward of the city of
Genoa in 1340 were kept on the double-entry principle. The oldest mercantile ledger at Venice is dated
This ledger has a profit & loss and a capital
1460, and is that of the firm of Donado Soranzo & Brothers.
account.
Specimens of this ledger are reproduced in Brown's history of accounting on pages 99 to 106,
and will greatly help the reader to understand Paeioli 's instructions, in respect to the year, the Roman
figures in the money column, and the Arabic figures for the smallest coin or Picioli, etc.
13
DISCURSION IN THEORY
We
find in the translations of the old treatises on bookkeeping the terms debit, credit, inventory,
journal, cash, capital, balance, per (modern bjO, a (modern to), assets, liabilities, etc., and a definition
of each of these with their use in the olden times should prove of interest.
Our word
put in Italian as ''debito'', which comes from the old Latin debita and debeo,
from the standpoint of the proprietor means "owe" or "he owes to the proprietor," that which was loaned or given him by the proprietor.
(The old authors do not use it in ledger
debit is
in business and
which
accounts.)
Our word credit is put in Italian as ''credito," coming from the old Latin word ''credo," which
means "trust or believe," as in business our creditors were "believers" in the integritj' of the proprietor, and therefore loaned or gave him something.
Therefore, from the proprietor's point of view,
tlie word should be translated as the creditor "is owed by the proprietor," that which was loaned or
given to the proprietor.
it
in ledger accounts.)
Inventory in Italian, ''inventario," comes from the Latin "invenio," which means t find out or
discover.
Journal in Italian "giornal" comes from the Latin "diurnalis" which means daily happenings or
diurnal.
Ledger comes from the Dutch ''Legger" meaning "to lie down" and was originated probably from
the necessity that the ledger, which was called the big book, became so large and cumbersome that it
remained, or was lying, always in one place.
Cash in
Italian,
is
As
account
to the terms
"Per" denotes
is
in balance (bilancw).
word
"A"
was
to use
not
"A")
"A"
"A"
Until the very recent present day we used in the ledger "To" on the debit side as a prefix to the
of the creditor and "By" on the credit side as a prefix to the name of the debtor.
name
say whether we can translate the Italian "Per" into our "By" and the Italian
"To," as these two expressions or words can be translated in many different ways acnoun or verb following or preceding it, together with the consideration of the tense and
It is difficult to
"A"
into our
cording to the
ease used.
If, however, we take a literal translation of the Italian ledger heading used for our debit, or "dee
dare," we come to "shall give." Putting this into a sentence read from a ledger we have as at the
present time, "John Doe debit to Richard Roe" and in the old Italian, "John Doe dee dare (shall give)
A (To) Richard Roe," and as to the credit, we have in our present day "Richard Roe credit by John
Doe," and in the old Italian, "Richard Doe dee havere (shall have or receive) Per (by the hand of)
John Doe."
Our ver.sion, therefore,
is
that today
we
follow
in
tliis
respect.
As to the journal, the old necessity for being particular in designating and separating the debtor
from the creditor by Per and A and the much commented upon little diagonal lines (//), has been
obviated through the use of two columns in the journal one for the debit amount, the other for the
credit amount
and by the use of two lines of writing and by careful indentation.
Thus, while we do
not use the old expressions (Per and A) in the journal, we are more careful and systematic in separating debits from credits than the old authors were.
It would be interesting to learn when and where and under what circumstances and conditions the
double column in the journal originated. Prom the fact that a trial balance, with total debits and total
credits instead of differences between debits and credits, is called a French trial balance, we might infer
14
that that system origiuated in France because a Freucli trial balance is based upon the system that all
entries are journalized and the total debits and the total credits of the journal are added to the total
debits and credits of the previous trial balance in order to arrive at the totals which the present trial
balance should show. Such a trial balance makes an absolute necessity for the having of two columns
in the journal.
"Genomen
Eniek
dat
Pieter,
my
my
gelt in een easse leggende, al of ict heur te bevvaren gave, segh dat die casse
't selve gelt
schuldich is, vvaer deur iek haer al oft een mensch vvaer, debiteur make, en Pieter crediteur, om dat hy
't
syn schult verniindert, stellende int lornael 't begin der partie aldus, 'Casse debet per Pieter'."
The above translated would be about as follows
"Suppose that some one by the name of Peter owed me some money, on account of which he paid me
100, and I put the money in a cash drawer just as if I give it the money for safe keeping.
1 then say
that that easli drawer owes me that money, for which reason (just as if it were a human being) I made
it a debtor and Peter of course becomes a creditor because he reduces his debit to mo.
This 1 put in
the Journal thus:
'Cash Debit Per Peter'."
From the above translation of the previous Dutch quotation it would seem that the journal entry
shown is rather a hasty conclusion. The entry, in order to follow his explanations, should have been
a double entry somewhat as follows
Cash Debit to ilyself Proprietor Credit for the money I gave
the cash drawer for safe keeping. To be followed by Myself Debit to Peter Credit he gave me money
which I may have to return to him if he does not owe it to me.
As most of the entries, if made in this form would have both a debit and a credit to the proprietor
for the same amount, these are simply omitted.
-.
If we eliminate on both sides, according to algebraic formulae, the word "myself," we then have
abbreviated the two entries to a real algebraic term, namely, "Cash Debit to Peter." Thus we have
condensed two entries of thought to one entry written down, very much the same as in algebra a
b
b
In many of the old Dutch books Stevin 's idea of a twofold double entry is menc; hence a =: c.
tioned, and is brought down to the present day, which accounts for the existence of a clear idea on this
principle in Holland and in modern Dutch books on bookkeeping (see N. Brenkman, 1880, Theory of
Double-Entry Bookkeeping).
It must be admitted that if we today would abolish the use of the words debit and credit in the
ledger and substitute therefor the ancient terms of "shall give" and "shall liave" or "shall receive,"
the personification of accounts in the proper way would not be difficult and, with it, bookkeeping would
become more intelligent to the proprietor, the layman, and the student.
Elsewhere we have seen that Stevin insists upon testing when a journal entry in det)it and credit
must be made by asking the question, "When does proprietorship begin" or "When does proprietorship
end," from which it is apparent that proprietorship must enter in the consideration of each entry and,
if it is not there, it is simply eliminated by the rules of algebra.
This, of course, would at once lead to
the personification of the capital and profit or loss accounts into "the proprietor" as differentiated
from "the business," and would then immediately show the fallacj- of the statement that capital and
surplus are liabilities, as well as of the absurd theory that assets must equal liabilities.
The following translation of the dialogue between Simon Stevin and the Prince Maurits of Orange
on this subject fully illustrates that Stevin then understood his subject far better than do some modern
text writers and theorists, and it makes certain recent so-called "discoveries" appear mere mental
vagaries, as far as the credit for discovery is conceriied.
It merely illustrates that they are today as
deep thinkers as Stevin was 300 years ago.
The Prince. I must ask another question. The entries stand in my ledger as debits and credits. Which
of these two stand to my advantage and which to my disadvantage?
Stevin.
Debits in the ledger are your advantage, for the more Peter owes you the more your capital is, and likewise much pepper in the warehouse, which stands as a debit, will make much
money in the cash drawer. However, credits are the reverse.
The Prince. Are there no exceptions to this?
The Prince.
Stevin.
The Prince.
Further, expense
disadvantages.
Stevin.
Because these two are a part of the capital account they are included in the exception.
The credits in the cloves account in the ledger are in excess of the debits by 74-4-7.
This is an advantage to me because it represents a profit, yet it is in the credit.
The reply to this would be that if the account were closed (which you can do when you
please, but usually at the end of the year), the excess in the credits would be transferred to
the profit and loss account and your question would not arise.
Yet it remains that with accounts like the cloves account, where they show a profit or a
loss, it is not so frequently true that at all times debit is an advantage and credit a dis-
Stevin.
The Prince.
Stevin.
The Prince.
forgot that.
You
is
are right.
a debit
and
a credit
being
meant
it,
advantage.
15
loss,
are both
That appears to be true aud iu that respect it is somewhat similar to your exception, but
shows all the more positively that in all accounts of capital, or those pertaining to capital, debit is always a disadvantage and credit an advantage.
The Prince. Why has capital more exceptions than all the others?
Because capital debit means as much as though the proprietor said, "I am debit to all the
Stevin.
other accounts." It follows that the more a proprietor is debtor in this manner the more
it is to his disadvantage, and the more he is creditor the more it is to his advantage, for
which reason capital must be the reverse of other accounts, and it is not therefore really
an exception.
The Prince. If capital stands for the name of the proprietor, why is the proprietor's name not used
instead of the word capital inasmuch as through the use of that word so many things become so difficult to understand?
Merchants often form partnerships with many who together put in one principal sum of
Stevin.
money. For this reason we need one designation indicating them all at once as proprietors, and for this the word capital is used with good reasons.
Furthermore, at that time the words assets and liabilities were not known in bookkeeping. Happy
days they must have been. These terms ought not to be known or used now. What we now term liabilities, and some of which some of us are almost tempted to call "near liabilities" very much the same
as we define "near silk," never are and never will be liabilities, for at the time the financial statement
is prepared these amounts are not supposed to be due, hence the proprietor cannot possibly be liable
for them at that time. At most he is "trusted" for them by his creditors, as the old authors expressed it
Stevin.
it
Neither are assets at any time, in a going, solvent business, real assets. The words assets
The question of whether the proprietor has enough to
cover his liabilities does not come up until his ability to meet his obligations is questioned or until he is
called upon to render a statement to the court wherein he is brought for this purpose to answer the
question whether he has enough {assez assets) to cover that for which he is liable (liabilities) or past
due credits or trustings by the creditors. Those who doubt this should study from the reported court
cases the difference between mercantile insolvency and legal insolvency.
In analyzing a financial statement I believe these assets and liabilities may be interpreted to mean
something like this: The proprietor, in order to be permitted to continue to do business on credit,
makes here a showing to those interested by which he agrees that his books show that the personifications of cash, real property, personal property, merchandise, as well as the persons owing him, are
obligated to him and "shall give" him the amounts stated on the left hand side of the statement or the
amounts appearing to the debit of these accounts in the ledger and to the credit of his own account,
and that thereby the proprietor will be able to meet whatever obligations he contracts with those with
whom he has dealings. He further states in this report that persons interested should take notice that
the books show that the following persons "shall have" or "shall receive" from him the items when
they become due and payable and standing on the right hand side of the statement, or the amounts
appearing to the credit of these accounts in the ledger and to the debit of his own account. That these
items are to be deducted from the items of cash, real property, personal property, etc., before those interested in the statement can judge as to whether they shall trust {credito credit) him further. Thus
it becomes at once apparent that capital, together with surplus and losses and gains, represent the ownership of the things owned less those owed, leaving a net ownership, and net ownership can never be a
If surplus ever can be a liability then a minus-surplus or a
liability (i. e., a thing to be liable for).
correctly.
the reverse; hence Stevin 's statement of affairs is the capital account itemized with a preponderance
The English follow this method of rendering a financial statement
of credits to represent net capital.
Americans reverse the process is difficult to perceive.
to this day.
From the foregoing it will further be seen that thus with the aid of ancient terms we can read intelligently and explain the abbreviated forms used in bookkeeping so that it becomes at once apparent
why accounts like the cash account, which to the uninitiated looks like proprietorship, can be shown
on the debit side of the ledger and why capital account, which always represents ownership, appears
on the credit side. This at first thought may seenr contradictory, but the reason for this apparent inconsistency lies in the elimination (through bookkeeping) of equal terms (as per rules of algebra)
brought about by the theoretical making of double entries (two entries, each with a common debit and
Thus we may go on
credit) and thus abbreviating it beyond the interpretation of ordinary language.
and with equal ease prove, as the German scholar Jager has done, that double-entry bookkeeping is
much older than single-entry bookkeeping, the latter being a still further shortening of methods of
Stevin very clearly suggests this in his exclassification by the use of the terms debit and credit.
it is
Why
"Summa
Page 19, which immediately follows the title page of the original, contains a dedicatory letter by the
author, whose name appears on the second line.
The lower half of this page is occupied on the right by
an epigram of praise to Paeioli by a friend of liis and on the left by an epigram by the author to the reader.
The first of the four last lines of this page contain, a list of the letters to be used by the printer,
merely as a guide for those who are not familiar with this style of printed letters. Thereafter, on the last
line, the year (1494), then the date (November 20th), and then the place (Venetia or Venice), all of these
pertaining to the record of publication.
Page 20
is
in the
third line.
On page 22, in the third line of the center paragraph, the author's
the genetive case, hence Pratris Luce instead of Frater Lucas.
name
is
Pages 24 and 25 are reproduced in order to show the marginal notes there given, indicating the abbreviations used in the book, and their interpretation.
Page 25 is also given for the reference the author
makes in line 7 to three of his pupils, Bartolo, Francesco, and Paulo, the three sons of a prominent merchant of Venice named (Antonio de) Rompiasi. The dash over the "o" in the original indicates that an
follows the "o."
"m"
Page 23 is given to reproduce the type of numerous marginal illustrations the author gives on nearly
every page of his chapters on geometry and arithmetic, considering the manj* illustrations here used it
seems very strange that he should not have given some in his chapter on bookkeeping.
Page 26
is given to show that our modern so-called "eflSciency engineers" have nothing the best of
of over 400 years ago, as to "organization charts."
This chart illustrates the intricacies of
proportions.
this
monk
Pages 28 and 30 contain the index of the chapter on double-entry bookkeeping. No translation is
given of these pages, because they are merely repetitions of the headings of each chapter, and therefore
their translation appears at those places.
In their stead, a comparative index is given of four of the earliest writers on bookkeeping, in order to illustrate how closely they have followed each other.
On
pages 32 to 80 (left-hand only) are the reproductions of the original chapter on double-entry bookOpposite each reproduction is given the translation in modern English subject to the qualifications mentioned in the preface.
keeping.
17
iC^^o/
po2tionalira.
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radW c pzogrcflioni.
niexjctuttcfoniradici.
ognicafodxperregoleozdinarteno
'^ucte f02te bmomii
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ccdinoDcucIide.
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dxefondanienii'.
rutri modi.e \02 partire.
oiiip3gniei
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tiuri modi
fcmpIid:conipofh:e cd tempo.
minuri ouer comuni.
]^n'nTemplici c a capo
Kefti.feldi.fconri.dc
dipm
partite
BvMu
ICarifia
m tut
todmoHdo.
:^?atica e t(?eo:ica
lariealtrttJcpcndenn',
18
0n
twderetur non fans mibi ipft fufficcrc video:: vt ali'qua cr parre qiiirulaenq5 nbi fanTfafercm Blij
pkriqjmulrifiquippw in aliqua Ooctrina p2ofecmnr:lib208:quibu9 ad u1 pcrucnitur niaicimc latere
cupiunt.S^'ucofumatillimuaallroIoguea'n Britbmetieaemiiicti(Timu9:in 6eonietria ctcellcridlmus
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imdalT^:fi (xci'n manus bominu perucnircnt:p7opterea no nbi plun'ina fuperfufura: que alios fugc*
rcmtucriflimuqj die illud ifc)lyni3nuin cr tc Didic5ta ccrtc recondunt qui pauca aliqua noucrc iuidc
tcs alije.pii8 itaqj ipfumte boztanre 7 impeKcnre unpzelTum :qd 5l'u(lrifIiino Drbini bucioicaui
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di'o mulfoq5(abo:e defudarasrrepbcrunTintijSpus certe variiitcopiofiiiiocudtr.vndiq; inatbcmati/
cie tbeo:ematibu9 fcatens 7 qd no mediocre fructum fit aKamrum bijs qui udidri Hftrologie 7 ne
gotiarioni operam funt.oaturi. cd vide qucfo quid nobis obtigen't:
tibi fatiffaccrc conoj ma/
ius mibiobfigationis vinculum inecto:non fan's (acr^v.qptc aucro:e noitcr liber in lucem p:odiret.
rutelam cnam ruam ocpofcimiis.tlermn'quod nog efficcrc non polTumus ocum optimum marimuj
vna cum ferafico noftro fancto rancifco adiuuantibus cofratribus noftris frequenter ozabimus: vt
libipares gratias ingcnio ooorinc virtun 7 nobilitati tuc referant.
tIaU
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wm
Bd
roncfis parricij
amice
Xapjaticarlteozica c >octrina
l&er lopja nonbumanarma diuina
tibi
be larri
liberal
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tutte:c in le flfbecf>anicatc.
pigrainma adauaoxm.
bidouefre(odartu3 nobcliate:
I&uruedendottagrara
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fle>?cccc?ljcliiij?jc]cMRoucmbji8.
19
ycncrije
cp:aticaS^apcbcloz oictigtaalircpt
noftri
Dtftmctionis.
^ifcrcra.
*^ ^fua nmfica:e
la vnita ciafcfi
iftegi
el
20
WHAT WAS
PACIOLI'S
REAL NAME
In the historical chapter, we have stated that the name of the author of the firat book on bookkeeping was not definitely known. This is quite apparent from the different versions of the spelling of the
name, which we find in the various books, and it becomes rather amusing to read how the various authors mentioning this name take delight in stating tliat the other fellow is wrong and they are right.
Yet
no two of them apparently give it alike.
Browai in his history of accounting especially ridicules Ympyn's version, and with it all Brown himwith an "o" at the end, whereas all the authorities he quotes spell it with an "i" at
the end, and he gives no explanation as to why he prefers the "o".
Below we give a tabulation of the
various spellings of these names by the various authors, each one being preceded by the authority from
whicli we have taken the name.
We have adhered to the spelling of Lucas Pacioli throughout, because we
believe that to be the proper spelling, from the two best researchers who have written about him, namely,
the two Germans Jiiger and Kheil, and further, because we believe that the "li" in the old Italian was
Latinized into "lus," and the "c" is the old Italian for the Latin "t" in most all cases where the Latin
't" is preceded and followed by a vowel. Furthermore, we have the author's own version of his own
name, as we have seen elsewhere, in the only book that is published with his name in full, namely: "Diviua Proportione, " which was written in Latin and where he gives the Latin of his own name. While
self spells it Paciolo,
"Luco"
is
in
liis
Italian as well as
AUTHORITY.
Summa
SPELLING OF NAME.
Frater Lucas de Burgo Sancti Sepulchri
de Arithmetica
(author's original)
(The above name appears first on the second line of page 19 of this
of the original; also on the third line, page 20 of this book, which is
the third line of the second paragraph, page 22 of this book, being
however, it is given in the genitive, hence Fratris Luce instead of Frater
La Scuola
of
Fra Paciolo
di
Summa
Diviua Proportione
(author's original)
Contemporary writers
Jan
Ympyn
(in his
Lucas Pacciolus
Frere Lucas de Bargo Sancty Sepulcry
Christoffels
French book)
Guido Brandaglia
Luca Pacciolo
Lucas Paccioli
Fra Luca
Beckmann's History
Anderson's History
Clitofonte Bellini
(Trattato Elementare
Ragionesia Grenerale)
Pratico
Teorico
Pacioli di
Luca Paciolo
di
V. VianeUo
(Luca Paciolo nella Storia della Ragionesia)
Luca Paciolo
Pawell Ciompa
(Grundrisse einer Oekonometrie
Luca Paciolo
L.
Borgo Sansepolero
Gomberg
Luca Paciolo
V. Gitti
modern)
(De Computio
Moritz Cantor
(Geschichte der Mathematik)
Sigismund Giinther
(Geschichte der Mathematik)
Paciuolo
Paciolo
'
Catholic Encyclopedia
Lucas Pacioli
Richard Brown
John B. Geijsbeek
Lucas Pacioli
ai
pbcdaacrcfccre rconfcruarecontutttoclacafafuaeccjdfatcDi'quellabcnuiQlic^dcrcnn'.
tlalc.
MA
JStiasmakc:7komcmc.
pi(lo(s}.
tlom anfinadumcrcm
^joportionaltotfepartcaplorimumncceffariasitumin pjariuum in
arbcorica concgimu8:firmi(Timifq5 rationftnie 7canombU8 perfcctiflil
miefubicdniu6:etatitiqui9 7 rccCnnbue pbilofopi^is cuiufcunqsp:*/
fisindubitata fundamcnra.fE^amob^cm non immeritolib?i ttnilus.
5?animailriAm)ctfccJeoincnTClfex>po2tionum 7 ^^wpojtionalitatum Oicanir. "UW ante omnia
lluduimuB cractam in buiufccmodi facultatibus pizxim tridcre quemadmodiS cr ozdinariffima eiu
fencl>aud oifficultcr intucri licer-tlcrum quia tempo:ibu0 noftrie verba pjopjia matlxfeos ob ran
tatcm bono2um pccpro2um apud latinos fermc intericre: cupicna ego vfui cfTc bijs qui vcftrc ottid<
parcntCnon ignarue fMo cleganrion.(oquio iccroniano tc falientcm doqucurie vnda, adiri opoi
tcrc)quid cp rnufquifq5 non Ixc capcrctifilatine per fcnpta e(Tcnt:potiu9 vernaculo fennonc oefcri*
p(imu9.1i'tttcraturc iiaqs pcriti9 paritcr.t imperitis bee commodum et iocundirarcm 3ffcrcnt:fi in
ds fc crcrcucrint vacent qutbuflibct f acultaribus et arnbu9:ob per tractata que comunia vnicuiqj vi'
dcnrur 7 oprime applicari poflc.
t piimo quis non oico ooctue:fed multo minus.q? mcdiocriter
crqditU9 dhqui non pcrfpicue vtdear quantum bcreant quantumqj necclTaria fint,>aft:rologi'ecuiU9
p2fncipc9 l>ac tempeftatc vigent ai>unculu9 tuu9 pnnceps t3uianu9: vna cum KcucrendilTimo foH
22
BiiHttdio
ifoali^.fiatfllmca.q
hU Capftulom fcrfmm.
tcaU li.fira.f r.cqualc a la linca.i R.pcrclx cqucdiftantt c (a hnca.f i.ala (inca.lt c.b k.c fia.r
ft.igualeal.f i.c il mangolo.q ((x.frb.ionnb (imHuBndc fc traremo.r k.doc.if.Dcl.k b. rv
iiiarrflnno.br.;.cpertixcglfe'cofi.br.al.r f.cofi'.fi.aWq.
nde
muItiiMi'cando.r fper.fi. e
tnide.qabcd.
innuna
fpcrafipi"(;Iia
viipontooalquafc.4.rettclmccfinicnino
infra- lo:o
qlla
piana quel ponto fia (l(xntrooe la fpera.t3crbi graria fi'a la fpcra.a b.e
il ponro-i". t>alqualc ft'cno menarc. 4.lince infra""(o:o iguali.$ b.i; g.^ d.^ ex no
fia
fra loio iguali.jg (a nmltiplicatoc buna oi quelle lincc clx fonno mcnatc cal ca^
poldzo a! cerd?fo. contcncntc tafuabafa-.nc la mita vd ccrdno contcncntc la oitta bafa- la
rca ocla fupcrfTc(c ocritta piramidccolonnifctvcrbigratikfia la piramidc colonnalc^j bg
d.odaqualc la fua fomita fia.a.e la fua bafa fia il drculo.b g d.od quale fia il ccntro.c. la li
nca.a coztogonalmcnte fia ritta fop^a il piano oel cerd?io.b g d.e oal ponto.a.ala linca dr^
cunfcrcnrialc contcncntc il drculo.b g d.oc la bafa oc la twta piranudcoi colonna fc incn<
molfe Wnee.a b.a g.a d.oico ccrtamcte Ic rette.a b.3 g.a d.infral lo?o cfkrc iguali.la.pua mc
Btfc oal centro.clc rcttc.c b.e g.e d.d?c fonno tuttc iguali infra lo?o. pcrd?c.a e.e perpcit
dicularc fopja il pfano od arailo.b g d.ficnno gliangoli.ac b.a e g.a'e drctri. 0ndc li' tria
goli fonno o:togonii.a ^ b.a c g.a e d.e l>ano Ic twfc iguali dx fonno.c b.e g.c dx illato.a c.c
communc.n3clilatifubtendcntiagliangolirctticbefonno.ab.a;g.ad.fonnoinfralo:o
fi
la lin^a drcunferentc.b
gd. fara
d.la
quale fupcrficie e oal drculo oela bafa.b g d.infi'no ala fua fummifa. fc no fof
fi fecof<.aio:a fia la muld^slicatide ocla linea.a b,oc la mita ocl
circiilo.b gd.ma
$foxominb2equena,dx facia lareaoc la fupcrficie oico dx'qucKa.quannta dx fc mul;
tiplica per.a b.a fare larca oe la fupcrfide fua niinoTC oucr magio:?c oc la nnta oc la linea cir
difercntcb g d. fia quantita.f ^.c il ooppio od.i^.e piii dxl ccrcbio.b g d . ^donca fa'
ro fop?a il ccrcbio.b g d.vna; figura rctti linea baucnte e latic gliangoli iguali contcncntc
qocllotc ficnno li lati inficmi agibnti mcno dx lo ocppio od.i ^dx fta la ngura.l u t. mc
ncrola linea.a b.laqual<c pcrpcndicularC fop?a la linca.b u.in qucllo modo.a&cncro la li
ncfl.c t.ftcnno
li
il quadrato oc la pcrpcndicula'rca
c.ficnnoliquadratiioclclince.ac.cb.bt.ciocU quadrati oclclince.abx.b t.iguali ^l qua^
drato.at.onde langolo.a b t.e rctto.^pcndicularce adonca la linca.a b.fopja la linca.c ft.
l.c.a
d.fop:a lalinca.tl.
pcrdx le rcttca b.a g.a d.foimo infra lo:o iguali virra oc la muUiplicarione duna oi qiid
la
.t
dx c
impollibi-
23
'
67
^i(HncUoqnintA.ZractataB pn'mua.
wU
ifta.
gozdooiuerfamentcfeatcndanoifccondolequatuicaivtrupza oeclarautmus.
jSiclxbaueiido tu octauiocb:acciooepanno numero.4659^. oe panni a vdcrliredu
It a canncla qualcommuniter fe tien bwccia.4-TB>:im3 partirai oitri oaaui per.2. e virraj
tc quartc:per dx femp:e in ogni quatita.2 .octaui fanno^.e lo remanete fira ocrauo.
poi
Ic quarte partirai pa.4.e virratte b^acaa per dx.4.fanno bjaccio.i . lauan,o fira quar/
tc. poi libzacd partirai pcr.4t virratte cane:e lauan^firan bzaccia.iSi commo baueiTe
K octaui p2Cditri parrili in.2 .neuen.2 ?2 97. fon quarri. auanca, .dx e. .ocamo
poi
parii.2i297-pcr.4.e virranac.^824. fonno b:?acda e aua^.i .clxe.^quarta>poi par
rilib?acdfl per.4-ncuen.i 4J6.c fonno canncre auanca nulla dx fonmullobjacdo-S^idx
1
45'6.b2accia
quarte, .oaaui. 1 .
1
tu
buc.
oucati.
S.tirc.lira.lib29.lib2C.
f.
ic'oldo. foldi.
d.benaro.oenari.
p. i&idolo.pidoli.pcft'a.
(S.Oncia.oncc.
^.quarti.q>.(p*
<p'.
rn.l^ina.mine.mcno.
jncfctaria.
m'. fl&arca. in'.mardj.
R.aratro.caratri.
pjopoftc qucfhoniper fe
le
0!
munamente in queflolib?ofevfaranno:oed3iararemo:fiinl3rtcmeno;eouermerc3to?ia:
commo in arte magiox-.ouer algcbzaXc qualipiu pcr4ipefi:e monm-.c mcfure:cbe f> al'
trofonno trooari-.eircepto in algebja dx per fozt^aCoiffcrenrie caufa)fo bifogno trouare.
feercbcnon fi potte a tutte quantita metter nome.Jdeo 7c.
i^ucfti carattericabzeuiature commo vedi.Blcuni fonno
dx piu oe
vna cofa
dx
dmro
le
24
iii
g*.0rofTi.grofldni.
bl 36olosnino.bolognin
bol^one.
V*. tlia.
r'.lRcgula.rdla.r'.
l^ca.multiplica.
flf^carc. raultiplicarc.
flf^cato. multiplicato.
b:a.oifferentia.
b2c, oiffcrcnnc.
^.;*.cc.ccnfo.
i"^.
J-*.
cc. cc.
ccnfo oc<xnfo,
piimo relate.
^. o'. p^r^.
7'.cc.cu.cciifooccubo can^
jr.
dxcuboocccnfo.
-r:. s*.
2"- r:
fecundo rcfato.
cc
cc.
ccnfodcccnfooc
ccnfo.
/
p.
T^.
'.
cubo wcubo.
ccnfo dc pjuno
cc. p. r!
rclaco.
cubodcccnfo
do rclato.
f.
i6',cu.p'. rTcubo
ocpnrao
''rclato
5:.
ccnfodcccfo
''occenfo occcnfo.
^.
8". s"'
rt i^iifnto rclato.
cubo occcnfo
ix cabo.0 ucrccfo cubo cubo.
52:.
1^.20'.
6".
r^fcno rclato.
"ocpnnio rclato.
cubo ocfcdo rt
cc ;^rt cenh w: tcnjo rt
:. 22'.cu.2,''rt
5^. 25-'.
f:.
'^.z'.co.cofa.
7^ cc,
4.
r".
cbc rantctcrrc tantc v(mc3^^ti illud tot capita tot renfua.t vdlc fun cuiqs ciqudbcT^
CO 9cio tu impcrito non eredcftc neccflital^ro. bt li quali poi in algcbza rrattado fonnare/
quelle figure ocnaii^ polk
nio l02o lib:etn fi commo in qucfto al fuo luogo vedcrai.
dx comcn^ano.'^.pama.-K.2'. i^.;'.7c.ffn.*9J.;o''.fono ocnominariolu'ocla p^aiica oc al
gcbza feeondo li arabi pjimrinucntozi oc fi facte p2d?copcr"atiuc.Ba ocl numcro i^r
ncrc3p2elToUgrecifo2on feeondo rfido:octymologiarum:c molri3lIri;iS^iaago2ad pHo
a p:rtfc lilanni
c oa poi lui j(^a:omaco:oal qual el piu oc la fua aritbmetica ]6oc.p:crc.
foTon piima Bpuleo c poi 36oc.c oc la geometria forono liegyptii ob in vndauone
w
ipfc ibidem indudt.^deo ipfuiti lege qui oprimc ocbuiufmodi materia iplcrifqj lone trat'
to rclato.
occefa
^5o'.r.nono rclato*
5^ini8.
TKadici.
radio Icgata.
5! cu.'B^adicfcutw.
I'.quannta.
ucr
vnita.
dx
fJnuno
oi numcri alcujw cofa ba foipto fcmpjc anco?a in
Ticmi CO qlli oc mcfurc al qfuJto Ixj cractatoic i copagnfa odic
od comim lo? vclhmcto Ditto^po.'tionc. qfto fia manifefto
be fi leggi oimolr ipby lo: lib;i:ocmatlxmandx fbculta co
pibti.6mo ocudide mc^arcnfeila cui oj^ fcmp:cmtri li
ocfccundo rclato.
^tC.TRfldiciocradict.
? V. iRadid vniucrfalc.
fimilucripjoderiinbiTc.
fe
occubo.
^.
fac
ccnfo oc quar/
rc.o;aalul:alp:cfcnted /nf^agnificoctcrimiooocto^mifcr
condifdpuloifofto
tjL.
la
vc icr Antonio. i$>otto la cui omb:a patcrna c fratcrna i I02 pjopzia cafa mc reteuai. a ft
mili fcicntic fotto la oifdplina oc nufcr >omciic:o biagadino li in rincgia oa la ercdfa ft
gno2i*lccto:c oc ogni fdcna publico ocpucata.iual fo imcdiate fucccflTozcral pcrfpicacif^
fimo c "9^0 ooctoxic oifan iiftarco oanonico macftro paulo oa la pergola fuo p:cccpto.'
pno'palmctttfloc?
-'''''^'^''"'''^'^'4''^"^9"3trofonnoocaritl>iicticii
<,
lo^cv^oCatuttiqfticpc:docd4ntoXoocla4)po^ti6c.taal
(fomo fe oira)cofi feafpccta al miorcomo ala mdura.C)d feuerino:6ocnoaco?afcbcn ft
cuarda i la fua antbmctica; troueralTe Ic fo2<,c oe geomcfru:e andx particularcmftioc DC
fc^>po;ti6i.>c tlxbitancora ocgno p6o(oel ql molto J6octiocrponcdo udidc fe ml'
tioncntianmc nd (into)pfucopc oiffufamJtco lunac oilalrra ificmico le.ppojnbni frat
to.i>e4niaofisliuolooc5ofcpbC06lqualdaup9nocrponcdodquitoof udidc fa
-S .9
25
ti
Srmontcs
ContiniiB
ffl
ffl
pifatinm
iScomarict
f1
Conrinua
jhititioiutis
iEq^al(tari^l
j^^
iRatkmaKg
(g|
|]J^5^f
[j
IRatfenftlw Fi)
-"XZ3
attrtttplejfapi
parrtcuiafte
Duplir
0Mptrb(parn
jQuadrupI j
[|
cnftcrrtaa
P^m
i${4 altera
If
f)
^fffjtcrrfa
[1
ifimtum
vltimis fpcdebue.iQue ofa i fin
fi|ulafup:a Zbeozrcci T^aticc figillarimcrcmpla
fir
in
rittT
Saribueapp^CHt.^tibi. ^dco-zc.
26
3fl&n!t4>l<}:rupcrpi
JElCft
1.
"Wlhere there
is
2.
"Every
is
3.
4.
action
"Defining diligently and truthfully so that truth will always guide you."
"More bridges are necessary for a good merchaiit than a lawyer can make."
"The merchant is
summer keeps
"Also
like a rooster,
it is
he has to
saj'
merchant
lias a
still
or do."
"The law
is
"Dante says:
'My
son,
it
He who
lies
on feathers or under cover will never amount to anything. Such a one leaves on
same trace as the smoke in the air or foam on the water'."
"Work
should not seem to you strange for Mars never granted a victory to those that spent
man
an example.
Apostle Paul says that no one will be worthy of the crown except he who shall
for
valiantly
neighbor.
By
figiit
it.
this
you
will
The Saviour in the book of St. Matthew admonishes, "Seek you Christians first the Kingdom
of God and then the other temporal and spiritual things you will I'asily obtain."
18 and 31
"Who does nothing makes no mistakes; who makes no mistakes learns nothing.
do not bother about
22
Otfieials
23
you are
will lose
in business
details.
all
about
33
35
If
it,
your money
arrangement of
will
go
his affaii's.
is,
you
it.
29
who
in writing of the
from
in
partnership
which state of
because
affairs
frequent
accounting
every one
you do not put the place and date on a letter, you will be made fun of. because we say the
letter which does not bear the date was written during the night, and the letter which does
not bear the place we say that it was written in tlie other world and not in this one.
27
quanto p c.
dx
ra.t
teTc.i
g c'.abbari. f .dc. ? o.rcfta. f .c tato cbbc daro tutro per baucr mclto. oo.ci'oc Ixiuc
darmo ral pane qual fon.i <.dc.i oc^.dx fon \i ji.ut fup:a latro au.iiKo p u dx lui.i N.in tut'
q'to
*^
to clx fon li.jl.pnr del oo.fuocapitale:fidxauantago.i f.p c^.fatta per cfx rcinp
par-
lal
circa al trafico.e
ca'. J
ca^ j
ca'.4
i cbc c5
ca'.?
t)d p'.lib^o ditto nicmojiale oner fquartafoblio o uadxtta qllo dx fe itcdaic comoi
fe
ciTo
ca'-fi
bcl nio coitio i niolti lod>i fi bablo autcn'care tutti li lib'. inercatcfcW:e p cixte da d>i.c.7
ca^-9
6mo fe dcbino oittarc Ic ptitc f oitto mcmo2ia!e co ercpli.
,
dlemeriatic
bc\i noucmodip liqualicoiminamcrc ficoftuma frali mercawncicopazarcie
ea. <f
quail d pin dc Ic iioltc dc ncccifita a tcoo (i cop:ano.
(iaecommcfcdebiaoi
bdfccondohbjop.'incipalcmcrcantcfco oitto giornaletquel cbel
fponere oiditratamciiie.
ca'.
bell 001 termini ncl ditto gibmale rfitatitnaicimc I vcnctia'.luno ditto p^r: laltro ditto.a
28
CHAPTER NUMBERS.
CONTENTS OF CHAPTERS.
The things a merchant needs and description of
tem of keeping a journal and a ledger
sys-
Pacioli
Manzoni
Pietra
Vol. I/l
Vol. 1/2
6-8
Sample of an inventory
Vol. 1/3
Vol. 1/4
10
5
Vol. 1/5
16
in full detail
by
lots
'
'
'
Description,
etc.,
of the
day book
selling
10
"A"
little
//
11
12
12
12
lines
One kind
of
money
in
amount column
12
12
The Ledger
13
The Index
13
Four
lines for
dates
Two
left
14
and one on
right,
when
14
little line
Roman
in
Change
in j'ear
14
15
figures
1.')
between entries
15
15
15
Index
15
16
7765:
Biftincfio
no^a2:^actat^9.xl^c^mpfuri3.
198
ca^
dc lancre c6 molnercin
pIi';cxlidoiaItn termini ndquadcrnoufuatiluno ocrrocalTac lalrro caucdalcic qudlo
c\x per c(Ti fe babia intcnderc.
ca.
1
Dd rcr(,o 7 vUimo Iib:o pjinapalc mcreantdco oetto el cjderno commo ocbbe ciTer farto c
cotno fc uebtn'a o:dinarc vgtiiolo e oopio.
ca".i ?
i qderno:c p dx de rna f gibrnafe fc iie facia ooiin
q
derno:eodmodoa Depcnnarc Ic parnrc in gioznalecdelioornumeri Die earn oclqua
dcrno (be in k fue margine ft ponc:e p cbc.
a". 4
Del m3 a fapc oitrare Ic ptirc oe la ealTa c eaucdalc nd quaderno i oare c l>auerf :c od milefimo d?e oi fop:3 nd p: incipio oc la earra a lantieo fi metre in eiToie oela fua mutan'oiic:c
dd eoprir li fpacij oc le carti fcDo Ic gtite plecole e gradi k6o d bifogno D le faccde.ca.
tComo k dcbino oirrare le partite oe le mercanrie dx p inuentario alrro modo lomo fe n
troii3:ncI quaderno in oare e in bauerc.
ej.i
t>d modo a tencr como con li officii puplidic per dx:c de la camera odimp:efhtti in vcnc
rta d?e fe goiierna per via oe fertieri.
ca?
Commofe ocbia tencr conto cbnToffifcio oc la mclTetaria in uenen'a c ocl oittare le f uc par''
sea". 18.
tire in memo:iale:5iorn3le:eqderno:eanco:aoclimp2elli.
>d modo a fapcre notare c oittare vna ptita 6 robba copata a (dmi'Atmn.Ui libji doc nic
mo:iale:gio2nalc:c quadernorc come a ptc cotati e pte tepo al medefimo apitolo.
emmo fe ocbia o?dinare el pagamento cbc bauefle a fare per oitta e ba ncbo defcripr is nc
pel fuo alfobcto
ea. 9
famofe epticulan" nd maneggio traficatc como fonobaratti copagnie tccomo
le fe babbino afettare t ordinare ne li libii mcrcatefcbi:c p:ima oe li baratti femplici copo
a". 20
Hi e col tepo co apti erepli oc tutti i memo2iale:gio:nalf e qd trn 0.
li
toi lib2ip:inapali.
t>e le piitc
in tutti
ca'.ii.
o?dinarie:ftr3ordinarie:c oi nicrean
ca.2 2
oe g3r;oni c facton como fabino a fcriucrc:e oittare neli libzi.
be lojdinec mo a fap tencr f n eoto oc botcga in tua mano adaltri rccomandata c como
feoebino nelilib:iautcntici'ddpatronecaficbeinqudlidcbotega feparacamente fcri'
ueree oittare.
ea".:?
6mo fe babino a fettare nd giojnale e qdcrno le ptite oe li bacbi oc fcritta:eqli fc inrcdi'
no e ooue ne fia-.o de cabiitii co lo:ofiando mcrearante-.c tu c6 altriquado foiTc b^d?iai;
e oe le quietace cbe p licabififannorc p dx fe ncfacia ooi oc medefimo tenojc.
ca".24
be vnaltra parrita dbc 3lc uoltc fe'coftuma nd qdcrno tcnerc octta entrata c ufdta c aleuoUc
ca.2 j
fenefa libjo parti'eulare.c per dx.
6mo fe babino afettare ndi lib:i k ptitc dc li uiaggf i fua mano:c qltc de li afaggi rccoma
caz6
dm:c comooe neccfflta oe tali nafcono ooi quaderni.
ri j: falarij
bcunaltraptif3famofacittap:oco3nnooueroauangedcfauano':commo
nerc nd quadcrnoic p dx ella non fi metta hd gib.male como le aftre ptitc.
lafabia a tc
ca*'.:
ca'.a S
no fia pzefa'maliria nd quaderno.
mutarcd milefimo nd quaderno fra le piite cbc 3 la gioznata acafcano:
ca'29
quando ognianno non fifaldaffc li libzi.
Com m fe dcbia leuarc vn conto al debit ore cbc lo oomandafTcc ancora al fn patr one fi
ca'.;o
ondo factoze e cdmcrTo de tutta la amim'ftrarioe de le robbc.
iMueiTc
bd modo e ordine a faper rctractare o ueroiftoznarc una piu partitctcfx p error
bd modo a faper
c&y\
ej q
laltrotcioc
in
a
repoztarc
modo
vn
libro
Commo fc debia fare d brtando od lib:o e dd
c
memon'ale
e
giornale
con
nd
pontarlo
lo
fuo
dcrno ycd?io
qdemo iiuouo e dd modo a
altri fcontri dctro e oifuo: od ditto quaderno.
P V*
poftein altro luogo cbc doucffcroandarc
como aduencprmemozaginc.
tempo dxfifad
80
bilanaoicioc
'
CHAPTER NUMBERS.
CONTENTS OP CHAPTERS.
About
and
banks
Pacioli
Mauzoni
Pietra
17
18
bank
or a
19
20
21
51
22
35
and expenses,
Branch
and
profit
loss
stores or houses
23
A
A
24
25
26
and
43
27
43
27
42
28
The change
29
Profit
Why
loss
in the year
ledger...
cus-
30
31
ledger...
32
32
32
What
to
ledger
33
The balancing of
Profit
and
loss
all
34
accounts
account
34
34
The
34
trial
35
Resume
36
of entire treatise
Vol. II/9
36
Vol.
40
Ympyn
J;
Conimo ft ocbiano
i cl3i:c
per cf?cc oc
fij
oa''.;4
o:dic a fapcr tencre Ic fcnpturc menutc como fono rcripnoc manolrc familia
ca".;j
ri politic: ^clTiTcntcfie calmifhunicricjxl rtgiftrooc Icletrerc ipo:tan.
b:cue
fubftatia
fc ba
dc
tractaro;aaocon
fumaria
rccolta
tuttocl
p^cfcntc
pilogo ucro
i:>el
inodo
bia
octtc.
ca"*.
i6
t fcriprun'e.
be quelle cofc cbe fono necclTarie a\ uero n1erca^alue:c ve lo.'dmc a Tape be tcncrc vn q/
jpirolo p?uno.
derno c6 fuo gioznalc i rinc^ia e anclx p ognalrro (uogo.
'|rcucrcnri(ubditio.U.&.S^.On>35nanimo.C>.acio a picno
DC turtolozdine mcrcanrcfco babi'no el bifoguo'.oelfPCTai.CoIr'.
conri e hbji.-j&cro
fima
e la
pecunia numcrara
ie
qlilaporif
fi
po cl manegio
traficanrc erercitare.
cl
Suega
cui
dx
molri gia nudico bona fedc coracncandoroe gra facade babio farto, mcdiantc lo crediro
fedclmetc feruaroi magne ridxi^cc fieno pcruenutiibe afaip vtalia oifcurrcdo nabiamo
cognofcibn.
piii ^d nele gra repuWtdx non fi poreua oireiclx la fedc od bon inercatan
te. a quella Ofermaua lo? giuramcnrotoicedo.B la fe oe real ntcrcaranre. cio no oeuef
fere adtnirario;ie:c6ciofia
piacerc a
dx
|a
fede carolicamcrc
mo.
al oebito rraficoirie
clx
fia
bnon
ragioncri: e
te Iccroze.turto
no lifercbbe.
creditovelx circa altro non farcde d trafic o. qfta pte fra laltre e alojo unli(Tnna:dx i lor
facede altramcte regerfe:feria po(Tibile:fcea oebito o:diiie c>e fcn'pfurc. fe^ alcti repofo la
lo?
mfte fempjc
ftaria in
el
mo a tutte fo?ri
oe fcnptiM*c:a
dx
luogo p
no afettandole cofc wbitamete a li fuoi liiogl?i ucrebbc i grandilTimi irj
uagli e cdfufioi oe tutre fuc faccde^Jurta coe oictii vbi n5 e o?do ibi eft c6fufio pcro a
p
Ql fuo
fecJO
!ucrario.
dx cofa fia iuctano:e come fira mercatand fabia fare, ca'.z 6uienfi:
dx ogni opante e mofTo oalfine. p potcr qllo
fuo ^eiTo.vnde
oc
33
XI.
CHAPTER 1.
THINGS THAT ARE NECESSARY TO THE GOOD xMERCHANT AND THE METHOD OF
KEEPING A LEDGER WITH ITS JOURNAL, IN VENICE AND ELSEWHERE.
In order that the subjects of His Illustrious Highness, the most honorable and magnanimous Duke
of Urbino (D. U. D. S. Docis Urbini Domini Serenissimi) may have all the rules that a good merchant
needs, I decided to compile, in addition to the subjects already treated in this work, a special treatise which
is much needed.
I have compiled it for this purpose only, i. e., that they (the subjects) may whenever
necessary find in it everything with regard to accounts and their keeping. And thereby I wish to give them
enough rules to enable them to keep all their accounts and books in an orderly way. For, as we know,
The most importhere are three things needed by any one who wishes to carry on business carefully.
tant of these is cash or any equivalent, according to that saying, Unum nliquid necessarium est substantia.
Without this, business can hardly be carried on.
,
many
without capital of their own but whose credit was good, carried on big
of their credit, which they faithfully kept, became very wealthy.
became
acquainted with many of these throughout Italy. In the great republics nothing was considered superior
to the word of the good merchant, and oaths were taken on the word of a good merchant.
On this confidence rested the faith they had in the trustworthiness of an upright merchant. And this is not strange,
because, according to the Christian religion, we are saved by faith, and without it it is impossible to please
It
transactions and by
We
means
God.
The second thing necessary in business is to be a good bookkeeper and ready mathematician. To become such we have given above (in the foregoing sections of the book) the rules and canons necessary to
each transaction, so that any diligent reader can understand it all by himself. If one has not understood
this first part well, it will be useless for him to read the following.
The third and last thing is to arrange all the transactions in such a systematic way that one may
understand each one of them at a glance, i. e., by the debit (debito owed to) and credit (en ditoowed
by) method. This is very essential to merchants, because, without making the entries .systematically it would
be impossible to conduct their business, for they would have no rest and their minds would always be troubled. For this purpose I have written this treatise, in which, step by step, the method is given of making all
sorts of entries.
Although one cannot write out every essential detail for all cases, nevertheless a careful
mind will be able, from what is given, to make the application to any particular case.
This treatise ^dll adopt tlie system used in Venice, which is certainly to be recommended above all the
others, for by means of this, one can find his way in any other. We shall divide this treatise in two principal parts. The one we shall call the Inventory, and the other. Disposition (arrangement).
We shaU
talk first of the one and then of the other, according to the order contained in the accompanying Table of
Contents, from which the reader may take what he needs in his special ease.
He who wants to know how to keep a ledger and its journal in due order must pay strict attention
to what I shall say.
To understand the procedure well, we will take the ease of one who is just starting in
business, and tell how he must proceed in keeping his accounts and books so that at a glance he may find
each thing in its place. For, if he does not put each thing in its own place, he will find himself in great
trouble and confusion as to all his affairs, according to the familiar saying, Ubi non est ordo. ibi est confusio
(Where there is no order, there is confusion). In order to give a perfect model to every merchant, we will
divide the whole system, as we have .said, in two principal parts, and we will arrange these so clearly that
one can get good results from them. First, we will describe wliat the inventory is and how to make it.
IS,
CHAPTER 2.
FIRST PART OF THIS TREATISE, WHICH IS CALLED INVENTORYWHAT INVENTORY
AND HOW TO MAKE IT.
First, we must assume that every action is determined by the end in view, and in order to pursue this
end properly, we must u.se everj^ effort. The purpose of every merchant is to make a lawful and reasonable
profit so as to keep up his business.
Therefore, the merchants should begin their business with the name
of God at the beginning of every book and have His holy
NOTE The
original
is
words in parentheses are the author's, as also the punctuation and paragraphing, as the
extremely deficient in these. The words in italics are copied exact from the original.
33
modo.cbc fern
vn foglw o ucro [ibio OJ tjre.JCiwIx' I'e ncroua hiuer a[ inodeioc mobf(e:c
deft abilc.oincn^ando femp oa Ic col'c ci?:(on:> in piu pgio e pw labili al pcrdcrc. 6iiiD
p:cp'-fa'iua
ill
pj n'-coiiio
fe
ocbia fare-jfetrto
Bl nome
495.3 di.s-noucmbx
oc m'o.i
Ueflorequctcficloiueta.ioocnii.j^jOaWiic-'.ciela cotrada ocfco apollolo.
\ qk o2dcn3t3inc to oc niia niano Ix) Icriptoio ,vo fatto fcnucre oal tale 7C.
oc
ca".;
in vincgia.
tufti
li
ir.i
m cotaii
ccU.arlini de rc. oc
dx al inodo
(i
ntro
a ojo
hrgl?i
fi
5itc
mi trouo i ^o
aiicili
pc
mi trouo
ve\\c
dc piu
fo:rc.tatc
li
fc?5o
cbc
fira 7C.
colli
tanti
garo'.7c pcfa".7c.co fulh polucrc c capdlcn'.o ,vo fc^a 7C. pefti tati.dc ?v^^ifii 7C.pcfa''.7C.
laltro 7c.
e pciji tanti fan'.roifi biancbipcfa''.7c.iori andarai mcttcdo p ordic v^.fotto
9'
tru
ridclatal fo:'.7c.cvolpcmar'.ntantccot;c7c.cn''.taiitccrud'c7C.camocc coni,cc
mi trouo pdlefi'.fo'.amtc'.oolTi.rari.^cbdini 7c.n'\tann dc
dc 7c.n".tantc 7C. o
1
Ifl
Jie
vci ip:
fo;tc. n'tantt.de la rale 7C.o(i dcftigucdo a v'.a v'.oiligctcmcte con tutta
qKc
fi^c
a
u anoa n".
d ucrolc Iwbia 3gnidarc7C. Hueudo fcp auertc(,a a Iccofe
tal
ado
uano a pcro. a qilc cb vano a mifura.pocb di cjlic.'vfo:'.
dx
fi
colWa
fare
d trafico p tutio.
U coftniic
84
'
name
To begin
with, the
a sheet of
management
pleted in one day, otlierwise there will be trouble in the future in the
As an example
you maj' use
it
an idea as
CHAPTER
name
of God,
The following
is
November
to
how
of the business.
the inventory
is
to be
made, so that
3.
FORMAL REQUIREMENTS.
ITS
have written down systematically, or had written by Mr. So-aud-So, this inventory of all my property, personal and real, what is owed to me (debiti), and what is owed by me {crediti), of which I on this
said day find myself possessed in this world.
First I find myself possessed in cash, in gold and coin of so many ducats, of which so
First Item
many are Venetian, and so many gold Hungarian of so many large florins made up of Papal, Siennese
and Florentine, etc. The rest consists of many different kinds of silver and copper coins, i. <;., troni, marcelli, papal and royal carlini and Florentine grossi, and Milanese testoni, etc.
Second Item: I also possess, in set and unset jewels, so-and-so many pieces, among which are many
balassi set in gold, rings weighing so-and-so-many oiuices, carats, grains, etc., per piece or in bulk, etc.,
which you can express in any manner you wish. There are so-and-so-many sapphires set on clamps for
women they weigh so much. And there are so-and-so-many rubies, unset, weighing so much. Tlie rest
consists of unpolished pointed diamonds, etc.
Here you may give such descriptions and weight as you
I
desire.
I liave clothes of many kinds
so many of such kind
describing their condition, colors, linings, styles, etc.
Third Item
etc.,
and
so
many
of such-and-such kind,
Fourth Item
I have several kinds of silverware, as cups, basins, rammi, cosileri, piromi, etc.
Here
describe aU the different kinds one by one, etc., and weigh each kind diligently. Keep an account of pieces
and weights, and of the alloy, whether the Venetian or the one used at Ragusa, etc. Also mention the
stamp or mark that they might have.
:
Fifth Item
etc.,
I have so many feather beds and their respective pillows, mentioning whether the feathSixth Item
ers are new or used, whether the pillow-cases are new or used, etc., which altogether or one by one weigh
so much, marked with my mark or with some other mark, as the custom is.
:
Seventh Item: I have at home or in the store so much goods of different kinds: First, so many
cases of ginger niichino, weighing so many pounds, marked with such-and-such mark, and so on, describing
each kind of said goods with all their marks that you might possibly give and with all the possible accuracy as to weight, number, measurement, etc.
Eighth Item
I have so many cases of ginger bellidi, etc., and so many sacks of pepper, long pepper
or round pepper, depending on what it is so many packages of cinnamon, etc., that weigh so much so
many packages of cloves, etc., that weigh so much, with fusii polverc and cappellrtti or without, etc., and
so many pieces of verzini weighing so much, and so much sandalwood, red or white, weighing so much, and
so on, entering one item after another.
:
Ninth Item
I have so many skins for coverings, that is, so many white kids and so many albertoni
or marchiani, etc., so many of such-and-such kind, etc., so many fox skins, so many tanned and so many
raw, so many chamois skins tanned, and so many raw.
:
Tenth Item
I have so many fine skins, fore armenti, dossi varii, zebelini, etc., so many of such-andsuch kind, and so many of such-and-such kind defining diligently and truthfully each time' so that truth
will always guide you, etc., distinguishing the things that ought to be entered by pieces from those that
ought to be entered by weight, and those that onglit to be entered by mea.surcment, because in these three
ways business is conducted everywhere certain things are reckoned by the bu.shel, others by the hundreds,
others by the pound, others by the ounce, others by number, others by a conio (by single numbers) as leather goods or skins, others by the piece, as precious stones and fine pearls, etc. so you will make a notation of each thing.
These examples will serve as a guide for all the rest, etc.
Eleventh Item
I have in real estate
first, a house with so many stories, so many rooms, court yard,
wells, garden, etc., situated in St. Apostle Street over the Canal, etc., adjoining such-and-such parties, etc.,
giving the names of the boundary line properties, making reference to the oldest and most reliable deeds,
if there are anj' and so, if you have more houses in different localities, you will enter them in a similar
way.
:
35
lann-c
UnliOima
bo
mcrcaiarcgrineti.
ca.4
ofi oifcorfo CO dili;c,a rurrc Ic cofe dx re ruroui imobile e Itabile: conic e Dctto a un.i p^r unatfcfofler ben Dienniilia oi'dxcoiiduioni cfacuira fi lucbancbi
Dirto cucrano CO nir
c irripreftiri 7c.futtc albuono o?dine couicnfe noMiinarIc
ri
no msi k
corrafcgni nomi:e
co(c cfTcrc
noppo cbiare
pi'u polTibilc-l^'cr
i^cr Imfiinruafi
d? al
nicrcararc
no polla
mo ala gto:n3f j fa cbiin cfTo fc crercira. pcro be oia el p?oucrbio cbe bifogna pm pontt
a fare vn bo macarare. cbe a fare vn oocrorcrc IcggiXbi e coluulx polTanucrare liptiti:
rcafube ale mam ucngonoalimercarann.Ojap mare.O.'a pterra.Oza arcinpiocpacie
dabondaruia. 0:a a rcmpi dc guerre e carcfljeOja a lempi oc famra c mo2bi.jf5c quali tc
pie Of nirrcse U conuienc faper prendere foi parriti. ^ip li mere an:como p le fieri dx o?a 1
una parria e eira fi f3no. 0:3 m lalrra 7c. pcro bcii fc figiira e afimiglia cl mcrcaiaiue al
gallo. Quale c fraglialfri d piu iiigilanre animalc cbe fia:e oiuerno e Dt Itate fa le fue noiur
ncuigilic.cbe mat per alfiJcempord>a.auengadxDefiloincnafcoica:ciocdcl rofigriuo
\o dx rurra la nocre canti: nor. oimeno queflo dp:) oc ftarc al caldo rcmpo ucnficarc: ma
ron oinuf rno-fomo la erperienea c imp?onro adinioftrarlo. and?o fia fiinigtiata la fua
tc(\3 a ma dx bahia ccrood?i.cIx ancbo?a no li fono baftiti:ne in wr ne i farclLc qual co
fefololeoicad>ile pu3.lHarrinoIo.t]eniriani.5=:o?cfini.6cuoucfi.j^apoIi{aiu.OBilanc^
aneoirji ]5rfJTim >crgamafdn. acjlani.^'cncfi Hudxfi.i&crufini.arbian.^^o^ofim
fi.
^o?ma e regola oogni p3rtiro.d"al bifogno apxndcr fabia. i?i dx be ouao Ic Icggi muni
dpalivv nigilamibuo 7 non oo?mienribu9 ^ura fubueniunrtciocaebiueggbiacnoacbi
orme le leggi fouengao. cofi ne li oiumi officii fi eanra ofl la fancra cbida.clx idio all vi
gtlanri a p?onx(lb la co?on3. pcro qucflo fo el oocumcro di Piri;,rtio oato a Danretcomo
fuo
figli
uoIo
iferno
Ii
oici
cro:randoIo a
la farigaiper laqlc
36
1 have so many pieces of land under cultivation (fields or staiore or panora) etc., entername according to the usage of the country wliere you are, saying where they are situated,
etc., as, for instance, a field of so many tavole, or canne, or pcrtichc, or bevolche, etc., situated in such-andsuch town in the Province of Padua or somewhere else, adjoining the land of so-and-so, giving all the
Twelfth Item
boundary lines and referring to deeds or the description from tlie recorder's office, for which land you
pay taxes in such-and-such municipality, which are worked by so-and-so with a yearly income of so much,
and so on; you will enter all your possessions, etc., cattle, etc.
Thirteenth Item: I have in deposit with the Camera de I'lmpresti (a bank), or witli another bank
in Venice, so many ducats; or with the parish of Cauareggio, etc., or part in one parisli and part in another,
giving the names under which they have been deposited, mentioning the book of the bank, the number
of the page where your account is, and the name of the clerk wlio keeps said book, so that you can
easily find your account when you go to get money, because in sticli offices they nuist keep very many accounts on account of the big crowd that sometimes goes there, and you must also .see that dates are put down
precisely so that you know when everything falls due and what the per cent. is.
Fourteenth Item: I have so many debtors (dcbitort) one is so-and-so, who owes me {me dec dare
shall give me) so many ducats, and so on, giving the names of each one, putting down all annotations as
shall have to give you)
to the names, their family names, and how much they owe you (tc drbbono dore
and why also whether there ai"e any written papers or notarial instruments. In total I have so many
ducats to collect, you will say, of good money, if the money is due from good people, otherwise you will
say of bad money.
I am debtor in total to the extent of so many ducats, etc.
I owe so many to so-andFifteenth Item
so. Here mention your creditors (creditori) one by one, writing down whether there are any documents or
writings or instruments; if possible, mention the persons present when the debt was incurred, the reason,
the time and the place, for any case that might arise in court or out of court.
-.
CHAPTER 4.
VERY USEFUL ADMONITION AND GOOD ADVICE TO THE GOOD MERCHANT.
And so, as we have said, you shall enter diligently every thing that you have, whether personal property or real estate, one by one, even if there were ten thousand items, putting down the condition and
nature, whether deposited or loaned, etc. You will have to mention each thing in proper order in the said
Inventory with all marks, names, surnames as far as possible for things are never too clear to a merchant on account of the different things that may happen in business, as anybody in business knows.
Right is the proverb which says More bridges are necessary to make a good merchant than a lawyer
can make. Who is the person that can count all the things that can happen to a merchant on the sea,
on land, in times of peace and abundance and times of war and famine, in times of health or pestilence ?
In these crises he must know what to do, in the marketplaces and in the fairs which are held now in one place
and now in another. For this reason it is right to say that the merchant is like a rooster, which of all the
animals {animale) is the most alert and in winter and summer keeps his night vigils and never rests. And
they say of the nightingale that it sings throughout the whole night however, this may be in the summer
during the hot weather, but not during the winter, as experience shows. Also it is said that the head of the
merchant has a hundred eyes, and still they are not sufficient for all he has to say or to do. These things are
told by people who have had experience in them, such as the Venetians, Florentines, Genoans, Neapolitans, Milanese, people of Ancona, Brescia, Bragama, Aquila, Sienna, Lucca, Perugia, Urbino, Forosempronio, Cagli, Ugubio, Castello, Brogo, Fuligno, Pisa, Bologna, P>rrara, Mantua, Verona, Vincenza, Padua,
Trani, Lecce, Bitonto, which are among the first cities of Italy and have the first place in commerce especially the cities of Venice and Florence, wliich adopt rules that respond to any need.
And well say the
municipal laws: Vigilantibus et non dormifntibus jura subveniunt which means, The law helps those
that are awake, not those that sleep. So in the divine functions of the Holy Church they sing that God
promised the crown to the watchful ones, and this was the instruction that Virgil gave to Dante as to his
son, in Canto 24 of the Inferno, where he exhorts him to the work by which one can reach the hill of
virtue
Now, my son, it behooves that you quit your laziness, said my master, for he who lies on
feathers or under covei's will never amount to anything. Whoever spends his life in this way, he said,
will leave on this earth the same trace as the smoke in the air or foam on the water, etc. and another
Italian poet admonishes us in the same way, saying:
Work should not seem to you strange, for Mars
never granted a victory to those that spent their time resting. And it is also very good to quote that
sage who said to the lazy man to take the ant as an example and the Apostle Paul says tliat no one will
be worthy of the crown except he who shall fight valiantly for it.
I wanted to bring in these reminders for .your own good, so that the daily care about your business
would not seem heavy to you, especially the writing down everything and putting down everj' day everything that happens to you, as we shall unfold in the next eliapters. But above all, remember God and your
neighbor; never forget to attend to religious meditation every morning, for through this you will never lose
your way, and by being charitable, you will not lose your riches, as the poet says: Nrc caritas, ncc Missa
minuii iter, etc. And to this our Savior exhorts us in the book of St. Matthew, when he says
Primum
qiiaerite regulum dci, et hare omnia adiicietur vobis, which means: Seek you. Christians, first the kingdom of God and then the other temporal and spiritual things
:
87
200
intm( cotiffqujfcff .T&cro cbel padrf vortro a\e^k raitto!rol'<nc roftro biTctmo 7c H
mo
fto ucglio re
fia baffite a
amar ftrsmcro Cn'ucfQrto tix alm'fconi oocumri allxnfarc 7i
C>c la.:^p3rtc pjicipalc dcI pft ntc trsaaaro wrra rifponccoin^la fabfa a inrcndcrc c in
dK
quira o:a la
fe coda
c".?
cfHrc
d?iarirl9.pero 01
lei
rcmofuaortfinitionc.
0dc neitio:iaIc
vacbcfta ql
cIjc fcnren
ea" 6
dx ral pjinnpalef
fia
no po d?e fft quefto tale non fa eafo a ebe monera fi csui fo?e.como ncl giojnale e quader>
nofcb riforro fe dira 'rccl'quadcmicri aft tra rutro poi lui quado reli };(oiK^ igiomale.SicB
tornando poilo p:ineipale vede mtte fucfacende e rafertale fc liparc afrramire tc. pcrof
neceflario wrro Iib20 a chi fa afai faccdc."^ cbc ferebe fatiga bclfegj'are:e per ojdine e gni
cofa Ifl pzima uolta merrere i li libn auaentiei c eon P'Tige pea renuri. i qCefto e in mr ri al'
rri prima ponere el fegno difo?a 1 fula eopra:aeio nd fucee fTo re le faccdcUadc pitno6 feri
ptura uero fojnito eerro repo p la qual eofa ru vjojrai vnalrro libjo p:endcre.o uero de nc
eeffira re r ouerra quado qucfto fofk pieno. ^^ ale oolre moUi coflumanol'Wuerfe pt<: b?
l\h:\
CbX
fegiiidano ifiUare a di p di: vna fotro lalrra dxfia taftanre a I02 rirrotiare.
fc Icfacende dc vna giomara non palTalTcro vna earja.ifJda noi vf'
dunOcbfrnoWitrolTirrafieanri non dx nnaearta ma doictrencpirano in vn gtdJno
le qual.poiCdji oc'enc far male^neporrebbe tagfiare e cauare una-la q' wl Iraude rt3 fi pd'
Ic cofe
(ii
tclioijxboflod nero
38
duWo
you
And
this I
hope
will be sulBeient as
etc.,
and
to
do
CHAPTER
5.
SECOND PRINCIPAL PART OP THIS TREATISE NAMED DISPOSITION (ARRANGEMENT) WHAT IS UNDERSTOOD BY ITWHAT IT CONSISTS OF IN BUSINESS, AND THE
THREE PRINCIPAL BOOKS OP THE MERCHANT.
Comes now the second principal part of this treatise, which is called disposition, and of this I have
more at length than of the first part, in order to make it very clear. I will divide it in two parts.
We shall call the one, Corpo ovcro monte de sutto el trafico; the other, Corpor overo monte de iotega (Commerce in general, and Your store in particular)
First, we shall speak of commerce in general and its requirements. Immediately after the Inventory,
you need three books to make the work proper and easy. One is called Memorandum (Memoriale), the
second Journal (Giornalc), and the third Ledger (Quadcrno). Many, on account of their small business,
use only the last two, that is, the journal and the ledger.
We shall speak about the first that is, of the memorandum book, and thereafter of the other two, about
First of all, we will give the definition of the memorandum
their makeup, and how they should be kept.
to talk
book.
CHAPTER 6.
OP THE FIRST BOOK, WPIICH IS CALLED MEMORANDUM BOOK (MEMORIALE), OR
SCRAP BOOK [SQUARTA L06LI0), OR BLOTTER (VACHETTA). WHAT IS UNDERSTOOD
BY IT AND HOW ENTRIES SHOULD BE MADE IN IT AND BY WHOM.
The memorandum book, or, according to others, scrap book or blotter, is a book in which the merchant shall put down all his transactions, small or big, as they take place, day by day, hour by hour. In
this book he will put down in detail everything that he sells or buys, and every other transaction without
leaving out a jot who, what, when, where, mentioning everything to make it fully as clear as I have
already said in talking about the Inventory, so that there is no necessity of saying it over again in detail.
Manj' are accustomed to enter their inventory in this book, but it is not wise to let people see and know
what you possess. It is not wise to enter all your personal property and real property in this book. This
book is kept on account of volume of business, and in it entries should be made in the absence of the owner
by his servants, or his women if there are any, for a big merchant never keeps his assistants idle they are
now here, now there, and at times both he and they are out, some at the market place and some attending a fair, leaving perhaps at home only the servants or the women who, perhaps, can barely write. These
latter, in order not to send customers away, must sell, collect or bu.y, according to the orders left by the
boss or owner, and they, as well as they can, must enter every transaction in this memorandum book,
naming simply the money and weights which they know; they should note the various kinds of money
that they may collect or take in or that they maj' give in exchange. As far as this book is concerned, it
is not as important to transfer to standards the various kinds of coin handled as it is with the journal and
;
ledger, as
after it take place, in books whicli are authentic and kepi neat with care.
You must make a mark on
the cover of this book, as well as on all the others, so that you can distinguish them when, in the process
of the business, the book is filled or has served for a certain period of time and you take another book.
You must take another book when the first one has been used entirely, yet many are accu.stomed in different localities to balance annually these books althoiigli they are not full and they do likewise with the
other books not yet mentioned, as you will se(^ hereafter.
;
On
the second book you should put another mark different from the first, so that at anj' time you can
your transaction easily. For this purpose we use the date. Among true Chri-stians there is the good
custom to mark their first books with that glorious sign from which every enemy of the spiritual flees and
before which all tlie infernal spirits justly tremble
that is, the holy cross, by which in our tender years
we begin to learn to read. The books that follow, you may mark in alphabetical order, calling A the .second, and B the third, etc. So tliat we call the first books with the Cross, or Memorandum with Cro.ss, and
the second Memorandum A, Journal A, Ledger A. The pages of each of these books ought to be marked
for several reasons known to the merchant, although many say that this is not necessary for the Journal
and Memorandum books. The transactions are entered day by day, one under the other, in such way tliat
it may be easy to trace them.
This would be all right if all the transactions of one day would not take
more than one page but, as we have seen, for many of the bigger merchants, not one, but several pages
have to be used in one day. If some one would wish to do something crooked, he could tear out one of the
pages and this fraud could not be discovered, as far as the dates are concerned, for the days would
trace
SO
polTano fucccniii.inicnrc fcQuircition rinunco cl man camenrodra fatro. ^iclx per qfto
cjilm afai rcfpccri faiipzcc buono nuincrarc figiwrc in turn lil^2i mcrcjiircftbi.f di ca
ca'.?
fa c di t>oc.i tunc Ic earn 7C.
Del
Q.iic(h tali libJi coiiucgofi fcoudo'Iufjin;e bone oc oiucrfi paefiindi qunl( Uio
la!?i imfo rarouaro ponarli: e aprcfc nrarli a mto officio xx nicrcaran coino ("on
no conMi iiela cira oc pcrofa e a lo?o narrarc coino quefh" fono li rot libji i liqli
[
talcrcogni tua fatciidd o^dwia^
ti inrcndi fcriucrc o ucro far fcriucrc oe ma del
ioli :o ucro a.S.Oe$i ofTco ucro
pir
a.^.pe
uoli
tcrurc:cioe
li
tanicrc. oirc a cbe monetc ru
ql cofc (epK cl real nifrcararc
.rarigrani.o.tclLc
^>o
3.
a fio.cX.o.o
a duc.e-S .TC.iD
fcmutalTc iielia feripni
mano
nclla
qpdo
p''carta.
pocrc
ftclpjicipio cogni fuo (ibzo rxuc
orficio
ci^iarirlo.
ditto
1 fa uia poi 6
uia
dd
oiecfTctconucnfc
p
ra ralrri dx m\ pzinpio fc
p^cfcniaflt
tali
pi
c
rali iibji fegna
oi
ni
coino
ofikio
i
oitto
tutto cio fa inctioc i rcgifltri de
tante
a
carricl
Tc.biqiielfale
rale tare 7c
lalrro
cofi
cofic
7c.bi3maro
lu
hdcl tal feccno
[
wo
li'qualipil^ oouerccllfcrc
reiittri
q ma
fua
o dd
^^
PC lo mucntano ncl modo dx fcquaicc inicndcrai.K>a pzima inrcndi c6ie ncl memonale
fccortmnadircTc.
ca'.j
6itio fc dcbino dittarc Ic pamtc i onto mcmonale co crepli
3a c oirro fc bene Ai amcntc eomo i ditto memo.nalr.o ucro uaclxtfa:o rcro fqr
tuoi li po fcnuerc. pcro od oitrare tal pnrc
tafado fccondo aim dx ogjiuno
i e(fo no fi po t)ar picna docn^ina. f&cro cbe cbi intcdera :e cbi non di toi di ca'
fa.flf>a d cdmn coflamc c quefJo ooce^f^ctamo d?c ni l?abi c6p:ato alquanrc
pe^<c
wpanoC
vtpufa.:o.biancbib:cfani)p<r>uc.i:.lnn3baflacbcfemplidinctc pongo
nor 3^
qucfto
la
ral
\f
li
incrcaricc)p?arc cdcUmcrcatic
qua
ca*-?
Ipiuolenolfcoencccdita atcmpoficomprono.
coinuuQ'
re
l^oi cbe 3lcomp7ar<fianio notadxqudloibc ru compel poacadf
m cT)re i. 9.111 odrctoc a oenaricontant i.o ucro a tcrnunc.o vcro ainuonrro dar
robba-Qualcfiocdmunamentceditiobwafto-o ucroapreo-c parrc rcrmico
vcro a parte com Jti c parte rotibc.o ucro a pic robbe.e pre tcrminc o vcro p afc
gnationc dc ditta.o ucro parte i oitta c pte termie a ic.o ucroptc oiita e pane roW^a l^l" 1>
qli
40
m ucllit.T.i
c^l
follow properly one after the other, and yet the fraud may have been committed. Therefore, for this and
other reasons, it is always good to number and mark each single page in all the books of the merchants the
books kept in the house or kept in the store.
;
CHAPTER
7.
OF THE MANNER IN WHICH IN MANY PLACES MERCANTILE BOOKS ARE AUTHENTICATED, WHY AND BY WHOM.
All these books, according to the good customs of several countries where 1 have been, should be taken
to a certain mercantile officer such as the Consuls in the City of Perosa employ, and to him
state that those are the books in which you intend to write down, or somebody else write down
for you, all your transactions in an orderly way and also state in what kind of money the transactions
that is, whether in lire di Picioli, or in lire di Grossi, or in ducats and lire,
therein should be entered
The good mcrcliant should put down
etc., or in jlorins and denari, or in ounces, tari, grani, denari, etc.
these things always on the first page of his book, and if afterwards the handwriting should be done by
somebody else than the one stated at the begiiuiing of the book, this should be recorded at the office of the
that is, on such and such
said officer. The clerk should mention all this in the records of the said officer
a day you presented such and such books, marked with such and such mark, which books are named, one
so-and-so, the other so-and-so, etc. of wliich books one has so many pages, another so many, etc., which
books you said would be kept by you or by so-and-so but that it may be that in said Memorandum Book or
Scrap Book or Blotter, some person of your family might enter said transaction, as explained before. In
this ease, the said clerk shall write down on the first page of your books, in his own handwriting, the name
of the said officer, and will attest to the truth of everything and shall attach the seal of that office to make
the books authentic for any case in court when they might be produced.
and shown
you should
This custom ought to be commended exceedingly also the places where the custom is followed. Many
keep their books in duplicate. They show one to the buyer and one to the seller, and this is very bad, because in this way they commit perjury. By presenting books to the said officer, one cannot easily lie or
defraud. These books, after thej' have been carefully marked and authenticated, shall be kept in the name
of God in your own place, and you are then ready to start your business. But fiirst you shall enter in an
orderly way in your Jom'nal all the different items of the Inventory in the way that I will tell you later.
But first you must understand how entries should be made in this Memorandum Book.
;
CHAPTER 8.
HOW ENTRIES SHOULD BE MADE IN THE SAID MEMORANDUM BOOK, AND EXAMPLES OF THE SAME.
We have said already, if you will remember, that any one in your family can make entries in the
Memorandum Book, or Scrap Book or Blotter. Therefore, it cannot be fully stated how the entries
should be made, because some members of your family will understand and some will not. But the common custom is this Let us say, for instance, that you bought several pieces of cloth for instance, 20
white bresciuni, at 12 ducats apiece. It will be enough simply to make the entry in this way: On this
day we have or I have bought from Mr. Filippo d'Rufoni of Brescia, 20 pieces of white hresciani. These
goods are at Mr. Stefauo Tagliapietra 's place one piece is so long, according to tjie agreement, and paid
for at so many ducats, etc., marked with such and such number, etc.
You mention whether the cloth is
a trelici, or a la piana, wide or narrow, fine or medium, whetlier the Bergamo kind, or Vincenza, or
Verona, or Padua, or Florence, or Mantua. Also you have to state here whether the transaction was made
through a broker and whether it was made in cash entirely or part only in cash and part on time, stating
the time, or whether it was part in cash and part in trade. In this ease you must specify the things that
were given in exchange, number, weight, measurement, and the price of the bushel or of the piece, or of
the pound, etc., or whether the transaction was all by payment on time, stating the time when the payment
should be made, whether on Galia de Barutto, or on Oalia de Fiandra, or on the return day of a ship, or on
the date of some fair, or other festivity, as for instance, on the next liarvest day or on next Easter, or on
next Christmas, or on Resurrection day or Carnival day, etc., according to what was understood in the
transaction. Finally, I must say that in this memorandum book nothing should be omitted. If it were possible, it should be noted what many others had said during the transaction because, as we have said about
the Inventory, the merchant never can be too plain.
said
IT
CHAPTER 9.
OF NINE WAYS IN WHICH THE MERCHANT USUALLY BUYS, AND THE GOODS WHICH
IS MORE OR LESS NECESSARY TO BUY ON TIME.
Since we are talking about buying, you must know that usually you can make your purchase in nine
that is either in cash or on time or by exchanging something, which is usually called a trade
or partly in cash and partly on time or partly in cash and partly by trading and partly on time or by
draft {assegnatione de ditto) or partly by draft and partly on time, or partly by draft and partly by tradIn these nine ways it is customary to make purchases. If you wo\dd make your purchases in some
ing.
other way
ways
41
io
Bidindonoru.Zricatu^.ri'.Srfcrfpfttria
modopiopiiais cbc tu c gliaUri pa k
ncl
nicmoaalc
f jrai
be
k^n^x
Ci
anno ui
tamo
id :>.tc.
coll
oc
li
cQilcl
coftiima, oc guari-al ]l3o?gc falcpoicro noilro.iQDcrcJtcllo.^anugniloXua D
tutro a picnoiii outo iiicmonalc. o
mcntjoneoi
ponio.far
7C.^MClxocpontoin
urli
lo.f
Icnalciuia 7c. Otpoi
per te:o per altndx (i kriua. narra U cofa Icmplicunciifccoiiiiiio
e nianco clx itclTe ocl outo memo
cl bon quadcrmeri.i capo oc. 4.0.^.0 Pcro.8i5o:Hi.i!im
fi
m gwrnalca cU per oi tuttc cominc le Ibnno njkiute. Of>i loto in qiicito oitfc
oc paroUccoin
reiuc.clx non bilogna dx in oino gio.'nalc Ic oiltciidj.i.on tantc tlaltoccl?
mo fe tarto m outo nlCl^onalc.^I^cro dx balta alui vm uolt a baucrc lacofa ben oi^M<i m
nalc nietarle
cl
qudlidx coitunu'
riofeiurc-3.lib:i(a!nodooirro)maiocbanoponcrecolaiMtiio:iiJlcdxp:imanonlaDmo
quelVobaJh quanto alo:diiic oc oitco inctnonaL ) per ic g al
111 oitto mcmo:i9lc 7C.
nota dx per quanti modi tu oa altn poi comp.-^rc.cofi lu per ran
tri toi fi3 tcnuro 7C
non mi Itcdo
lipoi vcndcrc. pcrconfcquente alrr^ po comprarc oa re.i^cl qual rcndcrc
a
If tarlo 7c.
compa:arc.po.Tai
altra inciue.l&cro dx tu per le babundo qnelta fo/ma oc
oifpo'
ocbia
(la.ecommefc
i^elfolib2op?indpalemcrcamclco.oifiogio7nalc:quclcbel
o
ap<toIo
1
o:dinatamente.
.
ncrc
)Lfolib:oo?dinanomcrc3ntcfco.eomogio?naU.lHdquJle.(,ioniniceourd)
oeuc cfftred mcdcfmio (cgno cbc m lomt;mx):(ale: earn kgnate TcComno
oifopza ocl memorial c oif o-l^icr Ic oit ce cagioni. Icmpx ncl p^mcipto oe Ci'
duna carta:re ocue mcttcrc d Of^ilcfiiiio.c cn. oipoi oemano m mano poiierc
tuo lib:o leireto)po2
pjiina Ic parnte ruttc ocl tuo cuentano.jOd qual gio^nalc: per cikre
Itabile
c
le
itroui.
ll\cfcreiidoic leprc
mobile
01
qudlo
clx
rai pieno narrarc e oirc turto
1
al oiito foglio
CO.
rafca
ibccofi
fc
ufa
el
alirt
(eruarai.
ommo tc oiro
oc
le
leiterc
gio?nale:fi
Ic partite ocl oitto
gio7nalevfi(afi.marici
C>e li.:.tcrminincl oitto
apuolo.
10 B.equdloclxpalojorcbabiaaoenotarc.
11.
C)i fonnoC commo e dirto)li termini vfitati i ditto giornale.iunoc ditto. i5>er
laliroe ditto. B. liqlibanolorofignifiLaiicialcunofcparato.-i&er lo. i^er.
leinprc
fcdmota d
creditore.o
o vno opiu
dcbirorc.
dx le liciio. pcrlo. B.
fe
diiiota lo
no fc
a! Ubro grade fabia apo?re) dx
cpio dc riafcuna pnta fi marcel, per.
fi
lii
dalaltro
j?
qudlo dx per
>6c3 CO
clfi le
apftolo.
babia inrendcre.
:.
la p '.piira dtUuo
qii ncl
fi
Itbf c
omo
difotioafuolocoicdarolijmana rcco^danva-Oraudcnoranalfdutaptifadctonrantifi
pcuc mcttcrc c dittarc in qucfto modo.
vj.
f>
42
your raemorandum book with precision the way that you have made the purchase, or have
do it for you, and you will do well.
You buy ou time usually when you buy guati or oats, wines, salt, remnants from a butcher shop, and
fats.
In these eases, the seller promises to the buyer to give all the yitati that he will have in that season.
The butcher will sell you antl promises to give you all the hearts, skins, fat, etc., tliat lie will have during
that year. This kind for so much a pound, tliat kind for so much a pound, etc., and siiuilarlj' for the fat
of beef, of mutton, etc. the bhick skins of mutton at so mueli apiece and the white mutton skins, etc., and
so with the oats, or guati; you must specify the price for each bushel or other measure and the kind of oats
as is the custom at Chiusi de Perugia.
In bujang guati you must see whether they are of our city San Sepolcro, or Mercatello, or Sant' Angelo, or Citta de Costello, or Forli, etc.
In this memorandum book, wliether kept by you or by otliers, you must mention every single point.
You state tlie things in a simple way as they happened, and then the skillful bookkeeper, after four or five
days, or eight days, may enter all these transactions from the said memorandiun book into the Journal, day
by day; with this difference, though, that it is not necessary for him to ]iut down in the Jouriud all the
long lines of words that were used in the memorandum book, because it is sufficient to put them down in
an abridged way, and besides, references should always be made from one book to the other. Tliosi- that
are used to keeping these three books in the way we have said never must enter one thing in Journal if
they have not first entered it in the memorandum book. This will be enough as to the arrangement of
the said memorandum book, whether it is kept by you or others. Remember that there are as many waj's
to buy as to sell therefore, I need not explain the ways of .selling, because you knowing of the ways of
buying can understand the selling.
you must
somebody
state in
else
IT
CHAPTER 10.
THE SECOND IMPORTANT MERCANTILE BOOK WHICH IS CALLED JOURNAL; WHAT
IS, AND HOW IT SHOULD BE KEPT IN AN ORDERLY WAY.
The second common mercantile book is called the Journal {Giornah) which, as we have said, must
have the same mark that is on the memorandum book and the pages marked as we have said in talking of
memorandum
the
book.
Always
date,
In this Journal, which is your private book, you may fully state all that you own in personal or real
property, always making reference to the inventory papers which you or others may have written and
which are kept in some box, or chest, or fiha, or mazzo. or pouch, as is customary and as is usually done
with letters and other instruments of writing.
The different items entered in the said Journal ought to be entered there in a neater and more systematic way, not too many or too few words, as I will show in the few following examples. But first of all
you must know that there are two words or expressions [termini) necessary in the keeping of a Journal,
used according to the custom of the great City of Venice, and of these I will now speak.
CHAPTER 11.
THE TWO EXPRESSIONS USED IN THE JOURNAL, ESPECIALLY IN VENICE. THE ONE
CALLED "PER," AND THE OTHER "A," AND WHAT IS UNDERSTOOD BY THEM.
As we have said, there are two expressions (termini) used in the said Journal the one is called "per,'"
and the other is called "a," each of which has a meaning of its own. "Per" indicates the debtor (dehifore)
one or more as the case may be, and "a," creditor (creditore), one or more as the case may be. Never is
any item entered in the Journal which also is to be entered in the Ledger, without preceding it by one of
the two expressions. At the begiiniing of each entry, we always provide "per," because, first, the debtor
must be given, and immediately after the creditor, the one separated from the other by two little slanting
parallels (virgolette) thus, //, as the example below will show.
;
CHAPTER 12.
HOW THE ENTRY SHOULD BE MADE INTO THE JOURNAL BY MEANS OF THE DEBIT
AND THE CREDIT, WITH MANY EXAMPLES. THE TWO OTHER EXPRESSIONS USED IN
THE LEDGER, THE ONE CALLED "CASH," AND THE OTHER "CAPITAL." AND WHAT
SHOULD BE UNDERSTOOD BY THEM.
the name of God you shall begin to enter into your Journal the first itt'ni of your Inventory,
the quantity of cash that you possess, and in order to know liow to enter this Inventory into the
Ledger and Journal, you must make use of the two other expressions {termini) the one called "cash"
(cassa) and the other "capital" (cavednle). By cash is understood your property or pocketbook (boracia:
from bursa, or bag) by capital is understood the entire amount of what you now possess.
With
that
is,
This capital must always be placed as creditor (creditore) in all the pi'incipal mercantile Ledgers and
Journals and the cash always debtor. Never at any time in the management of your business may cash be
creditor, but only debtor luiless it balances.
For if, in balancing your book, you find that cash is in the
credit, it would denote a mistake in the book, as I will remind you hereafter at its proper place. Now this
entry ought to be made in the Journal, and ought to be arranged in this way
43
'
';
trcaicox
]l^crca(r3Dec6tanti.acaucdalDemitak7^.pcotannmfrouoiqlIaalpmc.fr3 020cmo
pofto i cada.^c. i tmro
ncrt.arjcro c ramo 6 riuerfi cogni.coc age i lo foglio oclo iuctario
nfovctwfano.a
ozo^ioc a grolli.i
almodo
tuito
ouc.tflri D02o. moticrc ouc.tantival i
^
^feofftfa
FWCl9
i
briM mv^.'
^-^w
2Btif6
0iraicoft
2
S
>(
pi'u fozti:
2*.
Sf
fi
cl
pcfanointuttotantoTcval
^
.^
^1,. ^
- r^.
,
^
10 muctaao. 1Qiiedeli
Defttni^ucdo.bene oi poto f> qftc p:ime j?nte ogni cola coc fdti
tu ptcvn<:oinunrigio.faHoarfliro.piup2cftocbc ma^ro^oeSfcriparc cbc vagljrw.
nmo
rate 7c.vraie
vcro noue 7c.3 mio Doflb^o vero oe la mia oona.o uero pe figlioh 7cQQ>ct
toi
7C.
^r pan!
'
cofi po! tu g te ^efk> fccjrai Di po2rc tutte laltrc gritc dc qialtrc robbe.Dcdafcuna facK
do fua ptita.fepata .como 4 6 ^c(er fe oino.]^ncdcili pgio oc comti cozfo.comnio
oifop:a
'.avna
u*
rando la riga.-DC q-to oura tua fcnptura. narrariua. fin al tennine cl?e fi tra fo:a. 1 niedc
f imo modoYeruarai ale ptitc Del meinozialc 7eje fo cl>c tu dcI memo2iaIc njett3r.ii i gio2na
fc.cofi a vna a viia.andarai D^^ando i lo raemoziale.con vna fola.riga.a traucrfo cofi--^
cl^Df notiara qlfa talc prtta.eer pofta i logioznalc 7c. fe tu noii volclTi trauerfare la j^ti'xo
vn3 linea.e tu lici-iraula pMfa Del p2icip7o oela ptit3.o uero lulriaxommo al capo oi qfta.^
fatto.O vcrofi!ratetuwtcqlc&fllt''.fegno.talecbtu ftcda-g qllooiftaptitaecr liato mtf
(a {gt'o2na(e 7C. aucga
tu da te poffiufare moiti rrij e Duicri'i termini e fegni.no t"Ric
no te DdM' fcp2c ftudiaVc oe vfarc licomuni.clx p li aim traficati i tal paefe ti colhj nu
re. iido non pira tu fia cifcrepantc calufitaro modomcrcatefco 7c.
oi fa
bel ;''.evin.Mibr prfcvpale mercatefco.oetto el qderno como ocba eer fatto e ^I fuoal/a
Cap? 13.
polle cbe f u ba
beio eomnto fc dc bia o:dJiiait. vgnolo c Dopio.
qllo
bifogna
c\x
di
Jc
algio2nale4?oi
caui.
poetil in lo
o?dinatai^ete
nitte
rai
le tuoi ptite
^''.li'bio Pitro qderno grade.lql conuniainctcifi cothima fare oc Doi tare carti cbcl gkwiia
f e.Jn toqle conuerra e.cr vno ^Ifabeto.overo "Kcj^tojio ovoi Dir !rouarcHo k) akuni. a! a
con lo
fimilinctc
i.
li'e
cbecomcn^ano
commo fop2a oicemo conuie cl3 fia fegnatODcl niedemo legno cbl
D;fop23
gio^naff
cmc
ella e la
p\ ud gioejTBlc
oeuc cere p'.nd qderno. mtta qlla faciata.fi lolluina bfarla ftare per oitta colla.f in
Oar ne i bauere non fiponc altro. qtlo p cbc la calTa Te manegia piu clx ptira cPAo-a cea
P 02a.i mater e cauar Dinari. po life lalTa el capo largo. qfto qderno coufeclx (iz ri^
Cato.De tate rigl)c.qptc dx fo2te inonete volitrar fo2(.!6c trarai. g: f 6 p. r3i'.4-ngl>c.
e oinagc ale .faranc vnaltra.p metaruf cl n'.relc carni dc Ic ptitc djc ifiemi vc ojrc. J2 1?*'
cofi
44
8,
MCCCCLXXXXIII
IN
THE JOURNAL.
iu Venice.
A Capital
is
1.
Credit2.
S
!
Debit
November
Per cash //
and
coin, silver
worth:
(Atre),S
(Soldi),
(Grossi),}'
(I'ieioli).
and so you
...,
P..^
After you have once named the day, the debtor and the creditor, you may say for brevity if you
don't make any other entry in between; On the day ditto, per ditto, // a ditto.
THIRD. Per silver //. A ditto by which capital is understood for several kinds of silver which at
present
possess
that
so
many
cups, so
many
and
pirotii,
S
G
you have them
so
FOURTH.
and such
new
or used,
etc.,
FIFTH. Per
linen //.
ditto, for so
many bed
sheets, etc.,
many
give the
and such
,
feathers
all
P..
to enter all the other items, making a .separate entry for each different
lot, and as we have .said before, giving the current prices, number, marks, weights, as the Inventory shows.
Indicate only one kind of money, to which you reduce the estimated values. In the column for the
amounts, only one kind of money should appear, as it would not hi- ftrojicr to have appear in this column
In this
different kinds of
You
money.
Journal by drawing a line from tli(; end of the last word of your descriptive narrative (explanation) up to the column of thf figures.
You shall do the same in thi; memorandum book, and as you transfer an entry into the Journal from the memoranduin book, yon shall draw a
single diagonal line (una sola riga a truvf-rao) through it in this way /: this will show that this item has
been entered (pasta) in the Journal.
If you should not draw this line through the entry, you shall cheek off ilanciurai) the first letter of
the beginning of the entrj', or the last lettiT, as we have done at the beginning of this or otherwise you shall
use some other sign by which you will understand that the said item has been transferred into the Journal.
Although you may u.Sf; many various and divers expressions or marks, nevcrtheleas you nnist try to use
the common ones which are used by the other merchants, so that it will not look as if you would deviate
shall close each entry in the
IS
CHAPTER 13.
THIRD AND LAST PRINCIPAL MERCANTILE BOOK CALLED THE LEDfiER. HOW IT
TO BE KEPT. ITS ALPHABET riNDP^X;, AND HOW THIS CAN BE KEPT SINGLE AND
DOUBLE.
After you have made all your entries in the Journal in an ordi-rly way. you must transfi-r them to thithird book, called Ledgr-r (Quadnrno Orandf, i. e., big book). This Ledger contains usually- twicf a.s many
In it there must b<- an alphab-t or repertory or "trovrirfdlo" (finding ki-y ) accordfjages as the Journal.
ing to some; the Florentines call it "Stratto." In this index you shall write down all the debtors and creditors in the order of their initial letter, together with the number of their respective pages.
You shall put
the names that begin with A in the A page, etc.
This Ledger, as we have said before, must bear the same sig^ or mark that is on the Journal and memorandum book: its pages should be riumbi-rfd and at the top at the right margin as well as at the left
margin, you .shall put down the date. On the first page you shall enter eash as debtor. As in the Journal,
so in the Ledger, cash should be entered on the first page. It is eustomar>' to reserve the wlioje of the first
page to cash, and not to enter anything else either under the debit (in dare) or the credit (in havrrr}.
This because the cash entries are more numerous than all others on account of almost continuously paying
out and receiving money therefore, it needs much space. This Ledger mu.st l)e ruled, and should have as
many lines as there are kinds of monej' that you want to enter. If you enter lire, soldi, dcnari and picioli,
you shall draw four lines, and in front of lirf you shall draw another line in order to put in thi- number
of the pages of the Ledger debit and credit entries.
;
45
202
ucrc
Ii
firaftgnatocroacommolialtn.
,
,
,
una m gio:naIc fene fada
t>cl modo a poitsr k price oc gioznalc in quadcrno.c jxl?e cc
coiinquadcrnozccflmodoaocpennarclccritetn gio:aalceoeliroi nunicri otie cflrri
.
Cap
oclquadernodJeinlcfucmargincfiponccedx.
14.
qwa
r laqual cofa.fappi cbe oi tutre le j^rite
lili
bauerc
^cbe
in
laltra
fare
ooi.doc
in
c
vna oare
dcrno gradc.tc ne couc fep:e
oiccmo
cb
6
oifop:a
lo.
^r.
loci
edito:e
conio
lo.
B.
d^iama wbitojcg
^
man
fini
ala
wbitoicponerc
oa
gfefare
".ptitaiqlla
oel
(unococ laltro.fioeuc
cl?c tu barai pofte in logiojnalc.al
qlla ^l
ftra
credito?c.aIa
ooue fia. 1 no
od fuo'rcdiro:e. coli'in qlla Del credico^e.cbiamarc la carta m qlla
grade, nd
qdcrno
oitro
grite
fcp?e
uegano
incaitenate
le
od
tutte
modo
tvebit02c. in qUo
nuifioc
bauc:e.<oli
qlla
in
Dare
dx
fiponga
anco:a
non
ql maifioeuemcttuccofain
ii mctta in Dare.
ancoja.qlla
atnorare
no
fuo
dx
medcfima
bauefe
co
in
ue metterc cofa
1
qlla
dx
re
mma
far fuobilancio
pttia
dx Dd gioznale lew farai Doi rigbe a traucjfo fo d>v:ii leuando.cioc fe p^tu la mettij
mettcrlcli alo:a.
baucrc.farai lal
.di
me^^o. Bcio adn vede no
ac
dx
dx
banerc.
dx
dx
turale ingcgno ta iuri. go fcp:e ftudia Dafettflr ditto creditore immediate a pflb el fuo dc
bitoje in la mcdema fadata.o rero ila imedim fcqnte.no intcrponedoui fra luno e laltro.al
fra Dtita.T^erodxnel-.pp:togio:no cbe n.3fdddcbito:e in qllo
mcdemo
nafci etcrcdito:c
.'
poi
'
46
it
Before these lines you shall draw two more lines wherein to mark the dates as you go on, as you have seen
in the other books, so that you may find each item quickly. This book shall also bear the sign of the crosa
as the others.
CHAPTER 14.
HOW THE ENTRIES SHOULD BE TRANSFERRED FROM THE JOURNAL INTO THE
LEDGER AND WHY, FOR EACH ENTRY OF THE JOURNAL, YOU HAVE TO iVIAKE TWO IN
THE LEDGER; HOW ENTRIES IN THE JOURNAL SHOULD BE CANCELLED. THE TWO NUMBERS OF THE PAGES OF THE LEDGER WHICH ARE PLACED IN THE MARGIN OF EACH
ENTRY AND WHY.
For each one of all the entries that you have made in the Journal you will have to make two in the
Ledger. That is, one in the debit {in dare) and one in the credit {in havere). In the Journal the debtor is indicated by per, the creditor by a, as we have said. In the Ledger you must have an entry for each of them.
The debitor entry must be at the left, the creditor one at the right and in the debitor entry you must indicate the number of the page of the respective creditor. In this way all the entries of the Ledger are chained
together and you must never make a credit entry without making the same entry with its respective amount
in the debit.
Upon this depends the obtaining of a trial balance {bilancio) of the Ledger.
There can not be a closing {saldo) because there must be as much in credit as there is in debit.
In other words, you shall add together all the debit entries, even if there are ten thousand, on a separate
sheet, and then add together in the same way all the credit entries the totals of the one should be the same
as the totals of the other otherwise it would show that some mistake has been made in the Ledger.
We
will speak at length about this when we talk about the way of making the trial balance {bilancio).
And
since for one entry of the Journal you make two in the Ledger, you shall draw two diagonal lines as you
make the transfer that is, if you first transfer the debit entry, you shall first draw a diagonal line {riga
a traverso) at the beginning of the entry in the Journal which shows that the entry has been posted {posta)
to the debit into the Ledger. If you transfer the credit entry, either at this time or later, as it often happens
that the bookkeeper can make two or three entries on the same page in order to prevent his coming back to
write on that same page in which case he should draw a line at the right side where the entry terminates.
This will show that the entry has been transferred to the credit of the Ledger. These two lines, you may see
in the preceding diagram, drawn in the margin by the first cash entry the one is called debit line, and the
other credit line. At the side, in the marginal part, you shall write down two numbers before the beginning
of the entry, the one under the other. The upper indicates at what page of the Ledger the debit entry is,
and the lower indicates the page of the Ledger where the credit is, as you will see at the cash entry in the
above example, like this I, without a line between them. Some are accustomed to draw a line in between,
like this, ^.
This does not matter, but it looks nicer without the line between, so that the figures wiU not
appear to the reader as if they were fractions. The upper figure, 1, means cash was entered in the first
page of the Ledger, and capital M^as entered in the second page of the said Ledger the cash on the debit,
and the capital on the credit side. You should know that the closer to the debtor you can place the creditor,
the nicer it wiU look. It is just the same, however, no matter where it is but it may look bad on account
of the date which at times must be put between entries, and it makes it difficult then to find the dates.
We can not tell you everything fully, but you with your natural ingenuity must guide yourself. Therefore
you always try to put the said creditor immediately after its debtor on the same line or on the line immediately following without entering anything else in between, for whenever there is a debit item there must
exist at the same time a credit item. For this reason, get the one as near as possible to the other.
;
CHAPTER 15.
THE WAY IN WHICH THE CASH AND CAPITAL ENTRIES SHOULD BE POSTED IN
THE LEDGER IN THE DEBIT AND THE CREDIT. THE DATE WHICH AT THE TOP
OF THE PAGE IS WRITTEN DOWN ACCORDING TO THE ANCIENT USE. CHANGING OF
THE SAME. HOW TO DIVIDE THE SPACE ON THE PAGES FOR SMALL AND LARGE ACCOUNTS AS THE BUSINESS REQUIRES.
After having told you these things for your instruction, we write now the first entry of the cash in
and then the first entry of the capital in the credit column, in the Ledger. But, as we
have said, you shall write down in the Ledger the year in the old way by using the alphabet,
thus: MCCCCLXXXXIII, etc. It is not customary to put the day at the top in the Ledger as in the
Journal, because one account in the Ledger may have several dates, and therefore you can not keep the
dates in order by putting them at the top but you shall put the days in the body of the entry, as you
will understand hereafter.
the debit column,
We
which I have spoken, just before the entry. If an item rewhich happened in a different year than that written at the top of the page, which
happens when one does not balance and transfer his books at the end of each year, then this year shall
be put on the side, in the margin near the entry of the item to which it refers. This only happens in the
Ledger, and can not happen in the other books. In making this entry for the year, use the antique letters, which are neater.
to one side, in the space of
fers to a transaction
*7
Bi(b'nrtfo nona.rracta(n9.]a*J&crcripturi0
cofi.
ftnoio aqual clx tu re caui non fa cafo ic. bonca pirai
t]r>.cccclrrrj:ip.
yBs.
caucdal per contanri oc piu foncfra o?o c mo
jCefTfl cc cotanr I ric wrc a oi 8.noucb:e.pcr
non
S.r"'.(5
g p
nctetncrrouobauac in qufllam quelle pxrcitKoimtuttoca.i.
giojnalc.
in
fctnpjc
be
Ikfo
gia
CB3
baucr
Itudu
tc
(teda.p
qui nobifoQia cbc rroppo
cir b.^uf .a p?ima ncl comcn^rc fe wcialquantoiale fcqucti in la mcdcnia id k oidc a
S
'^
Oi0irro7c.perlotale. car.
g
fopza
in
oarc
commc
tc
w(Ti.
giwnalc
poi
in
Ibaraiocpcnarai
dx
pofta
cofi
laqual
.
P
ba
i3^.cccc'.lrrrm
y59
Caucdal cc nii
talc 7c.oic
con b.^cuita in riirtc marimc in quelle pamre i Ix a re folo afpettanccioe dx non bai a
rcndcre conto adal amo. CBn in qlle cbc tu baucrai a rcndcrc coto adaltri-alquo piu ti c6
ucrra rirc.aucnga dx fcmpx' fc rccoa-c^^cr le d?iarcv;c al giojiiale 7c. poi oarai lalrra oc
pcnatura.a qllaoelgionwlc in l>auer<r.(6cfopra rioifliin.i :.cap" in lamargine ojuan'
ri.ala prita.pojra! li zm nunicricoc rMipar in Ditto loco oele earn ooae fono. 1 dcbi(o;c
d crcdiroar-aoc qllo ocl ocbitoxocfop?a. qllo od credifox oc forto coe facenio oiTop^is.
ela ptita re lacaffa-f poi ft^ito poa"ai in lo tuo alfabao.doc rc^ozio.qfto Dcbirox c crcdi
f orc.ognuno ala fua Ifa c6c fai dx Difop?a DifTiXioc la cafTa.al la Ifa. . oiccdo octro in q /
rai
ih m6do.rioe.C3na DC cotanti.
1 .
al.
oicendo. 3-
R. J.
iicdalDenn\ppno.
oc It
R.
ado poi con facrtita poffi fiibi'to rctrouarli in Ditto quadcrno gr jndc 7 cetera.
nota dx baucndo ni gdmo d mo qdcmo ^ alcun cafo Derobaria.o incedio oi foco.o
naufragii 7C. baucdo tu luno oc li aim doi libn.ioc memo:iQle. vcro gio:nale. co elTo
dx
fc
gnte. pdefti aTtib'.tu imargie poncfti.li Ooi nu'.^li ccbitozi.e crcditoji.liio foura lal
tro dx d^iamauano le cam', od qdcrno doDcranofituati.e dipoto arantc carri li po:rai fa
poi la Qtita eft
re nro?nar co ruo ingcgno 7c. qfto ba Ih qpto a vna gnia porta 7c'.
(li le
iDioede piu forte, dicmo dare a di-S.noucbx.p caijif dalc.'j>pc^ei n? tami 7c.pcfano tanto
7C.dequfllitann' fonnobalafll Icgan 7C. ranri fafili7c.
tin nibinicoculcgni 7C.
tantt
dtamanti crtii tc.lcquali in rurto.o vero a fo;ia per ro:ta metto ralcre a comun pgio.oc co
taiiriduc4and7C.val car. 2
S4o.fo.go4>o.
cod dcpenncrai.la pnto in giojnalc.nd dare tirando ia linea coinme dc fopra al. n f cap?
tcdi(Il poiandarai al caucdal. porrai qfta medcma con maco parotic jxr Icragfon gu
diTopra adurte in quefto capitolo cporrala in baucrc fotto qudla p'.cC'gia li bai pofto dcia
calTa.diraieofi.T3.
a tJi
o
dcrto.pcr ^oie dc piu ionc commo li aparc 7c. car. ;
5 .4o.f' eg 0. p 0.
cofipofta farai laltra dctxnarura.al giojnalc i baucr .coe tc moftraidiTopra al. 2 .ca'.
poTni
margmc li nmncn rIc cmi. douc tal QiiK al quademo poncrtj' como dWcnimo
qlUdeTcaucdal
fta
48
although
it
it
this
way
MCCCCLXXXXIII.
JESUS
Try
to be very lengthy if
"per"
8,
capital.
On
this
day
L.X, S
have in moneys of
the Journal.
in
very brief.
At the beginning of the page we say more, but in the entries following it is enough to say on ditto,
P
G
L
S
"per" such and such; page, etc.,
After you have made the entry in this way, you shall cancel in the Journal as I have explained to you.
Then in the credit side you shall write down this way
:
MCCCCLXXXXIII.
JESUS
this
day
This entry
is also
sufHcient
shall have)
on November
8,
"per"
On
cash.
i)afie 1
same account, it will be enough to say, on ditto, "per" such and such, etc., as has just
been sho\\^l. At the end of this treatise, I will give you an example, and thus you will go on expressing
yourself briefly especially in tliose things which are private that is, of which you do not liave to give an
account to any one. But as to other things for which you have to give an account to other people, it will
be better for you to be more explicit, although for explanations we always rely on tlie Journal. Then you
In the
will cancel, by drawing a line, the credit entry in the Journal as I have said above in Chapter 12.
margin, just opposite the entry, you shall write down the two numbers of the pages where the debit and
credit entries are. That is, you should put the number of the debit page above, and the number of the
credit page below, as we have done above in the cash entry. Then you sliall at once enter in the alphabet
or repertory (index) this debtor and this creditor, each one under its own letter as I have told you before.
That is, cash at the letter C, by saying in this way: Cash, page 1. And capital also at the letter C, saj-ing:
Capital belonging to me, page 2. And so on, you shall enter (in this repertory) all the creditors under
their respective letters, so that you may find them easily in the Ledger mentioned.
to be entered in the
Take notice, that if by any chance you should lose this Ledger througli robbery, or fire, or shipwreck,
you have either of the other two books, that is, the memorandum book or Journal, you can, by means
of this book always make up another Ledger wdth the same entries, day by day, and enter them on the same
pages on which they were in the last book especially so, if you have the Journal in which, when .you transferred tlie different entries into tlie Ledger, you wrote down at the margin the two numbers of the debit
entry page, and the credit entry page, the one above the other, which two numbers indicated the pages of
This is
the ledger where the two entries had been entered. In this way you can duplicate your Ledger.
enough said for the posting of one entry.
etc., if
entries,
which pertains
to precious stones,
you
Ledger
as follows
FIRST, without my telling it to you over again, you shall write down at the top of the page the date,
there has been no date written before because of another account, for at times on the same page two or three
accounts are made. Sometimes you won't give much space to one special account because you know tliat
you will not have to use that account over again. Therefore you will give to this account a smaller space
than the space you give to other accounts whicli you had to use more, as we have said above in Chapter 13,
when talking about cash and capital, to which we give the whole page, as we have to use tliese two accounts very often because of the many transactions. This is done in order to lessen transfers.
if
Now then, after you have found the proper place (in the ledger), you shall write down on the left
because the debtor must always be at the left: Precious stones of many kinds debit {dienno dare shall
give), on November 8, per capital, for so many pieces, etc., weighing so much, so many are counted halasxi,
etc., and so many sapphires, etc., and so many rubies, etc., and so many unpolished diamonds in bulk (or
divide the different kinds), for a value of so many ducats; page 2:
L40; SO; GO; PO.
You
Chapter
On
12.
And
it
appears at page 3
L40 SO GO PO.
;
After wliich you shall draw another line on the credit side of the Journal, as I have shown in Chapter 12 you shall put down in the margin the two numbers of the pages of the Ledger in which you have
made these entries, one above the other, as I have told you. We shall say, for instance, that you have entered the debit entry at page 3 the capital entry will still appear at page 2, as long as that page is not
;
filled.
49
OMinrtonotta.srrartatu^.ri'.St'fcriptoria
joj
a wttc lativ !a po:Mrai.cdinc Motto nc rcpom intcckrai flpK:iio. qfto p qfta.e 3 fue filtif
afenan 111 giomalc-c tu fubvto lapor7C. pofla clx (arafal oi'tro qderno.
rai al rcgtorio vcro alfabctccoc oifop:a i qft"o cap? fo ocrro. ioc ala fua Ira. 6. vcro.
I5a la .pfcri'raf.coc iduicrfi pacfi ocadc.cbr qui i uincgia moiro fi coftuma pone
5. fo.pf
lie la baftatt
m rofcana ponemo
c!
gXkbc accwaarala tu
tm Jwdido 7C.
6c k ZKbxno oitrarc Icj^iirc oclcmcrcanric cbe per imcntmo oaltro inodo (bonjo fert
trouatndquadcrno'inoareeinbaucrc.
ap^ 16".
11
poto c6e li le poneHi.ocnotatc.pclx c6e oiccmo oifopja cap*.6? qllo tal iniicnt a
rio no ficaua jxl mcniojialcp la ragt'oc li 3fcgnara. po fuo oirrarc in gi07nalc
<inco?a nel gra lib? i oare c baucit. e ci po.ne alalfabcto.lafdaro o: niai Tccjrc al ruo jjcgri
noingcgnowlql molrome'cofido foIol3.7'.pntaoc^c(;cr inccbiniclxrifroiiiafafare
ino igio?nalc. ancoza al qdcnio laql re fia baftafc c futfiacrc ainacrtramero a tuttclc altr^
clx oimcrcaria alcuo,- ^ ritrouane.baiiedo fcpjc tu na tc in.icc gliocbi (02 n'.pefi.e iniHire e
volute
rurti
li
inercati
rtalro
fo'
tc
colli oirai
f
ouc.ranri7c.moranointurfoncttfr>uc.tanri7C.val
$
ff
P
al
reroinuetario.laoipeiia.e
laca.al
mcmojiale.o
gio2nale.tu
cofi porta cf? lariiinel
modo oitto fop^al.l I'.cap? 7C. cofiobfuaraip tuttc lalt'.7C.&i ^^a coe fo oetro e oc qfii
oarc.e laltra i ba
clx altra clx f giojnale fi metta.fe'prc al gran Itb'.fifanno ooppie.cioe
ucrc coe difopfa oiccino c;p.i 4'*.la qual poi nel quadcnio in oarc.poncndola oirtarala I
qrti) tnodo.iS'ofto p'.fcp?e cl mflefimo (c no uifolTe in capo oela carta.fea mcttarui cl gtoz
no oifopja po cbe coe ofcenio oifop:a cap. ? ? 1 oi no fi coftuma po2rc (op:a nel p:in? be
oiucr
iacarta ocl quadcrno p rifpctto clx in qlla mcdcfima fada porrcboiio cere piu pritc
1
incfi. oi e
mcttcre
cl
s ? cofi vj-
P
g? p.
oerro.pcr(en{c2imedMni in montco vcro colli 7c.cflr. ;.
S
cofi porta cbe Ibaraiocpennaraila partita od gio2nalc in Ixiuercdoe verfo mandeftra.coe oinan^evedi fatto. poni li numcri ode carti oina;e alei in margine vno fop.'a lal'
tro.ioe d.; .oifopja d.: .oifotto pclx tu bai meffo d ocbito2ea carti. vnd quadcrno. d crc
aoi
17
^^p?
ncttadxfcgoucrnaperviaoefcrticri.
p m
50
After you have made the entries in the Ledger and marked it in the Journal, you shall put it at once in
the index as I have told you above in this chapter that is, under the letter G or Z, according as to how
Oioie (stone) is pronounced. In Venice the custom is to pronounce it with Z; in Tuscany, with G. Guide
yourself according to your own understanding.
CHAPTER 16.
HOW THE ENTRIES RELATIVE TO THE MERCHANDISE OF WHICH ONE
SESSED ACCORDING TO HIS INVENTORY, OR OTHERWISE, SHOULD BE MADE
LEDGER BOTH IN THE DEBIT AND THE CREDIT.
IS POS-
IN
THE
will be able to transfer easily by yourself from the Inventory to the Journal the four items of
that is, silver, linen, feather beds, clothes, etc., exactly as you write them in the
Inventory, as we explained in Chapter 6. This Inventory was not contained in the memorandum book, for
You
And as to how to make these entries in the Journal and the Ledger,
the Index, I will leave to your ability, on which I count very much.
and
as to
how
to record
them
in
We
shall proceed to enter in the Journal, as well as in the Ledger, the seventh item (of the InvenThis must be a sufficient instruction for you by which to make any other
tory), which pertains to Ginger.
entry relative to your merchandise. You should always have in mind their number, weights, measurements
and values according to the different ways in whicli it is customary to make purcliases or sales among merchants in the Rialto, or elsewhere. It is not possible to give here full examples for all these operations, but
from those few that we give here you will be able to understand how to go ahead in any other case. For
if we wanted to give you an example of all the ways in which merchants do business in Traui, Leeee, Bari
and Bitouto -that is, to give you the names of their weights, measurements, etc., and also to tell you about
the ways that they use them in Marea and in our Tuscany, this would make our treatise very long, which,
on the contrary, I intend to make short.
After you have entered it in the Journal in this way, you shall cancel it in the memorandum book or
inventory, as we have said in Chapter 12, and you shall do the same for the other items. Of this entry, as
we have said, as well as of any entry made in the Journal, you shall make two different entries in the
Ledger; that is, one iu the debit and the other in the credit. See Chapter 14. In making the entry in
the Ledger in the debit, you shaU proceed in this way
First you shall put the year, in ease there is
none, at the top of the page, without there putting down the day, for, as we have said in Chapter 15, it is
not customary to put down the day at the beginning of the page of the Ledger because on that same page
several entries may be made under the debit and credit which, while belonging to the same year, refer to
transactions made in different months and days. Even if on that page of the Ledger there was only one
cash entry or other entry, the day put at the top of the page could not be very well kept because, under
the said entry, it would be necessary to write down transactions which happened in different months and
days. For this reason the ancient people never put the day at the top of the pages in mercantile ledgers,
as they saw that there was no justification for it, etc.
You shall make this entry in the debit (in the Ledger) in the following manner: Ginger in bulk, or so
many packages, debit {dee dare shall give) on November 8 per capital, for so many pieces, weighing so
many pounds, which I on this day have in my store, or at home in my house, and which according to current
prices are worth so many ducats and in total so many ducats, grossi, picioli, etc. Page 2
the debit side of the Journal that is, at the left, as I have told
the credit side under Capital, as I have shown you in entering the
is
On
Page
3:
After you have entered it in this way, you shall cancel the entry on the credit side of the Journal
that is, at the right as I have shown you before, and you shall also write down at the margin the numbers
of the respective pages of the Ledger one above the other that is, three above and two below, as you have
made the debit entry at Page 3 and the credit entry at Page 2, and you shall thereafter enter it in the
alphabet or repertory under its respective letter, which may be Z or G, for the reasons given in the preceding chapter.
CHAPTER 17.
HOW TO KEEP ACCOUNTS WITH PUBLIC OFFICES, AND WHY. THE CAMERA DE
L'IMPRESTI (MUNICIPAL LOAN BANK) IN VENICE, WHICH IS MANAGED BY SESTIERI
(DISTRICTS).
51
'
Ml
"c
ognuno pfuade clfuo ojdine nugliojc ocli altri.imododx ale volte inozodano le pnte.
oe rail ofTicildx non fene ti'cn 'xo laltra fguai d^i cotalt a afare. po fa dx tia a cafa.
colV apo aboreaa.c6 qfti tali. ccrramcre foTfi el fano a bon fine no w'mcno moflrao igno
uedic c6p:i.C3uie mettinele
cofitirfai coto.co ligabcllarie wiiari oc robbcdx
rflija.
li
pfu
ft
ricnc
oela
tcrra^iotologo co to offido
p
terre 7c.iCoe ft colhima farc'invinecn'a.dx
p2e
xm libzo.o ucro loogo in qualdx libro al ditto officio ooue Ini w a oarc in nota
li
macflt<
dx
f#nno p:l
fa.fi cotcrricri.coc forefh'cn altramcte ca^ano in pcna.faltramctc faceffaro.
molti
li
po:tafcro
oe
me ri
qlla
c
lo:o.e
faiuani
c5
mal
coe
licafti'ga
crcdfa.iS.
Dati. bene
po
fanno
conflituircvno
ftraniani^tt.
fantamente
i
puniti
nclitpf
paffariecrc
cojdo.gia
clqlc a folo qlla cura.in renedere tutti lioffidi.doefe liloro lib'.fono bn.oii>o
iConimc
fe
oebia tener conto con lo offido oda mclliitaria in vcnetw c oel oitiare
le
ap'.
fue
1
8.
offriiooeconroliocmcrcnnri.fo:m3nolelo:o^ridrclxA:iitcn^e7C.C>icoadoncacomp:an'
do lu alcuna robba.tu oic fapcqllo d.x lai^ga oc in. p lamita rericni.al ucnditojc. toe
fe la robba paga.4.p c*.a qllo ofdcio p Ocretopublico ocl oominto. tu alui rcrieni.2 p c?
.
rio. od
6M
tridcoe oicemo tc.pcbe d oitro off in'o non uol ccrcarc.cbi vcndc.ma d)\ cojnp2a. po pot
a tal comp2at02i li e conccffo.oi cauare tanro oiqlla jnercanria.p q>to a pagato la m. fo23 6
la terra.in I020 bolctre.ala tauola.oc lufdcjo per marc p terra dx la uogiiono cauare ala
5i02n3ta. po conucgano li mercanti tcncre bcu conto con lo oino offido. ado fcmp:e fa'
pino qpto fumno cauare.pdx non filaffano cauar-ixr piu dx ficomp2ino fe oi nouo non
pagbino la rn.oe conranii rcodcquali compre c) fequcntc ri pongo crcplo.e cofi.ocl oi'tto
Offido.commc fc iMbinc a oit tare in gio2nle. ancbc in lib20 grande. oiro cofi.
i^i
ma.tti meino2iale.fcn)plk:imcnre.5oji? vcro not in qi\ci\o 01 pofto oiTopra ocomp23fo oa P
$U3n anioniooa mcfina.^uc^jlipaferminicafll n'.tantc.pani nMantf.pefand in rutto. tictri.
oe pancllc.cani.co2de.e paglic. S tantc per ouc. tati. cl c".montano ouc.tari7C.abaf to perh
Tua parte ocla in .a ragion oe tanto per c.ouc.g.p.tann tcfcnfaro^iuan oc gagliardi.vale
nttti oucanLg.p.tanti w-paga
mo coptand.
52
CHAPTER 18.
HOW YOU SHOULD KEEP YOUR ACCOUNTS WITH THE OFFICE OF THE MESSETARIA
IN VENICE. HOW TO MAKE ENTRIES PERTAINING THERETO IN THE MEMORANDUM
BOOK, JOURNAL AND LEDGER, AND ABOUT LOANS.
When you want to do business with the said offices, you shall always charge to the Camera de L'Impresti (municipal loan bank) so many per cent, on all your funds or capital, naming the district where
one resides. Likewise, for the amount of the daily sales for many are the sales made for you or for others,
as those people know who are familiar with the Rialto. Be careful to put down the name of the party that
buys and his place of business, etc. When you withdraw said funds, you shall always credit the said bank,
day by day and district by district.
In doing business with the office of the Messetaria (exchange), you shall keep the account in this way:
merchandise through brokers, you shall credit the said office of the Mcssctari with the
2% or 3% or 4% of the whole amoiuit, and shall charge it to that specific merchandise, for you are thus
paying for it, etc. Therefore the buyer, when he makes his payments to the seller, should always retain
that percentage, no matter whether the payments are made in cash or otherwise, as the said office does not
concern itself about anything except the rate (
to which it is entitled.
)
The brokers make a report of
the transaction, how and what for and with whom made, in order to have things clear in case any question should arise, which may happen.
common proverb
says
Who
learns noth-
ing, etc.
any question should arise and the parties wisli to settle it, they would go and examine the records
of the transaction made by the broker, to which records, according to the public decrees, as full faith is
given as to a public notarial document, and according to these records very often the office of the Consuls
If
its
judgment.
then, when you buy anything, you must always know what is due to the Messetaria, and you
withhold half of this from what you pay to the seller that is, if the particular thing that you buy is subject to a 47r payment to that office, as per public decrees of the Republic, you withhold
of what you
give to the seller. You give him that much less in order that he receives what is due him. You then will
become a debtor for the whole amount which is due the said office, and you shall credit the said office with
I say,
2%
in your Ledger when you keep an account with that office and charge it to the goods that you have
bought, as we have said, because that office does not interest itself in the party who sells out, but in the
party who buys. In accordance with this, the buyer will be allowed to take out of the official warehouses
merchandise in proportion to the brokerage paid and according to their books kept at the shipping co.unter, whether it came by land or sea.
Therefore, the merchants should keep a careful account with the said
office so that they know how much merchandise they can take out.
They are not allowed to take out more
than they have bought unless they have paid the extra brokerage.
Of these purchases, I will give you here an example and how the transaction with the said office must be recorded
in the Journal and in the Ledger. First, you shall express yourself in the memorandum book in the following manner:
I (or we), on this day above mentioned, have bought of Mr. Zuan Antonio, of Messina, so many boxes of
Palermo sugar and so many loaves of the net weight that is, without the boxes, wrappers, ropes and straw so many
pounds at so many ducats per hundred; I deduct for what is due to the Messetaria at the rate of so much per cent.,
it
so
many
picioli.
53
Zuan de Gaiardi;
net
value,
so
many
ducats,
grossi.
104
Hamcdrfimamgjomafeoiracori'
acontanti.
i^^ cmari ocpalcrmo. Bcafb comati a f cuan oc antonio oaiuefina^xr caUT n'.f ante pani
n Cifiri. pefano ncm.oc cfllTi-pancUc. co?dc.cpaglic.Sfa"rc.a oucfanricl c? mdtanoouc,
tanri ic.abarto.p fa fua parte ocla m.a rafon oe tanri per c". tc. ouc.unri 7C. rcdanoncm.
tnict3nri7c.fcnfarf.^anDcgauifdi.
f'
%
6 P
lan*cdf fnna in quaderno wra cofi.
5iicarl TK palermo.rnc oarcadi talc.p calTa conrari a f^mn oantonio oc mcfma. pf r panni
numcro ranri pcfanoncrri.S-tantepcrouc rantidccrtto.montanonmnnrutro acarri l^
faraicredirru::laca(l&oiquclranf0 7C.
J'
5 ?
s
fcmpx farai (oJTitto ocia m.mditoK dd Ooppio cbc fu mcnefti aliicdifo?e. doe p I3
fua c p4arua gtc. 7C. fcpzc fubit noraro la robba fnjcdiatei vnalr'.pnta (otto farai crcdi
tox oirto officio per t>irto ^ucaro coc I>ar3 i DiTorro. pibitria oitta robba t5>cr c rcmpio nu
.
na pagata a contanri.02 p?cndmc rtia pre a cotanric parte, a tpo p'.imenion'alc cofi oirai.
oe tanriper
c"'.ouc'.tantf
tari
fatpoRntuttoagofto^i"'clxuicn7c.fenfarf^anoeccaiardiv.i(.
one.
ff
p
fappi cbe oe qlle cofc c!?e fe fcriue mcrcato [xr lofenfaro.a (offirio non btfogiia far f&it
10 oc man perclx e( mcrcato bafta.ma pure a caiitcla ale uofte fi fa 7c.
5n gio?na(e la medenia oira cofi.pzima quel tal oc rutfoacdiro:e. poi ocbiio:c ocql
la parte oc 6. dx (ui l?aue.
t49vao!tanriodt3l mefe7c.
yfts.
gaiardi.val.
f'
la parte oe
mcrcato.ouf.tatt7C.ageoelreceucrefcrittooefuamanoraK
'
g p
cofi.
Ser <uan datonio ocmefma die bauere a di tanti de noucmb?e.^w cucan de palcrnio. panin'.tantipefan netti S;.tanteperduc.tannelc''.montano.ncfn de ifi.duc.tanti.dcquali al
pzeientc li ne ocbio dar contanri duc.tanti 7c.delauan(o.mi fa tpo per rutto agoHo .prio fii
furo.faifarf<,uandcgagliardi.vjl
r;.4.
'
f'
ap?
Ktuoilibn'pJtncipftfi:
19.
ofip tal
?
54
iiij
.^...
You
JESUS
1493
..,
P
G
L
S
For the cash payment, you shall charge him and credit cash in the following manner
Per Mr. Zuan Antonio of Messina // A cash. By cash paid him for part payment of said sugar according to the terms of the transaction, so many ducats, as it appears from his receipt written in his own hand-
picioli: value:
writing. Value
In the Ledger
you
sliall
own handwriting
his
in his book;
page 1:
in the
Ledger
shall be as follows
Office ot the Messetaria, credit {dee have re shall have), on such and such day, per Palermo sugar
bought from Mr. Zuan Antonio, of Messina, for the amount of so many ducats, at so many ducats per
P
L
G
S
hundred. Broker, Mr. Zuan de Gaiardi Page, etc.
;
CHAPTER 19.
HOW WE SHOULD MAKE THE ENTRIES IN OUR PRINCIPAL BOOKS OF THE PAYMENTS
THAT WE HAVE TO MAKE EITHER BY DRAFT OR THROUGH THE BANK.
And as to the purchases, this should be sufficient to guide you, whether the payment of the purchase
should be made all in cash or part in cash and part on time or part in cash or part by bill of exchange or
draft {ditto) or all through the bank; or part in cash and part through the bank; or part through the
bank and part on time or part through the bank and part by bill of exchange or part through the bank,
part in cash, part by bill of exchange and part by merchandise, etc.
For in all these ways it is customary to make purchases, and in each case you shall make entries, first
in the Day Book, then in the Journal, then in the Ledger, taking as a guide the foregoing example.
;
55
tflim-dc
farale mditriei
e pticulari
,^
fucdtametc a
tiia balion^fl.tc
natamcte.aeio no tc abagli in
;$'6nolib3rarrie6munamctcOc.?.fonccccoifop:a inleraaiofooetto. &iftfetio.o*.'. y,".
bko adoea elx in ruttiiiierfiebe tc
carti.i 6i .fin in. t67.flpieno (iAycM rtcoiri a itendcrli.
meino?ialc oebi narrarlo ad Ifam.
puramcrc.p\iii
lo
fcriue
baratto.fepzc
re i lib" d
ueadciffe
i
cbcnon
tara
fa
al giojnalc.
Mi
nc
#cr
ocbftriei laeaHa.
caffa:
li
oitti
7L
ifocr
t(7c.pefano j.fanteval.
pam n.
ran'
J"
. (Tmili ptitc fubito qlli mettano f mediate wd gioznalc a pITo qlla od baratto. nd cjl bnnc'
a qfJo modo oittarcfti'.non volendone tcner feparato con to. d^afc k
fliliconti 7c.fi
dx
56
But when you make a payment part through the bank and part by bill of exchange, deliver first the
and then settle through the bank, which is safer. Many observe this precaution on good
grounds, whenever they have to make payments part in cash to settle this balance through the bank, etc.
If you make payments part through the bank, part by trading something or part by a bill of exchange and.
part in cash, you shall charge the seller for all these things and you shall credit each of the said things, each
bill
of exchange
thing in
its
Now
own
place.
know how to go ahead whenever you make purchases, you will also know what you have
do when you sell. In this ease, you shall charge the different buyers and shall credit the different goods
that you sell and shall charge cash if you get money for the same, and you shall charge bills of exchange
if you get a bill of exchange in payment, and credit the latter when the bank pays the exchange.
Therefore, referring again to the purchase, you shall credit the purchaser with all that he gives you
that you
to
in pajTnent, etc.
CHAPTER
20.
ENTRIES FOR THE WELL-KNOWN AND PECULIAR MERCANTILE CUSTOMS OF TRADING AND PARTNERSHIP, ETC. HOW THEY SHOULD BE ENTERED IN THE MERCANTILE
BOOKS. FIRST SIMPLE TRADINGS, THEN COMPLEX TRADINGS AND EXAMPLES OF ENTRIES FOR THEM IN THE MEMORANDUM BOOK, JOURNAL AND LEDGER.
:
Now we shall speak of how certain well-known and peculiar entries should be made which are of the
highest importance in commerce, and which usually are kept separate from the others so that they can show
They cover tradings, partnerships, suggested business
their respective profits and losses {pro e danno).
trips, trips on your own ventures, commissions from others, drafts {ditta) or bills of exchange {bancha
I will tell you briefly about these accounts, how you should
descritta), actual trades, store accounts, etc.
make the entries in your books so that you don't get mixed up in your affairs.
First, we shall show how to enter a trade {barato).
Trades are usually of three kinds, as
Section 9 of Treatise III, Pages 161 to 167, where it is stated fully and you can refer to it.
we
said in
I say, therefore, that no matter how you make a record of the trade in your books, you shall first enter
in the memorandum book, stating in detail aU about it, its terms and conditions and whether it was made
through a broker. After you have so described it, you then at the end shall put a money value on it ; and
you shall put down such price in accordance with the current value which the things that you have traded
have reckoning in any kind of money in the memorandum book. Afterwards the bookkeeper, when he
transfers the entry to the Journal and Ledger, will reduce that money to the standard money that you have
it
adopted.
This is done because, without entering the value of the things that you have traded, you could not,
from your books and accounts, learn, except with great difficulty, what your profit or loss is. The merchandise must always be reduced to actual money value in order to take care of it (in the books).
You may keep a separate account of the goods received in trade, if you wish to do that, in order to
know how much you make out of them separate from those of the same kind that you might already have
at home, or separate from those that you might get after that, in order to know which was the best transaction. You also may keep only one account of all the goods
for instance, if you have already some ginger,
and you get some more ginger through a trade. In this case you shall make the entries in the Journal as
follows
Per Ginger
in bulk or in packages //
L
P
S
G
you do not know exactly how many loaves of sugar you have received for the said ginger, it
does not matter, because you may correct the mistake in the following entry, whether the mistake was
made plus or minus, or correct it through the cash entry. On the contrary, you know exactly the weight
and money value, and you lose nothing in either by not knowing the number of loaves. It is not always
possible to keep an account of aU small details.
Now you vnW debit cash for whatever cash you received, and you shall credit sugar in the following
manner
Per Cash // A ditto. In the said trade I received cash from so and so for so many loaves of sugar
weighing so many pounds value
L
P
S
G
You shall record in the Journal direct all these different items soon after the trade is made, and should
take the name of the merchandise if you do not want to keep a separate account but if you want to keep
them in a separate account, you will write this way in the Journal
Per ginger hdlidi received by trade from so and so, etc. // A sugar, etc., stating everything as sho%vn
above. In the Ledger then they will have separate accounts.
This will be sufficient for you for all kinds of trades.
And
if
CHAPTER 21.
THE OTHER WELL-KNOWN ENTRY CALLED PARTNERSHIP.
WRITTEN IN EACH BOOK IN THE PROPER MANNER.
57
HOW
IT
SHOULD BE
pa
I'ftfnctio
joy
BUra pamta
cclTc
di
<;uidaftpfaqltc"cc
,-.
ficggto^mcbiiga:
.
c6nio al piltc oicemo cd fi cbiamao fainofc B ccr fcj^arc ra tutte lalt'.D Ic qli cj te oo el mo
fiicciro como laW adittarc i tuo mcorialc c oipoi i gio:nale c qdcr no tc. ulfba rcncdo di lei
Ifiy.fcpati no ti
liguidi fi como
rf
rotto
el
5" qfto oi biamo fco cop*.c6 M tali c tali alartc 6 la ana Tcco pacri e coditio
wi'Tc.como age p fcripto o iftfo "Jcg ani tati tcxinde el tal ocjfe corari tati TC.lalt? ballc
cofi ime'.
to
i)uc.tflti.el tal
I'magina V.caflTa
p ioto t ?p*.ario laW acognofcere Oalt'.toi ptite pticulari
(?p:e
facomc^araiepoifMccefliuamenfeafcttarailaltrf.
doji DC compagnia
m^
S P. g? p.
c6p^al taleg
la
lana
franc'.de
i&er
pox fimilmcte dirai de le robbe d?c ba jio melTe cofi.
el
ni^fecondo
tanti
tuttiducari
con
balletantepcfanonrtteinitto S.tantefocotadaco.'do
cofi9n
ffra
noi7CJiiotaicuttODUc.7C.valS.
g?
p.
fa foz'.ddcotratto ouer fcripto
ragio
de
cop^
lo
de
Bl talc
tale
debito:i
Dirai
cofi.
cofegnati
i!i)cr
darfli poncdo tutte.pli
pacti*
Bi mai
p n^ro dcbito:e de ductanti val %. f tt? p.
qito
trattato
fed el?c
pnci?di
mi
como
in
lo
curo^ftedcrme
fi
n6
piu
dx alqpro fei itrodutto
al
qdcruo
metterle
inodo
de
cofa
di
nuoiio
rcplicarc.
del
ogni
po
fcria
auolcrte
troppo
grandc no ne dico perdx fo tc fia facile cognofccdo gia tu in lo giomale ql ua debitoje cql
ql fecodo nfi pacri ci cofegno
M niicri del debito?e ccredif02e:a opte earn libaraipolti al libro.e cofi como tu li metti al \v
bv> grandctcofi li afetta \ alfabeto como di fopza piufiade l>anenio moftro ti.
be Io:dine de le prite de n'afaina fpefaicomo decafa oMinarietftraozdinarietcdi mcr'
9?i2.
canrietfaiarii de garijoni e facton como fabtno a fcriuerc.e dittare nelli lib2L
Oltra tUttclc cofe ditte re ouienc l>auere i tutti toi libzi qfte ptite.doc Ipefi d mer
atia fpefide cafa o:diarie fpcfe rtraordiane vna de itrata e vfdra e vna de p?o e
dano uoi dircauaniii c difaul^' o unlc e datio o guadagno c pdita cbc rato va
Ic le qli ptitc
^a d?iarircino
c6p:icomo acade cbc da poi piu dip qlla ricouerra pagjre fadM'ni e pcfado:i e ligadozi c
barca.cbaftagi.c fimilia cbi vn foIdo.adM'.i.tc.de Ic qli'volcdonc fare pticular prita fereb
be logo e no mcritanola fpcfa podxdc mim'mia no curat pro? 7C. aco:a acade dxtua'
dop?arai qlli medcfimi baftagi.fad^ini.barca.c legatozi i vn poro p piu diucrfe cofe como
Irtruenc.cb i fi t>6ro fcarcadoocarcado diuerfe fo:te mcrclrie li afattigarfli e tu li pagbi
tutre a vn rrarto dx no potrefti a ogni mercatia caratrare lafua fpefa.f po nafci qflapti/
ta cbiamara fpefe dc jucrcatia la ql fcp: fla acefa i dare como tutte lalrre (pcU fano ic^ala
rij
fa
dimd:c $do cofi le trouallTferia erro:e nel lib:a pero i mcmonalc el dirai cofi.
tali
58
im
fcarca
is
{compra or compagnie
may
mean joint venture but not corporation) with other people, such as silks, spices, cotton, dyes, or
money exchanges, etc. These accounts must all be entered in all three books separately from your own..
In the first, that is, the memorandum book, after writing down the date at the top, you shall state in a
simple way all the purchases with terms and conditions, referring to papers or other instruments that
you might have made, stating for how long it was made and what were its objects, mentioning the employes and apprentices that you should keep, etc., and the share, and how much each of you puts in
You should
the business, whether in goods or cash, etc., who are the debtors and who are the creditors.
credit the partners (compratori) for the amount which each of them contributes, and you shall debit cash with
the same if you keep the account with your own. But it is better for the business if you keep this cash
account separate from your private one when you are the one at the head of the business, in which ease
you should have a separate set of books in the same order and way we have shown previously. This will
However, you might keep all these accounts in your own personal books openfacilitate things for you.
ing new accounts which, as we have said, are referred to as well-known accounts because they are kept separate from all the others, and I will show here how to enter them in your Day Book and then in the Journal and Ledger but if you keep separate books, I will not give you any further instruction, because
On this day we have made a
what I have said so far will be sufficient for you you shall do as follows
contract with so and so, and so and so, jointly, to buy (facto compra) wool, etc., under terms and condialso
appears from such and such paper or such and such instrument, for so many years, etc. So
much in cash the other put so many bales of French wool, weighing net so
many pounds, etc., estimated at so many ducats per, etc. The third, so and so, put in so many credits,
namely, one for so many ducats, etc.
Then, in the Journal, putting everything in its own place, yoii shall imagine that you have a partnership's cash (cassa de compagnia) and a partnership's capital (cavcdalc dc compngnia) so that in each entry you make, you shall always name the accounts of the partnership so that you can distinguish them from
your own entries. First, you make the cash entry, and then follow it systematically by the other entries
Per Partnership cash // A such and such partner's account so that if you have other accounts, you
will not get confused
so and so put in on this day as his share according to our agreement as appears from
the contract, etc. value
L
S
P
G
Then you shall mention the other things that they have contributed
Per French wool // A partner's account, for so many bales weighing in total, net, so many pounds, as
examined by all of us, at so many ducats per bushel, according to the terms of the contract we have made,
etc., worth in total so many ducats value
L
S
G
P
And so on for the other different items, and as to the due bills which have been put in the Company,
tions, etc., as
and
you
way:
Per Mr. So and So, Partnership's account // A so and so, according to our agreement, which so and so
transferred to the Partnership as a good due bill of so many ducats:
L
S
G
P
Now that I have given you a kind of introduction to these new entries, I won't go any further, as it
would be a very tiresome thing to repeat all I have said.
And I will not say anything as to the way in which to make these entries in the Ledger, as I know it will
be easy for you to know what should be entered as debit and what as credit from the Journal. You shall
enter them accordingly as I have told you at Chapter 15, and shall cancel these entries in the Journal as
T told you at Chapter 12, always writing in the margin just opposite them the number of the debit and
credit pages of the Ledger, and as you enter them in the Ledger you shall also enter them in the index, as
I have told you repeatedly before.
shall state this
CHAPTER 22.
REGARDING THE ENTRIES OF EVERY KIND OF EXPENSE, AS FOR INSTANCE HOUSEHOLD EXPENSES, ORDINARY OR EXTRAORDINARY, MERCANTILE EXPENSES, WAGES OF
CLERKS AND APPRENTICES. HOW THEY SHOULD BE ENTERED IN THE BOOKS.
Besides the entries so far mentioned, you shall open these accounts in your books that is, mercantile
expenses, ordinary household expenses, extraordinary expenses, and account for what is cashed in (entrata) and what is paid out [usciia)
one for profits and loss (pro e danno favor and damages) or (avanzi r desavanzi
increase and deficit), or (utile e daniio -profit and damage) or (gvadagno e pcrdita
gain
and loss), which accounts are very necessary at any time so that the merchant can always know what is
his capital and at the end when he figures up the closing (soldo), how his business is going.
:
I will show here clearly enough how these accounts should be kept in the books.
The account named
"small business expenses" is kept because we can not enter every little thing in the account of the merchandise that you sell or buy. For instance, it may happen that after a few days, for these goods tliat you
sell or buy, you will have to pay the porter, the weigher, the packer, the shipper and the driver, and others, paying to this one one penn}', to the other one two pennies, etc.
if you want to keep a separate account for each of these different transactions, it would be too long and too expensive.
As the proverb says:
De minimis non curat Praetor (OflBcials do not bother with details). And it may be that you will have to employ those same people drivers, porters, shippers and packers for different things, as, for Instance, you may need
them for loading the several merchandises in a seaport, and you will employ them and will have to pay them for all
;
these services at one time, and you could not charge the several kinds of merchandise with its proportion of these expenses. Therefore you open this account which is called "small business expenses," which is always used in the
debit as are all the other expenses. You enter in this account the salaries of your store employes, although some keep
a separate account of the salaries that they pay so that they know how much they pay for salaries every year, etc.
This should also always appear as a debit. If the account should be in credit, this would show that there is a mistake.
Therefore you shall say as follows in the memorandum book:
On
goods, BO
this
many
ducats, etc.;
59
'
ni*
oe fitmfi mafaric vfino tencr conro fcparato per potcr pjcfto rrouar fuocoio c fano gtita
fare no c\x oi qftc nia oiqualucbc alrra ri parra,nia lo te amaeitro
ti qudic d?cl traficc no po far fcn(a 7c.c tal prir a oi fpcfi oi cafa Oittarala ft como i omo
ocqudia DC la mcrdriai fccodo d?c tu vaiftccdo fpcfc groflc adi p oi inetri in li litoiconi
T110 od fo?mcnro c vini Icgne 7c.De k quali anco;amoln colhjniano fare priia daperfc per
poter poi alali'ne oe lanno o a fcpo p rpo fadlmenre faperc quato oe tali cofumano 7c. ma
ri
perfe fpdipiccole
o rno
como f6noanienutoc6p:3rfarnecpefs.i:bart?iericrraglx:ttifinol
ro::c
ooi ouca vn tratto c fncriioa parte in vno kdxtto c oi qudli andar fpededo
fl incnuro.'ifi'erdx no feria pcf(Mi a vna a vna oi tali tcner conto. cofi oicano per Iicon
oiicr
tantiingio:riaIe.
"^er fpcfi oi cafa. Bcafla qUtrafll per fpendcrcamenuto in vno facbet
toouc.rantf7c.val.S. f. g? p.
poi fc-tipareancoja con qucftc fpcfi oe cafa meter
ui le fpcfi ftrao?dinaric d?enon facafo.cdmo quado fpendefle per andarcafol3,\o:ejg tra
cere aiarco o balertro c altri giod?io perditc c\k a c afcalTero c pdelTe robbc o oenan o d> tc
foflero toltc
l ouali anco?a fc Ic vdi tcncreoa partcfimifmcntc lo poi fare c inoW lufano per fa
per HCtfoafafin oclanno qnanto Iwno fpcfo oe ftrao?dinarioper le quali anco finrcndc oo
ni e p?erentidx tu faceffe adalcunoper aloma cagionc 7c6 le quali fpcfc non mi euro piu
rie.
dm
ftcndcrmc perod?e fo ccrro cbc tu per te ineglio ozmai bauendo amenfc Ic cofe (kac
wnant'C afctraraicbc p:im3 non barcfli fartoficbc quelle la fciandootrerao od modo oa
fctiarc le partite
ncr tu oa
te
te
2>c lo:dinc c
le dcbino
edittare.
capi,25.
1
5cp adonca quado baueflfc vna botcga la tjl tencflfe fo^nita alagiojnata fo; de
ca(& tua e fojc dd tno cojpo oi cafa.alo:a p bono o?dine ttrrai qfto mo:cioc de
tuttc Ic robbe dx tu ui metterai adip 6i farala dd>itrki ali toi libji ^ credctrid
robbc ttivi metti.a vn^p rna cfa tua imagtatioc ch qlla botc'.fia vna p
tato d?c W dai cp Icifpcdiitutri li modi. cofTp lauerfo de tutto ql
10 cRnecaui crcccuifarala credftrid como fc folTc vn tbitoK c^cipaQafk aptc aptCiC poi
ogm uolta dx voli con ki cotsre tu po?2ai vcdcrccotno dla tc butta.o bene o male 7C.
cofi pot fapjai qllo arai afarc e I eft mo larat a goueniarc 7C. moftifono c& ali foi libji fa
noddJicMc d pncipale d?c1i arcdc a ditta botega^bcdx q(\6 no fi polTa ddjitamcntc fc^a
voluta dt ql talcpocB maifidcue metterc nc aco:a de ragio fi puo po2?c vn dcb!to:e alfab?
fua faputa nc acB crcdirojc c6 coditioi alciJc (e<;a lua uoliita fc ql cofe faccdde tu fere
fti macodx da bcnc.^ litoilib:i fcncno
reputari falfi.e cofi 6 le mafanc cb i-qlla mctefie <
ojdcgni nccdTarij al a ditta borcga fccodo fua ocairc<;a:c6mo fc folTc fpcdaria ifconucrra
fozmrla D uafi.caldicri.ramini.da lauojarc 7c.di' qh' rutti farM debirrid o cdui cbe li attcqlfe tal
foiiia.tua dcbitrirfdr qt
f^
de como ditto.c p bello juftario li Icafcgiia fcnpro 6 fua mao odaltri d fua uoluta 7c. ado
ai tmom becbi3ro.eqflo voglio fia baftate qpdo la borcaa baudfe confeanata a vnaltro
d? p tc la
o folTc tuo cdme((o jL
k la dca botcga vo:?ai tcncf a moi mai q Ho oj
die marai c ftara bcncc mcnamo cD c6p:ie traficbi tutto p la ditta botcga e no baui alt?
mancggib afoja formarai li lib;i commo c ditto. dido dx vcndi e compzi farai creditor
n dM te da (c robbc per tanto tem po fc compji' a tempo c crcditrici la calTa fc comp?i a coii'
tanti cdcbitricila bofcga. quando tu vcnddfe a menuto
cioc dx non ariualTc a.40.6.du
catitcaloaa tutriditti denari rcpo^aiin vna calTctta.oucr falua denarodode i capo o.s.o
mm
du-ai ppiu
60
many
ducats
cash.
etc.,
for such
value
etc.,
in
We
can not do without the account of ordinary household expenses. By these expenses we mean expenses for grains, wine, wood, oil, salt, meat, shoes, hats, stockings, cloths, tips, expenses for tailors, barbers, bakers, cleaners, etc., kitchen utensils, vases, glasses, casks, etc.
Many keep different accounts for all these different things, so that they can see at a glance how each
account stands, and you may do so and open all these different accoiuits, and any accounts that you like,
but I am talking to you about what the merchant can not do without. And you shall keep this account in
the way I have told you to keep the small business expense account, and make each entry day by day as
you have such expenses, as for grain, wine, wool, etc. Many open special accounts for these different things
so that at the end of the year or at any time they may know how much they are paying out but for the
small accounts, as meat, fish, boat fares, etc., you shall set aside in a little bag one or two ducats and make
smaU payments out of this amount. It will be impossible to keep an account of all these small things.
;
cash.
Cash
value:
CHAPTER 23.
IN WHAT MANNER THE ACCOUNTS OF A STORE SHOULD BE KEPT. WHETHER THE
STORE IS UNDER YOUR CARE OR UNDER THE CARE OP OTHER PEOPLE. HOW THE ACCOUNTS SHOULD BE ENTERED IN THE AUTHENTIC BOOKS OF THE OWNER SEPARATE
FROM THOSE OF THE STORE ITSELF.
I say then that if j^ou should have a store outside of your house (brancli store) and not in the same
building with your house, but which you have fully equipped, then for the sake of order you should keep the
accounts in this way
You should charge it in your books with all the different things that you put into it,
day by day, and should credit all the different merchandise that you put in it also each one by itself, and you
must imagine that this store is just like a person who should be your debtor for all tlie things that you
may give (dai) it or spend for it for anj^ reason. And so on the contrary you shall credit it with all that
you take out of it and receive from it (cavi e recevi) as if it were a debtor wlio would pay you gradually.
Thus at any time that you so desire, you may see liow the store is running that is, at a profit or at a loss
:
so you will know what you will have to do and how you ^\^ll have to manage it.
There are many who in
their books charge everything to the manager of the store.
This, however, can not be done properly witliout the consent of that person, because you can never enter in your books as a debtor any person without
his knowing it, nor put him as a creditor under certain conditions without his consent.
If yon should do
these things, it would not be right and your books would be considered wrong.
As to all the fixtures which you might put in said store necessary to tlie running of it according
to the circumstances
if you had for instance a drug-store, you would liave to furnish it with vases, boiling
pots, copper utensils, with which to work
you shall charge your store with all this furniture. So all of
these things .you shall charge, and he who is at the head of the store shall make a proper inventory of all
these things in his own handwriting or in the handwriting of somebody else, at his pleasure, so that everything should be clear. And this will be sufficient for a store whose management you may have turned over
to somebody or to some of your employes. But if you want to run the store yourself, you shall do as I
will tell you and it will be all right. Let us suppose that you buy and do all of your business through the
said store and do not have to take care of any other business, then you shall keep the books as I have said
before, whether you buy or sell. You shall credit all those that sell goods to you on time, if you buy on
time, or credit cash if yoii buy for cash, and charge the store and if you should sell at retail, as when the
sale should not amount to four or six ducats, and so on, then you shall keep all these monej^s in a small
drawer or box from which you shall take it after eight or ten days, and then you shall charge this amount
to cash and shall credit the store and you shall make this entry as follows
;
for which
you
shall
61
and so on.
T shall
not talk
^^
aoqlio troppo Di(lendcrc.g clxfocomo wfopra oilfufamcrcibjbiio dco o?miJi fap;ai pcric
iicdcric cociofw clx con noii fono alrro dx vn oebi'ro oMiiic o: la fanufia cbc fi ia cl mcr'
c3t3lUC^Krcl qualuntTo.'incferuatoguctualaiionria octuttefucfacedcc ccgncrfci facil/
mere qtlo fc k fue cofc uatio bene o nialep d>e cl p:o aerbio oio dM fa mcreatia e no la
I?
anofca
e oc
li
foi
a r?4
dx g li cabi fe fano.e g cbe fcnc facia 001 oe incderuno tcnox
Ora per li bancbi dc fcripra 6 quali fe ne rroua oggi di iwiiiciia i bruggia faucr
quic ta^e
Ic
bari^doa c cerri alcriluogbi fa niofi c tra f ican couie fag (o lo:o liba fcotra'
re CO gradilTima oiIigcria.' jxroc da notar cbe c6 (obaud^o te poi comunani^
re inipadare Da re poncdom oeiiariper piu lua figurecia:o ucro g inodo oe dv
gio7nar J potcr con quelfi far tiioi paganjcnti djfjri apicro gioini e marrino par
fa c
poiito a la
te.D.farai oebito?e
memo:ialccgio:nale.p.c
alfabctoc6modidifop:radaticdepcnandolec6mo to inoftro
polTibtle
ttuttoa picno narrarc
e
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parolle.godx
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non
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mancbo per tc ftellb
coucrra
obferuarc g remcrtc
nio
te
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re li cdbialtrouccome
tc
p^2''.c.'/.
maibc
oc
faccdo
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colkma
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iii 7C.0 ala uifla
i
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non
re el
ruo refpondcnte c oc
fe folic ru
tua calTa
predi
le
63
I have giveu you suflScient explanation previously and you know how to go ahead by this time.
For accounts are nothing else than the expression in writing of the arrangement of his affairs, which the merchant keeps in his mind, and if he follow this system always he will know all about his business and will
know exactly whether his business goes well or not. Therefore the proverb If you are in business and do
not know all about it, your money will go like flies That is, you will lose it. And according to the circumstances you can remedy what is to be remedied; for instance, if necessary, you might open other accounts. And this will be sufficient for you.
:
CHAPTER 24.
HOW YOU SHOULD KEEP IN THE JOURNAL AND LEDGER. THE ACCOUNTS WITH THE
BANK. WHAT IS UNDERSTOOD BY THEM. BILLS OF EXCHANGEWHETHER YOU DEAL
WITH A BANK OR YOURSELF ARE A BANKER. RECEIPTS FOR DRAFTS WHAT IS UNDERSTOOD BY THEM AND WHY THEY ARE MADE OUT IN DUPLICATE.
In respect to banks, whicli j'ou can find nowadays in Venice, in Bruges, in Antwerp, Barcelona, and
other places well known to the commercial world, you must keep your accounts with them with the greatest diligence.
You can generally establish connections with a bank. For instance, you may leave your money with
bank as a place of greater safety, or you may keep your money in the bank as a deposit in order to
make therefrom your daily paj-ments to Peter, John and Martin, for a bank draft is like a public notarial
instrument, because they are controlled by the state.
If you put money in the bank, then you shall charge the bank or the owner or partners of the bank and
shall credit j'our cash and make the entries in the Journal as follows:
For Bank of Lipamani // A cash. Cash deposited with so and so by me, or others, for my account, on
this day counting gold and other money, etc., in all so many ducats value
L
S
6
P
And you will have the banker give you some kind of a written record for your surety; if you make
other deposits you shall do the same. In ease you should withdraw money, the banker shall have you write
the
you want to keep this account in the name of the owners or partners of the bank, you may do so,
the same thing, because, if you open the account under the name of the bank, by the bank you
mean the owners or the partners. If you keep it under the name of the owners, you shall say this way:
Per Mr. Girolimo Lipamani, banker, and associates if there are many
// A cash and here you
write as above. In your books you shall always mention all agreements, terms, conditions that there might
be also instruments of writing and places where you keep them, whether file box, pouch or trunk, so that
you may easily find them, as these papers should be diligently kept for an everlasting memorial of the transaction {ad perpetuam memoriarn) on account of dangers.
As you may have several different business relations with the bankers for yourself, or for others, you
must keep various accounts with them so that you won't mix one thing with another, and avoid confusion,
On account of such and such thing, or on account of so and so, or on
and in your entries you shall say
account of goods, or on account of cash deposited in your name or in the name of others, as we have said.
You will know yourself how to make these entries. In the same way you will proceed in case others should
turn money over to you for some account you shall charge that account in your book that is, you shall
charge the bank, stating whether it was in part payment or in fuU, etc., and you shall credit the person
that gave you the money. This will be all right.
When you should withdraw money from a bank either to pay somebody else as part payment or payment in full, or to make a remittance to parties in other countries, you shall do in this case just the opposite of what we just said
that is, if you withdraw money you shall charge your cash and credit the bank
or owners of the bank for the amount withdrawn and if you should give an order on the bank for somebody else, you shall charge this party and credit the bank or owners of the bank for that much, stating the
reasons. You shall enter the cash item in your Journal as follows
Per cash // A bank, or Mr. Girolimo Lipamani, for cash which on this day or on such and such
day I withdrew for mj' need, in all so many ducats, value
L
S
P
G
And if you should issue an order in favor of Mr. Martino, for instance, you shall say thus
Per Martino on such and such a day // A ditto for ditto for cash, etc., for so many ducats, for which
I gave an order, in part payment or in full payment, or for a loan, etc., on this day
value
L
S
G
P
If
as
it is
Every time you transfer these entries from the Journal Into the Ledger, you shall also record them in the Index
and cancel them, as I have shown you, adding more or less words according to the facts in the case.
You must do the same in case you want to send drafts elsewhere, as to London, Bruges, Rome, Lyons, etc. You
shall mention in the letter the terms, conditions, etc., whether these drafts are at sight or at a certain date or at
pleasure of the payor, as it is customary, mentioning also whether it is a first, second, third draft, etc., so that no misunderstanding can occur between you and your correspondent, mentioning also the kind of money in which you draw
or transmit, their value, the commission, the costs and interest that might follow a protest in a word, everything must
be mentioned, why and how.
I have told you how you have to proceed in dealing with a bank.
If on the contrary you are the banker you have
to do in the opposite way {mutatis mutandis)
when you pay you charge the man to whom you pay and credit cash.
If one of your creditors, without withdrawing money, should Issue a draft to somebody else, you ehallsay in the Journal
63
munaionio teftimonio c factojc dele parri a two incbiollro carta fitt o fatiga c tempo (i c\x
qua ficaua la lx)neft3 <puiTioe nel canibio eflcrc fcp:c lidta qpdo mai no ui cojrifle gico-
df
fuo
lode uiaggi'o flltrcremcfTemmatioocter^^foncTccomonellicambirealiinqfto a
toi
credito:i
far
ricordate
nell
ifaldico
fiandobacbieri
dctto
7C.fl^a
apieno
luoabo clfato
ne
fai fepjc fan
quando
Ic^Ii
baueflc
dc
marto
di
cbc
tua
o
altri
fcn'pti
fogli
p^ic
tc tc:tiare
nc nel tuo libio nicmioe aeio te rcco:dia fartele to:nare c ftra^arluado no uenilTe a tepo co
nlU dim adomandarteefjttefarcfJpjcbonequietaiHecomocoftumanofarecbiartcdc al
dicabio cj in vi^a nn'f
c Jbio'.go ri?c Infanta c clx fc tu vicni.vcrbi gi'ada gineucra con vna
no
fa
cbc a
diligen^a afcttarc.7c.
Be unalf ra partita cbe olc uolte fc
nnoalcuni cbe nc I02 lib:i ufano tencre vna prita cetta cntrata c vfcita i la ql
pogano cofc ftrao:dinanc alnt como ala. fantafia pare. Blcri ne tirra una 5
mctrano como f qlla ointrata ifita pfcri dx li folTer
cbe riccuano c oano e tcgano coto i dare c bauere e poia
e dano e cauedalc como itendcrai nel bflando tc.iQ^ \ uero
fpefc ftrao^dinarie e
fimili
qlla octta
to da
r>i
feftn a
to CO la cafa dalaql tu rogli la faculta cl?c al ditto uiaggio |.x):o'facedola nel libxtto ocf tno
uiaggio crcdin^d:c le robbe ocbitrici a una p v*:e cofi fo:marefli tua csriTatruo cauedalc u.
o:denatamctc como nel tno famofo. to:nado aialuamcto rcdarelli alacafa altre robbe ali
contro.o ucro.d.e co let faldarcfti coto c lutilc ooano fec^to afcttarefti a fuo luogbo nel qua
derno grade.ficbe aqllo modo ancora le we faccdcoiercbono cbiarc.iif^ fel viaggi'o reco'
madaffe iadaltritaloza farefti dc tutto nel tuo libro dcbitorc ql talc acbi larccomldi viccdo
per uiaggio recomadato al talc tee co lui terrelh" conto come fe foflfc vn tuo auctorc oe tut
te robbe:e i5.a ptita per partita
7c
Mdc
64
Per that special creditor of yours // A the man to whom the money was assigned. In
just make the transfer from one creditor to another and you still remain as debtor and
For ink, paper, rent, trouble and time you
act as a go-between, as witness or agent of the two parties.
get a commission, which is always lawful, even though through a draft there is no risk of travel, or*
the risk when money should be transferred to third parties, etc., as in actual exchanges, of which we
have spoken in its place. If you are a banker, whenever you close an account with your creditors
always remember to get back all the papers, documents or other writings in your own handwriting that
they might have. When you issue any such paper always mention it in your books so that when the
time comes you will remember to ask for them and to destroy them so that nobody else should appear
with these papers and ask money for the second time. You must always require good receipts as those
do who are accustomed to this kind of business. For the custom is this: If you, for instance, come
from Geneva to Venice with a draft on Messrs. Giovanni Freseobaldi & Co., of Florence, which draft might
be at sight or on a certain date or at your pleasure, and the amount were for a hundred ducats, that is, for
as many ducats as j-ou have paid to the drawer of the draft, then the said Messrs. Giovanni & Co., when they
honor the draft and give you the cash will require you to give two receipts written in your own handwriting, and if you should not know how to write, a third party or a notary public will make them out.
He will not be satisfied with one because he has to send one to the banker at Geneva, who wrote him to
pay the hundred ducats to you for his account just to show that he honored his request, and for this
purpose he will send to the other banker a letter enclosing your receipt written in your handwrriting.
The other receipt he will keep for himself on file so that in balancing with the other banker, the banker
could not deny the transaction, and if you should go to Geneva you could not complain of him or of
Mr. Giovanni for if you should complain he would show you your receipt written by yourself and you
would not play a beautiful part in it. All these precautions ought to be taken by necessity on account
of the bad faith of the present times.
Out of these transactions two entries ought to be made in the
Ledger, one entry in the account with Mr. Giovanni, in which you shall charge the drawer of the draft,
{letter dc cambio) the other entry in the account of your correspondent at Geneva, crediting Mr. Giovanni
with that hundred ducats paid through a draft. This is the method that the bankers of all the world keep so
that their transaction may appear clear therefore you will have to take some trouble on your part and
try to enter everything in its own place with great care.
as follows:
this
way you
CHAPTER 25.
ANOTHER ACCOUNT WHICH IS USUALLY KEPT IN THE LEDGER, CALLED INCOME AND
EXPENSES, FOR WHICH OFTEN A SEPARATE BOOK IS USED, AND WHY.
There are some who, in their books, are accustomed to keep an account called Income and Expenses {Entrata e uscita), in which they enter extraordinary things, or any other thing that they deem
proper; others keep an account called extraordinary expenses and in it they record gifts, which they
They keep it as a credit and debit account, and then at the end of the year they ascertain
receive or give.
the remainder (resto) which is either a profit or a loss and transfer it to capital as you will understand when
we talk about the balance. But really the account we have called "'household expenses" is sufficient for
all this unless someone should like to keep a separate account for his own curiosity, but it would be of
no great value because things should be arranged as briefly as possible. In other places it is customary
to keep the income and expense account in a separate book which is balanced when they balance the
authenticated books and all other aflfairs. This custom is not to be criticized but it requires more work.
CHAPTER 26.
HOW ENTRIES SHOULD BE MADE IN MERCANTILE BOOKS RELATIVE TO TRIPS WHICH
YOU CONDUCT YOURSELF OR YOU ENTRUST TO OTHER PEOPLE, AND THE TWO LEDGERS
RESULTING THEREFROM.
Trips are made usually in two ways, either personally or through somebody else therefore two are
ways to keep their accounts and the book always ought to be in duplicate whether the trip is made
by you personally or it is in charge of somebody else. One ledger is kept at home and the other one is
taken along and kept on the trip. If you conduct the trip yourself, for the sake of order and system,
you must take a new inventory also a small Ledger and small Journal among the things you take with
you and follow the instruction above given. If you sell or buy or exchange, you must charge and credit
according to the facts, persons, goods, cash, traveling capital, traveling profit and loss, etc. This is the
best way, no matter what other people may say.
You might keep an account with the mercantile
house which furnishes you with the goods which you take on the trip. In this case you shall credit the
said house in your little Ledger and charge the different goods one by one.
In this way you would
open your mercantile house accounts, capital account, etc., as in your main books, and coming back safe
and sound you would return to the mercantile house either other goods in exchange for those that you
took or money, and you would close the accounts with the entering in your big Ledger the respective
profit or loss item.
In this way your business will be clear. If, however, you entrust the trip to some
other party, then you should charge this party with all the goods that you entrust with him, saying:
Per trip entrusted to so and so, etc., and you should keep an account with him, as if he were one of
your customers, for all goods and moneys, keeping separate accounts, etc., and he on his part will set
up a little Ledger in which he makes you creditor for everything. When lie comes back he will balance
with you and if your traveling salesman were in fetters (sentence remains unfinished in the original)
;
the
65
207
be ".prira famofa owta ^ c i>iiio o rcro auano c oefauan^uoc lafabb a /tciwre Pd cjcfcr
9p- 17
no.cpLbccHjnofinierra nd^o:nalccoinmclcalrrf grirc
^ta Doppo ognialf* pri'.i '.d.M'amata oc .p c oano ovoi otre vnlc c oanofecjroI
ficno andatc acio fcp:c.dtuo qdemo feritroui'paro oe pti*.aocc6 tantc fene tro
If
bit
cdi fucdrt
ui i oare ^ic i l^erc.pcB cofl fedeue ritrouarc a ftar bn 0c fe ofra nd bflando.
faldarc
guadagm
pdi
ptfta.poi
f(c6ucrra
vedarai
fe
?i>o
e
ancoza
crro. qfta
(cj
(a inctt
Icafr'.
wtti
qdcrnic
tutrc
c
vlna
oe
Ii
pcofeqiuercceptaculo
6
coe
caucdale.laqlc
I qlla !xl
foiTero
pie
omiiie
fe
ocbmo
innan^c
le
dl
quadcrno.qti
rcpo2tare
ptfre
7C.
itcdcrai
rcfto.a
pfa
ap.
2 8.
po:tare
d
do
fia
nialiria
nd
quadcrno.
luoco
faWn
no
ne e in cbc
^co?a ewanotarc cpdo ".pnta e piena.o i oare 1 bere dx no uifinipo mctter
pm b tfogna pojtarla innate iincdiatc a turtc lalt'no lafdado fpado nd qdemo
fra
repojtarc
qfto
ri in
V>pcnc
p?e Ic ptit'.fi wgliajio poncrc c6e nafcano i> luogo.fito.oi.c milefi? ado nilu te polTi calu
niarctc.
b d modo a faperc mutare d mdcfimo nd quaderno fra Ic panitc cbc ala ^0?
Capitolo. 2 9*
nata acafcauo.quando cgni anno n6n (i faldafi li lib:i.
rria eff' aleuolte cbc nde tue ptitc in quaderno. tu l?aucfli a mutar milefi?
no.baueffe rald3to.alo2a Ditto mifefi'.oeui jxjnere in margine aru>erto oitta pn
ta cb cofi e naia.coe fo oetto fop2a incap.i S
la fcc^rcranno fe
tuttc laltre
intcderanno al Ditto mile? flOa fep:e e buono ocfaldarc ognanno.maicimc dyi
dx
t in cop^'pdx d ^ucrbio oici ragion fpcfw amifla I6ga. e oft farai a tuttc fimili.
ommefc ocbia Icuarc conto al ocbit02e d?clo oomflndaflc.c aneo2a al fuo patroc
apitoIo. 5^
fiando fato?c c commdTo oc tutia la aminiflratione oc le robbe
5fogna
[[
dafic.
olcra
li
1 qfe no
loro
fro termine cb lui d volefle qpoo fira voi foflero ftati altn faldi da ql rpO cb
uicapa.
d?e
vnfoglio
in
volciiticnlilclcua.defutto
farai
parrira
vna
Icpcrvnavolta
66
CHAPTER 27.
ANOTHER WELL-KNOWN ACCOUNT NAMED PROFIT AND LOSS, OR PROFIT AND DEFIHOW IT SHOULD BE KEPT IN THE LEDGER AND WHY IT IS NOT KEPT IN THE
CIT.
JOURNAL AS THE OTHER ACCOUNTS.
After the other accounts, there must follow one which Is n;uned variously, according to different localities, Favor
or Increase and Deficit {Avanzi e Desavanzi).
Profit and Damage {Utile a Danno)
Into this other accounts in the Ledger have their remainders, as we will show when we speaic of the trial balance.
You should not put these entries in the Journal, but only in the Ledger, as they originate from overs or shorts in the
You shall open the account this way:
debits and credits, and not from actual transactions.
Profit and Loss debit [dee dare shall give), and Profit and Loss credit (dee havere shall have).
That is, if you had sustained a loss in a special line of merchandise and in this account in your Ledger would
show less in the credit than the debit, then you will add the difference (saldo) to the credit so as to make it balance,
and you shall enter as follows:
Credit (dee havere shall have), per Profit and Loss, so much, which I enter here in order to balance on account
of Joss sustained and so on, and you will mark the page of the Profit and Loss account where you write down the
entry.
Then you go to the Profit and Loss account and in the debit column you shall enter as follows:
Profit and Loss debit (dee dare shall give), on this day, to such and such loss sustained, so much
which has
been entered in the credit of said merchandise account in order to balance it at page so and so. If the account of this
that
is,
more
the
special merchandise would show a profit instead of lossin
credit than in the debit then you will
proceed in the opposite way. The same you shall do one by one for all accounts with merchandise or different things,
whether they show good or bad results, so that your Ledger always shows the accounts in balance that is, as much
In the debit as in the credit.
This is the condition the Ledger will be in if it is correct, as I will explain to you when
In this way you will see at a glance whether you are gaining or losing, and how much.
I am talking of the balance.
And this account must then be transferred for its closing (saldo) into the capital account, which is always the last
in all the ledgers and is consequently the receptacle of all other accounts, as you will understand.
CHAPTER 28.
THE LEDGER SHOULD BE CARRIED FORWARD AND THE
PLACE TO WHICH THEY MUST BE TRANSFERRED SO THAT NO CROOKEDNESS CAN BE
PRACTICED IN THE LEDGER.
IN
filled out, either in the debit or in the credit, and you cannot
entries in the space reserved for such an account, you must at once carry this account forward to a
page after all your other accounts, so that there is no space left in the Ledger between this transferred account and
the last of the other accounts. Otherwise it would be considered a fraud. It must be carried forward in the manner
which we have given above when writing about the balancing of profit and loss. In making the transfers, you should
make entries on the debit and credit sides only, without making any entry in the Journal. Transfers are not made in
the Journal; still, if you so desired, you might do that and it would be all right; but it Is not necessary, because it
would be that much more trouble without any necessity. All that need be done is to increase the smaller quantity
that Is, if the account shows more in the debit than in the credit, you ought to add the difference to the credit. I will
give you, now, an example of one of these transfers:
Let us suppose that Martino has had a long account with you of several transactions, so that his account should
be transferred from ledger page 30. Suppose further that the last account of your book Is at page 60, and is at the
top of said page, so that on the same page there is space enough to transfer the Martino account. Suppose that there
Is on debit side, L 80, S 15, G 15, P 24; and the credit shows that he has given you, L 72, S 9, G 3, P 17.
Deducting
the credit from the debit, there is a remainder (resta) of: L 8, S 6, G 5, P 7. This is the amount that you should
bring forward to the debit side of the new page, and on the old page you must add the same amount In the credit
column to make it balance, saying as follows:
On such and such day, etc., per himself, I bring forward (porta avanti) this amount to the debit side as a remainder (resta), and the same amount I enter here per closing (saldo), that is: L 8, S 6, G 5, P 7. see at page 60:
And you
shall cancel the account both on the debit and credit side with a diagonal line.
After that, you will
go to page 60 and shall enter in the debit column the said remainder, always writing down at the top of the page the
year, if none already has been mentioned, as has been said above.
You shall enter there as follows:
Martino debit on such and such day per himself, as per remainder (resta) taken from the page of his old account and therein entered per closing (saldo), see page 30:
L8, S6, G5, P7.
This is the way for you to proceed with all occounts that you should transfer:
Place them, as I have told you,
without leaving any space in between. The accounts should be opened in the order in which they originate in such
place and at such time, so that nobody can speak evil of you.
CHAPTER
29.
HOW
CHAPTER 30.
HOW AN ABSTRACT OR STATEMENT OF AN ACCOUNT SHOULD BE MADE TO A DEBTOR WHO MIGHT REQUEST IT, OR FOR YOUR EMPLOYER IN CASE YOU ARE MANAGER OR
COMMISSIONER OF THE ADMINISTRATION OF HIS PROPERTY.
In addition, you must know how to make an abstract or a statement of an account if your debtor requests it.
is a favor that cannot be refused, especially if your debtor has had an account with you for years or months,
etc.
In this case you should go away back to the time when you began to have transactions with him, or back to the
time from which he desires to have his statement, in case you have had previous settlements. And you should do
this willingly.
You should copy all his account on a sheet of paper large enough to contain it all. If it should not
be large enough, you will draw a balance at the end of the page and shall carry the latter. In debit or credit, forward
to the other side of the sheet, as I told you at Chapter 28.
And so on, until the end of the account, and at the end
you must reduce the whole account to the net remainder In a single entry in debit or credit, according to the facts.
These statements must be made out very carefully.
This
67
..
aiftinctionona.rncfafusjri'. efcripturia
<ifto modo obf-uarai ndi fato tuoi .ppri).c fuoi aucro?i Ohi
fc
ti)
ainiftralTc
3nco?a
necefTario al
bon
fe laaeflc
baucftcpoHa
o voi
in alrro
ire fto?na
luogo
dxd-
haucre
fto
p rerrala pon*aine
modo
andarein
oiraijn q
i
baucrevol
a carti 'rc. tra fo?a qlle mdeffme.S.P.g.p.cbe ponelh p erro. oenanvc a ditta ptita forai
I'.croci'.o alrro fegno. acio Icuando tu elcoto laucgbi alaffare.f fubiro porta qf^a p rerrar
omme
darccTbra bri.
lo fuo
oerro c oifuo:e ocl Ditto qnaderno,
tz.
ap"'.
"Clefte cofe finoja be notare bifogna lx?a oar modo al rcpozto oc vn lib?o in lal
tro.cpdo uoldTemutar libjo.p tagione dx foffc picnoo vero p 02dine annualc
lib20 in laltJo.doe
giojnalee memojialc
e ain't fconn-i
68
The following is the way you have to proceed in adjusting your own business with the business of
But if you should act for others as an agent or commissioner, then you will make out
a statement for your employer just as it appears in the ledger, crediting yourself from time to time
with your commissions according to your agreements. Then at the end you shall charge yourself with
the net remainder, or you shall credit yourself if you had to put in any money of your own. Your
employer will then go through this statcmeut, compare it with his own book, and if he finds it correct, he will
like you better and trust you more.
For this reason, of all tlie things that he gave or sent you, you should
with your own handwriting keep an orderly account when you receive them. Observe this carefully.
On tlie contrary, if you are tlie employer, you may have your managers or commissioners make out
these statements for you.
But before these statements are delivered they ought to be compared carefully with each entry in the Ledger, Journal and Memorandum Book, or with any other paper relative
thereto, so that no mistake could be made between the parties.
your employer.
CHAPTER
31.
HOW
TO TAKE OUT ONE OR MORE ENTRIES WHICH BY MISTAKE YOU MIGHT HAVE
IN A DIFFERENT PLACE FROM THE RIGHT ONE. WHICH MAY HAPPEN THROUGH
ABSENTMINDEDNESS.
ENTERED
The good bookkeeper should also know how to take out or as they call it in Florence "stornare"
an entry which by mistake you might have written down in the wrong place as, for instance, if you had
entered it as a debit instead of a credit entry or when you have to enter it in the account of Mr. Martino and you put it in the account of Mr. Giovanni.
P^r at times you cannot be so diligent that you are unable to make mistakes. The proverb says
He who does nothing, makes no mistakes he who makes no mistakes, learns nothing.
And you shall correct this entry as follows: If you had placed this entry in the debit column
while you should have put it in the credit column, in order to correct this, you shall make another
entry opposite this one in the credit for the same amount. And you shall say thus
On such and such
day for the amount which has been entered opposite here under the debit and should have been put in
the credit, see page, etc., and you shall write down in the column of figures:
L
S
G
P
which you wrote down by mistake in the other column. In front of these two entries you shall mark
a cross or any other mark so that when you make out an abstract or statement of the account you
should leave these entries out. After you have made this correction it is just as if you had written
nothing in the debit column. You then make the entry in the credit column as it should have been
and everything will be as it should have been.
;
CHAPTER
32.
HOW THE BALANCE OF THE LEDGER IS MADE AND HOW THE ACCOUNTS OF AN OLD
LEDGER ARE TRANSFERRED TO A NEW ONE.
After all we have said you must know now how to carry forward the accounts from one Ledger
another if you want to have a new Ledger for the reason that the old one is all filled up or because
another year begins, as is customary in the best known places, especially at Milan where the big merchants renew every year their Ledgers.
This operation, together with the operations of which we will speak, is called the balancing {bilancio) of the Ledger, and if you want to do this well you shall do it with great diligence and order. That
is, first you shall get a helper as you could hardly do it alone.
You give him the Journal for greater
precaution and you shall keep the Ledger. Then you tell him, beginning with the first entry in the
Journal, to call the numbers of the pages of your Ledger where that entry has been made, first in debit
and then in credit. Accordingly in turn you shall obey him and shall always find the page in the Ledger
that he calls and you shall ask him what kind of an entry it is, that is, for what and for whom, and you
shall look at the pages to which he refers to see if you find that item and that account.
If the amount is
the same, call it out. If you find it there the same as in the journal, check it (lanzarala mark it with
a lance A or V) or dot it (pontarala) or any proper mark over the lire mark, or in some other place,
You ask your helper to make a similar mark or check as we are used to
so that you can readily see it.
in the Journal at the same entry.
call it in some places
Care must be taken that no entry will be dotted
(pontata) either by you without him, or by him without you, as great mistakes might be made otherwise,
for once the entry is dotted it means that it is correct.
The same is done in making out statements of
accounts for your debtors before you deliver them. They should have been compared with the Ledger
and Journal, or with any other writing in which the entries of the transaction have been recorded, as
we have said at Chapter 30.
After you have proceeded in this way through all the accounts of the Ledger and Journal and found that the two
books correspond in debit and credit. It will mean that all the accounts are correct and the entries entered correctly.
Take care that your helper shall mark each entry in the Journal with two dots or little lances; In the ledger you
mark down only one for each entry because you know that for each entry in the Journal there are two made in the
to
69
km
to piu tarda in qusdcmo dsc l\o oouia. >elc quad' uanctB.rcp:c elbo quadcrnicro r>cuc far
nc mciion(QdxlcnM?mo p Icuanlfufpetio Od IiV.amodo d bon notaro nclifuoimllro
m.K)( coc p errox lai fmc tc. coft' barai'tuttc inflate tuc pn're.lcquali trouaitdolc a
fcontricocc hiCco2(o ocnoradtuo quadcmo ccrgfufloc ben tcnuto.tlndcnotadxneldilt
non pontatc con lo fcontro oel gi'ojnalc p dxnon
to quaderno firano a leuoltc moltc
^c
fi
bano an'trouarc
ii'tc
Ditto
tempo elacagioncpercbc.
ap.
Otte qrtccofc o:dinatamcntc fattecobfcruatcguardanoninnouaflTcpiu
3?,
gti*
da lalt.ado pa a locbio fubito ftar biic iqlc coc fc rccerca.al bo Csldo. poncdo n
numcro dele earn dd quadcmo. 5. done tal refto porri. poi in lo quadcmo*
5. in dare dirai cofi pji'ma poncndo fop:3 indma de la carra.d Tuo milcftmo.l giomo nc
ti partita per lacafonc dctta fopja 19 lo cap.i S*,ds)c ^Bartfno ddtale 7c.dic dare adi.Tog
lato $to
trar foja.d
70
by making an entry for the same amount in the opposite side that is, if the superfluous entry was in the
correct the error
debit, you make an entry on the credit side, or vice versa. And how you should proceed to
The same would be done in case your helper finds some entry
I have told you in the preceding chapter.
which your ledger did not show whether in the debit or credit column, which also would indicate an error
That is, you should make that entry or open
in the ledger and should be corrected in a different way.
dates, as the entry would be made later than
the
different
mentioning
credit,
that account in the debit or
good bookkeeper should always mention why such differences arise, so that the
should have been.
books are above suspicion thus the notary public in his instruments need not mention what has been added
or omitted. Thus the good bookkeeper must act so that the mercantile reputation be kept up.
But if the said entry should have been entered on only one side, debit or credit, then it would be suffiSo you will
cient for you to put it where it is missing, mentioning how it happened through mistake, etc.
go on through all your accounts and, if they agree, you know that your Ledger is right and well kept.
You must know that there may be found in the Ledger some entries which are not in the Journal and
cannot be found in the Journal. These are the difference between the debit and credit placed there to
Of
close {per saldi) the different accounts when they are carried forward, as we have said in Chapter 28.
credit,
these balances or remainders, you will find their correlative entries in the Ledger, whether in debit or
on the page indicated in these accounts. When you find each correlative entry in its proper place, you
it
may
is
in proper order.
What we have said so far about comparing the Ledger with the Journal, should be
comparing the memorandum book or scrap book with the Journal, day by day, if you use
observed also in
the memorandum
book, in the manner I spoke about at the beginning of this treatise. If you have other books, you should
do the same. The last book to be compared should be the Ledger, the next to the last the Journal.
CHAPTER 33.
HOW THE TRANSACTIONS WHICH MIGHT OCCUR WHILE YOU BALANCE YOUR BOOKS
SHOULD BE RECORDED. AND HOW IN THE OLD BOOKS NO ENTRY SHOULD BE MADE OR
CHANGED DURING THAT TIME, AND REASONS WHY.
Aiter you have regularly done and observed all these things, see that no new entry is made in any
book which comes before the Ledger that is, in the memorandum book and Journal because the equalizing or closing (el salrlo) of all the books should be understood to take place on the same day. But if, while
you are balancing you books, some transactions should occur, you shall enter them in the new books to which
you intend to carry forward the old ones that is, in the memorandum book or Journal, but not in the Ledger, until you have carried forward all the different accounts of the old Ledger. If you have not yet a new
set of books, then you will record these transactions and their respective explanations on a separate sheet of
paper until the books are ready. When the new books are ready, you enter them in these books which shall
bear new marks that is, if the old ones that you are balancing now were marked with a cross, then you
should mark these new ones with the capital letter A.
CHAPTER 34.
HOW ALL THE ACCOUNTS OF THE OLD LEDGER SHOULD BE CLOSED AND WHY.
ABOUT THE GRAND TOTALS OF THE DEBITS AND CREDITS, WHICH IS THE PREPARATION OF THE TRIAL BALANCE.
After you have done this earefuUy, you shall close your Ledger accounts in this way: You should
commence first with cash account, then the different debtors, then the merchandise, and then your customTransfer the remainders in Ledger A, that is, in the new Ledger. You should not, as I have said
ers.
above, transfer the remainders in the new Journal.
You shall add all the different entries in debit and in credit, always adding to the smaller side the
These two
difference, as I have told you above when explaining the carrying forward of tlie remainder.
accounts are practically the same thing the only difference is that in the first case the remainder was carried forward to another page of the same Ledger, while in this instance it is carried forward from one
Ledger to another. While in the first instance you would mark down the new page of the same Ledger, in
this case you mark down the page of the new Ledger; making the transfer from one ledger to another,
any account should appear only once in each ledger. This is a peculiarity of the last entry of the accounts
;
of the Ledgers.
Let us suppose that the account of Mr. MarIn making the transfer, you should proceed as follows
L 12, S. 15, G 10. P. 26,
tino has a debit remainder (rcxto) in your "Cross" Ledger at page 60 of
at page 8 in debit; in the "Cross" Ledger j-ou have to add to
and you want to transfer it to Ledger
the credit column and you shall put the following at the end of all the other entries: On such and such
day putting down always the same day in which you do the balancing [lilancio) per himself as posted
to Ledger
to the debit, per remainder (resto), wliich amount I add here in order to close (saldo)
L 12, S 15, G 10, P 26.
value see page 8
And then you shall cancel the accoimt in the debit and credit diagonally, as I have told you in talkThen put down the total of all the entries, in tlie debit
ing about the bringing forward of the accounts.
You shall also write
as well as in the credit, so that the eye can see at a glance that it is all even.
down at the new page in Ledger A, in the debit column, as follows: First j'ou put down at the top of
the page the year, and you put the day in front of the place where you make the entry for the reason
mentioned in Chapter 15, then you say, Mr. Martino so and so, debit (dec dure shall give) on such and
:
such day
71
(ui"
Mo a
tc
cbe noTi nolc ni: pojrarc in ziito quadcmo. B. dx pozricno cere qile dx
intrata
cafa
de
mcrcaria.fpeli
no. tf= vo fc cblmto a fcqnarnc coro ad alcu? coc (on fpcfi oe
faldare
fimili
conucgonfe
ifitoc tuttc fpcfc*rirao;drnaric.fitn.pcfci6i.fcudu liuclli iC.qfte
faptcga.'
vw
c oan
cofi tuttc Ic l.^aucrai faldatc I qfta ocl
qfto a earn rSte tc.
guadag^.e
pdi'ta
tuo
p d>
110 r>ouc fubtro poi fijm ando fuo oare e baucre poirai cogncfccre
qltc
c\x
oilfalcatc
firan
fe oouia oiffalcare
fira i t al bilando fatfo la parita.cioc cB le cofc
i
Ixjucre
^ c oano
fe tx qfta ptira.fira p
fc ft'a pm lo
gomc(jaln.
cl oarc c^ lauere cu I?aucra pduno ql canto i
barai
veduto
cb
baucre aloja oi'rai d?e ql tanto babia i Ditto tpo guad3gnato7C.
p qfta
tuo
ocl
tid
p:icipio
caucdale.oouc
rutrte^c oanno tuo fe(ito.alo:a qfta faldarai i laprita ocl
oano
fc
dxfcl
qfto
modo
faldarala
i
mancgto poncfti loiuctaneoe tutta la ma facult3.
fira
a oi 7C.p
tjedal qle couic cere Icpzc lulti'.ptita o tuni lqdcrni.po?rai fepjc eognofcere nitta
ma facul
tagiognedo li ocbiti e creditid^c in lib'. B. pojtafti 7c. qfta oel caucdal odqdcrno. cro
foi a pttoi p pri
ci faldarai anco:a. po2tarala coc laltre ncl qdcrno. H. in rcfto c fiiina
ta dx lo poi and?e fare.ma fi coftuma fada in fiiina pcbc ^ volta tutto mo iuctario ape.
recojdate cbiamar fue carri.7C. alTerarai poi mtte Icptitc Dl qdcrno. 3.ne lalfabcto ognu
na al fuo luogo coc oifopra te oilTi.cap? ?".Sno fcp:c poffi co facilita n-ouarc le tuc facede
iecondo lo:o occurence e cofi fia faldo rntto el p:imo quadcrno con fuo giojnale e mcniozi
ale. acio fta piu d:>iaro oe oitto faldo.farai quefto altro fcontro.iocfumni3rai in vn fO'
glio tutto doare oel qu3dcrno.crod. ponlo a man rinillr3. fnnimarai mtto fuo f?aucre
p6lo aman ocrtra.poi qucfle vlrime funime rcfumniarai. faranc oc tutte quelle
ocl oarvna fiima d?e fi cbiamara fij jna ffi marfi. cofi farai ma fiima 6 tuttc qllc oalatief
cbe fid>iamara ancoza lei vna fijinafiimar0.fl^ lap'.fira fiima fummarg.od oare c la f'a'
fi d?fama fummafiimarii oc lo baucre.? k qfte ooifdme fummaru fira pare.cioe cbc tan
to fia luna qpto laln-a.Vj qlla od oare.e qlla oelo.baucre.argufrai cl tuo qdcrno ecrc bcgui
1
dato fcnuro c faldato p la c^^ioc cb oi fopja nd cap? 4.fo octto.iQfba fe luna 6 oittc funi
mc fummaru auancjflc laln*a oenotarcbbeerrond moquaderno.clqual poi con oiligctii
1
ricoucrra trouadoco
induftria
Ca ^T
72
per himself as per remaiuder {i-esto) carried from "Cross" Ledger, which has beeu added in the credit colL 12, S 15, Q 10, P 26.
umn in order to close {saldo), see page 60, value:
thi;
accounts
of
the
proceed
with
all
Gross
Ledger
which
jou
want
will
to transfer to Ledger
Thus you
A: cash account, capital account, merchandise, pei-soual property, real property, debtors, creditors,
public officers, brokers, public weighmen, etc., with whom we have sometimes very long accounts. But as*
to those accounts which you should not care to transfer to Ledger A, as, for instance, your own personal
accounts of which you are not obliged to give an account to another, as, for instance, small mercantile expenses, household expenses, income and expenses and all extraordinary expenses rentals, pescioni, feudi or
AU these accounts should be closed {saldore) in the Cross Ledger into the favor and damage aclivelli, etc.
count, or increase and deficit, or profit and damage account, as it is sometimes called. You shall enter them
in the debit column, as it is rare that these expense accounts should show anything in the credit side. As
I often have told you, add the difference to the column, either debit or credit, which shows a smaller total,
saying: Per profit and loss in this account, see page, etc. By doing so, you shall have closed (saldore) all
these different accounts in the profit and loss account through which then, by adding all the debit and all
the credit entries, you will be able to know what is your gain or loss, for with this balance all entries are
equalized the things that had to be deducted were deducted, and the things that had to be added were
added proportionately in their respective places. If this account shows more in the debit than in the credit,
that means that you have lost that much in your business since you began. If the credit is more than the
debit, that means that in the same period of time you have gained.
After you know by the closing {saldorai) of this account what your profit or loss is, then you shall close
account into the capital account in which, at the begimiing of your management of your business, you
entered the inventory of all your worldly goods. You shall close the account in this way: If the losses
are in excess from which state of affairs may God keep every one who really lives as a good Christian
then you have to add to the credit in the usual manner, saying
On such and such day, Per capital on
account of losses in this account, see page so and so, vahie, etc. Then you shall cancel the account with a
diagonal line in debit and credit, and put in the total amount of all the debit entries, as well as of the credit
And then in the capital accoiuit, you shall write in the debit column:
entries, which should be equal.
Capital debit {dee dare shall give) on such and such day, per profit and loss account on account of losses
as marked down in the credit column of said account in order to close {per saldo), value, etc.:
this
If instead there should be a profit, which will happen when the profit and loss account would showmore in the credit than in the debit, then you should add the difference to the debit side to make the equalization, referring to the capital account and respective page. You should credit the same amount to the capital account, making the entry on the credit side where all the other goods of yours have been entered, personal or real. Therefore, from the capital account, which always must be the last account in the entire
may always learn what your fortune is, by adding together aU the debits and all the credits,
which you have transferred in Ledger A.
Then this capital account should be closed and carried forward with the other accounts to Ledger
A, either in total or entry by entry. You can do either way, but it is customary to transfer only the total
amount, so that the entire value of your inventory {inventario) is shown at a glance. Don't forget to number the pages, after which you will enter aU the different accounts in the alphabet of Ledger A, each at
its own place, as I have said at Chapter 5, so that you may find very easily the account you want.
In
this way the entire first Ledger, and with it the Journal and memorandum book, are closed and closed up.
In order that it may be clearer that the books were correct before the said closing, you shall summarize on a sheet of paper all the debit totals that appear in the Cross Ledger and place them at the left,
Ledger, you
down
the credit totals at the right. Of aU these debit totals you make one sum
{summa sunimarum) and likewise you shall make a sum total of aU the
credit totals, which is also called grand total {summa summarum)
The first is the grand total of the debits,
and the second is the grand total of the credits. Now, if these two grand totals are equal that is, if one
is just as much as the other
that is, if those of the debit and those of the credit are alike then you shall
conclude that your Ledger was very well kept and closed, for the reason that I gave you in Chapter 14.
But if one of the grand totals is bigger than the other, that would indicate a mistake in your Ledger,
which mistake you will have to look for diligently with the indiLstry and the intelligence God gave you and
with the help of what you have learned. This part of the work, as we said at the beginning, is highly necessary to the good merchant, for, if you are not a good bookkeeper in your business, you will go on groping like a blind man and may meet great losses.
Therefore, take good care and make all efforts to be a good bookkeeper, such as I have shown you fully
in this sublime work how to become one.
I have given you all the rules and indicated the places where
everything can be found, in the table of contents which I have placed at the beginning of this work.
Of all the things thus far treated, as I promised you in Chapter 12, I will now give you a summary
of the most essential things for your own recollection, which no doubt will be very useful to you.
And remember to pray God for me so that to His praise and glory I may always go on doing good.
total
which
is
called
grand
all
total
CHAPTER 35.
HOW AND IN WHAT ORDER PAPERS SHOULD BE KEPT. SUCH AS MANUSCRIPTS,
FAMILY LETTERS, POLICIES, PROCESSES, JUDGMENTS AND OTHER INSTRUMENTS OF
WRITING AND THE RECORD BOOK OF IMPORTANT LETTERS.
Here follow the manner and rules for keeping documents and manuscripts, such as papers relative to
payments made, receipts for drafts, or gift.s of merchandise, confidential letters, which things are verj' important for merchants
73
fffincf
J09
MTKa
oS
mc fi foftuina
fra
Diatc
modo
pcner "Oi lotto con lo oi e fl&. liniercaii coftumano
{xlx
fanobeffe
Icwici
di
te
confulione.ie
fercbc
'
oi
drtro alt incnte non vi poncndocl
luogo
fe oil
qlla
a
notato
dx
non
d
notte.
oi nctato dx Ic fatta oc
re'lalf fffra c fatia
la 12a
dx
km
dx non b& d
rncdit3
dx
ouv
fe fatta
Ditto l?abiaino
pom
ma
oe
mo
dx
poi a mefc
^ mefe
cc finnTitcr.fcrua
faralo fcriuere
fmarfrc c pderc.
dx
tncrcari
al3^o:nata farai
74
and,
if
they are
lost,
may
we
it is
to those places.
"When you have answered a letter and sent the answer away, you shall mention on the outside of the
by whom you sent it and the day, just as you did when you received the letter.
As to the day, you shall never forget to mark it in any of your transactions, whetlier small or large,
and especially in writing letters in which these things must be mentioned, namely the year, the day, the
place, and your name. It is customary to put the name at the end of the right side in a corner. It is customary among merchants to write the year and the day and the place at the top at the beginning of the
letter.
But first, like a good Christian, you shall always remember to write down the glorious name of our
Savior tliat is, the name of Jesus, or in its place the sign of the Holy Cross, in whose name our transCross 1494. On this 17th day of April in
actions must always be made, and you shall do as follows:
Venice.
And then go on with what you want to say that is, "My very dear," etc. But the students and
other people, like the monks or priests, etc., who are not in business, are used to writing the day and year
If
at the end after writing the letter. The merchants are accustomed to put at the top as we have said.
you should do otherwise and not write the day, there will be confusion and you will be made fun of because we say the letter which does not bear the day was written during the night, and the letter which
does not bear the place we say that it was written in the other world, not in this one and besides the fun
made of you, there would be vexations, which is worse, as I have said.
After you have sent your answer away, you put your letter in its proper place and what we have
said of one letter will apply to all the other letters. It must be observed that when the letters you send
away are of importance, you should first make a record of them in a book which is kept for this special
purpose. In this book the letter should be copied, word for word, if it is of great importance as, for instance, the letters of exchange, or letters of goods sent, etc., otherwise only a record of the substantial part
should be made similarly as we do in the memorandum book, saying: On this day, etc., we have written
to so and so, etc., and we send him the following things, etc., as per his letter of such and such date he
requested or gave commission for, etc., which letter we have placed in such and such pouch.
After you have sealed the letter on the outside and addressed it, it is the custom of many to mark on
the outside your special mark, so that they may know that it is correspondence of a merchant, because
great attention is given to merchants, for they are the ones, as we said at the beginning of this treatise,
;
catoreSt. Peter)
is
All these letters, tlien, month by month, year by year, you shall put together in a bundle and you will
keep them in an orderly way in a chest, wardrobe or cupboard. As you receive them during the day, put
them aside in the same order, so that if necessary you might find them more easily; and I won't talk any
longer about this, as I know that you have understood it.
You shall keep in a more secret place, as private boxes and chests, all manuscripts of your debtors
who have not paid you, as I said in Chapter 17. Likewise keep the receipts in a safe place for any emergency. But when you should pay others, have the other party write the receipt in a receipt book, as I told
you at the beginning, so that a receipt cannot be easily lost or go astray.
You shall do the same as to important writing, as, for instance, memoranda of the brokers, or of merchants, or of weighmen, or relative to goods placed in or taken out of the custom house, either land or sea
custom houses, and judgments or decrees of the consuls or of other public officials, or all kinds of notarial
instruments written on parchments which ought to be kept in a place apart. The same should be said of
the copies of instruments and papers of attorneys or counselors at law relative to lawsuits.
have a separate book for memoranda, which we call memoranda book, in which day by
keep a record of the things that you might be afraid of forgetting and, if you forget them,
may prove to be dangerous to you. Every day, the last thing in the evening, just before going to bed, you
shall glance over tliis book to see whether everything which should have been done has been done, etc.,
and you shall cancel with your pen the things that have been don(>, and in this book you shall make a record of the things that you have lent to your neighbor or friend for one or two days, as, for instance, store
It is also wise to
day you
shall
vases, caldrons, or
iftiiictio
UmHi docuniJti con di aim vnl jflimi fopia dari repo:rai 7^.piu c maco qotviando cfimfnu
cndo f luoabi c rpi a te per tuoingcgno parcra.pcro eft non c polTibflc apicno dc tutto a
ponto per ponto mcrca tu dare nojtn j.c noriria pocft come altrc uoltc k ditrorol piu port
afarc mercatite clx un dotto?c dcIcggi.5dco ^c.Cok cb fiiio^a fono date.rebii lap:ed8
i
giuin
ti
ari'o
tiie
oc rcgolc
modi fopn
il
rcnerc
vno lib?o
7L
ap".
01 inercanri.
\6.
gTum li c:cduo2i ft ocboiio mctrcre al lib:o oala lua niano ocftra. lidebfto?i wla cui
mano fttiiTlra. Xuttc le pritc d^e fe metteno allib? Ixino a ecrc ooppie:cioe fe tu fai vno ere
dito:c al
U fare .t)cbifo:e.iafcua pnra cofi i Dare c oc i ixre t>bbc cotcnerc ife.',.cofe 00c
luln'mo
pagameto.la foma oel pagamero.f h cagioe oel paganiero.
1
flgi'oMio ocl
nomc ocla grita oel ocbito ocbbc eerc ilpfio oella prira oel crediro.
5 qMo
tiedefimo
fi'djno clx c fcrirta la ptira ocl oebi'ro. i qllo mcdeumo giojno oebbcccrc qlla oel crediro.
t,o brtancio oel lib? unrcde ? foglio piegato p lologo fiil qle oala niano oeflra ficopiao
1
re.
allo?a
il
lib'.rta
bene.
li
oebito:i. vcdcfe
l bilaudo oel
lib2o
ti
nandod lib"
fa cofi p
.ti
la couerta.
3&.
li
lalt'.fo f e lie
76
These rules, and the other very useful rules of which I have spoken before, you shall follow and, according to the localities and times, you shall be more or less particular, adding or omitting as it seems best
to you, because it is impossible to give rules for every little thing in the mercantile business, as we have
already said. The proverb says that we need more bridges to make a merchant than a doctor of laws can
make.
If you understand well all the things that
gence will carry on your business well.
have spoken of so
far, I
am
intelli-
CHAPTER 36.
SUMMARY OF THE RULES AND WAYS FOR KEEPING A LEDGER.
All the creditors must appear in the Ledger at the right hand side, and
All entries made in the ledger have to be double entries
make some one debtor.
Each
namely:
The
credit.
that
last
On
name
is,
if
all
creditor,
you must
in the entry of the debit (in the Ledger) must be the first name in the entry of the
day that you make the debit entry, you should make the credit entry.
the same
By a trial balance (bilancio) of the Ledger we mean a sheet of paper folded lengthwise in the middle,
on which we write down all the creditors of the Ledger at the right side and the debtors at the left side.
We see whether the total of the debits is equal to that of the credits, and if so, the Ledger is in order.
The
balance of the Ledger should be equal that is, the total of the credits I do not say creditors
to the total of the debits
If they were not equal there would be a
I do not say debtors.
mistake in the Ledger.
trial
should be equal
equal.
If
it
were
different, there
would be a mistake
in the ledger.
You must not and cannot make any one debtor in your book without permission or consent of the person that has to appear as debtor if you should, that account would be considered false. Likewise you cannot add terms or conditions to a credit without permission and consent of the creditor. If you should,
that statement would be untrue.
;
The values in the Ledger must be reckoned in one kind of money. In the explanation of the entries,
you may name all sorts of money, either ducats, or lire, or Florence, or gold scudi, or anything
else but in writing the amount in the column, you should always use the same kind of money throughout that is, the money that you reckon by at the beginning should be the same all through the Ledger.
The debit or credit entries of the cash account may be shortened, if you desire, by not giving the reason for the entry you may simply say from so and so, for so and so, because the reason for the entry is
;
If a
new account should be opened, you must use a new page and must not go back even
to place the new account. You should not write backward, but always forward
room enough
if
there
that
was
go
forward as the days go, which never come back. If you do other\\ase, the book would be untrue.
If you should make an entry in the Ledger by mistake which should not have been made, as it happens
at times through absentmindedness, and if you wanted to correct it, you shall do as follows: Mark with
a cross or with an "H" that special entry, and then make an entry on the opposite side under the same
account. That is, if the erroneous entry was on the credit side say, for instance, for L 50, S 10, D 6
you make an entry in the debit side, saying: Debit (dee dare) L 50, S 10, D 6, for the opposite entry
cross marked which is hereby corrected, because it was put in through a mistake and should not have
been made. Then mark with a cross this new entry. This is all.
When the spaces given to any particular account are all filled so that no more entries can be made
and you want to carry forward that account, do in this way
Figure out the remainder of the said account that is, whether it is debit or credit remainder. Now let us say that there is a credit remainder
of L 20, S 4, D 2. You should write on the opposite side, without mentioning any date, as follows Debit
L 28, S 4, D 2, per remainder (per resto) of this account carried forward in the credit at page so and so.
And it is done. The said entry is to be marked in the margin so, namely: Ro, which means "resto" (remainder), but this does not mean that it is a true debit entry although it is on the debit side. It is rather
the credit which is transferred through the debit side. Now you must turn the pages and keep on turning them until you find a new page where you shall credit that account by naming the account and making a new entry without putting down any day. And you shall say in the following manner
So and so
is credit (dec havere) L 28, S 4, D 2, per remainder (per resto) of account transferred from page so and so,
and you should mark this entry in the margin by Ro, which means "resto" remainder, and that is done.
In the same way, as I have shown you, you shall proceed if the account has a debit remainder that is,
what you enter on the credit side you should transfer to the debit side.
is,
When the ledger is all filled up, or old, and you want to transfer it into a new one, you proceed in the
following manner
First you must see whether your old book bears a mark on its cover for instance, an
A. In this case you must mark the new Ledger in which you want to transfer the old one by B. because
the books of the merchants go by order, one after the other, according to the letters of the alphabet. Then
3'ou have to take the trial balance of the old book and see that it is equal.
From the trial balance sheet
you must copy in the new Ledger all the creditors and debtors all in order just as they appear in the trial
balance sheet, but make a separate account for each amount
77
arbim !xrc
a trauaglurc co feco. i ciaTara gtica otl octwoic l?ai'a pirc j> riti reds
ucd^io fcanaro. z3. vi carx lultfia |H>rj od crcdiioxbai a wrc g taiui rciti
a l?3iicrc al lib' rccbio Tcc^natD. B. a i jr .i col", t rtducro a( hbju nuouo./Sja g caucdlgv'
il lib:o ucd.MO n couicnc a dafcuo coto acccfo if^v^cnt r!o <d to btlancio fop:a wio ,cicc fV
vno coro ocl Iibro ucc!.mo fara crcdiro:c cl.x Icuolrai g lo bilanao faralo oeUtorc c oirai j.}
ranri rcila l>aucrc a qllocoro pof^pocbbi l.-aiu:i c .U lib", uouo fcgnato. 36. a.car.^; coli bl
q-to ni
adarc
al lib",
rat ifpcro
re coll
uerc
mno
I:>ai
il lib,"'.
uccImcc accefo
di lib''
iiuouo.i
coficomo
dx oouc a! crcditoje
li
10 to
fa ocbirojc
pofto ocbbi
be
cot3nti. ranrc qrc cofc die fono taritc j?nrc fare al libx fare eiafaiiu ocbirrice e one ^ ta
0.-7C.pci\o ujcckfimo crcdito:e i qllo a car. farai aedi
rrouo llimare q(io 01
co:e il ruo cotoxm re medcfuHO 01 ciafciia j)tuaijr>a nora dx qlle ijtirc fintcde cb 116 fie
um
fc ini
m inaco m
oirci ouc".
(una
ga dx le cofe
miniire oi
imictr.)no al lib;o..
ne credtrox
mcdcmo al luo fop2a oerto e6ro. oipct tare oebirojc la poiVeilioe ra |>rc c
re
liiinaria coc c
vino e fane eredtcox re medenio al ruo (opjaektro eoio. e coi iiellc regoie to
vogliono bcre i !o:o rrc cofe.ci'oc jlj^iorno e la cf\ sxia peciiia e (aeagidc.
opredx ru faceni 01 mercanrieo oicbe cofa fi fmfe p li D.eotat i ixbbi fare cibirore qlla
talc mercanna oqllo rale cofa ecrcditorc l3ca(ra. le ru picciTi. io lacopraia d. corati coe t
oitro.ODa vno banco glipafio p me.o vcramcre vno inio ainicoglipjgo^ mc.lRifpodoti
oirro r utte
le
^rirc
faraicrcdiroj la cafla ru bat afare crediror ql baneo.o qllo ruo meo c5 j? re glia pijb^ri.
6predx ru facefTi di mere isnrie.o didx tola fifia a rcrininc dalcuno rpo dcbi fare de
riffi
dxm
Xopre
buore qlla rale mercancia e crediiore colui da cui ru lai cdj>ara j.iqllo rpo
di mercanna.o didxcol a ft fia a jjfe d.e pre rpo defJbi fare debitore qlla rale mercar>
na creditorc colui da cui ru lai cogata ^ qllo rpo c6 qlti patti dx li l-^abbi (jauercdtciamo
ficclTi
a tevio di D.corari lorefto fra fci inefi .pxiun futuri: doppo qf^o fare unalrra ^xita.cioe
dcbuore colui da cm ru laicopara di qila q''.di o.coranridx mora qlla rer^a pant dx fu di
p.irro dicoraini
credirore la caiTa
qllo laiubo
dx g;lh>agalTe gte.
'iTurre
U ucdirc cl^
dx
ti.O? poniamo dx rulo Iti'mi ouc.oodici ilccro adoq? Ic Duinilia libbx vagliono ouc.240
coran.e po farai crrdrrore (alana 6 ouc 2 40.^ q-ro lai vendura qlio modo obf a fep7C i
.
z^o.vucis'odova
dx
tu i^jlalTi
Oanaricorann
to peiicre ocbbi rare i qlioa car./f fane jxbitojc ilpcuere.
fU
lamico
glilwiplbri
aedirozecjiTa.
ad?i
ru
e
qlcbcwo amuo Ijaia fare wbuox
lamico,
bai
afare
ocbirox
cafla
credirox
amico
e
hceueiTt Dcotann f n pliian;a oa qldx
^(
pfo orto.o otfci.o rcn oiic'.^afficurare nauc galee altra cofa oebbi fa/
It crcdircx ficurra 01 nauili) c cbianre dx c coc c qrdo e ooue e qpto p ccto . dcbitoK (oto
01 caffa.
(QDcrcaniu dx n fuftino nundarc ife altri co comiftione oiucderle barartaric
Olcquflli ru baucffil;3ucr la rua .puifiof .iMcodx tu oebbt fare oebiroxalUto qlla rale hkt
eantia atrcncre al rale oitalc p lo po?to.o ^ gabclla
p nolo j? merrere i magay no crc'
dirojc coro 01 aUa.
Zutte le fpcfc 01 mercantic 01 ^.cotanricbe tu farai.o p nolo.o g ga
$><
tu l.^auelVi
bdlc.orerturco rcnferieopo^rarure
perlaqlcrugUbaiifpc*
78
mercantta
to each account all the space that you thiuk you may need. And in each debit account you shall
so much as per debit remainder {rcsta a dare) in the old book marked A, at page so and so. And
in each credit account you shall say: Per so much as per credit remainder {rcsta a havcre) in the old book
marked A, at page so and so. In this way you transfer the old Ledger into the new one. Now, in order to
and leave
Per
say
:
cancel the old book, you must cancel each account by making it balance, of which we have spoken that is,
an accoiuit of the old Ledger shows a credit remainder as the trial balance would show you, you shall
debit this account for the same amount, saying, so much remains in the credit of this account, carried forward in the credit in the new Ledger marked B, at page so and so. In this way you shall have closed the
old Ledger aud opened the new one for, as I have shown you how to do for a creditor, the same you shall
do for a debtor, with this difference, that while you debit an account, which may sliow a credit remainThis is all.
der, you shall credit the account which may show a debit remainder.
if
you should buy merchandise or anything else for cash, you should make a debtor of that special
merchandise or thiiig aud like creditor cash, and if you should say, I bought that merchandise for cash,
but a bank will furnish the cash, or a friend of mine will do so, I will answer you that any way, you must
make a debitor of that special merchandise but where I told you to credit cash, you should, instead, credit
that special bank, or that special friend who furnished the money.
If you should buy merchandise or anything else, partly for cash and partly on time, you shall make
that special merchandise debitor, and make a creditor of the party from whom you bought it on time and
under the conditions that you might have agreed upon as, for instance, one-third in cash and the rest in
six months. After this you will have to make another entry
that is, make a debitor of the party from
whom you bought it for the amount of the cash that you have given him for that one-third, aud make creditor cash or the bank which might have paid that much for you.
If you should sell any merchandise or anything else, you should proceed as above with the exception
that you should proceed in the opposite way that is, where I told you that when you bought you should
make the merelumdise debitor, when you sell you will have to make your merchandise a creditor and charge
the cash account if it is sold for cash, or charge the bank that might have promised the payment. And if
you make a sale on time, you will have to charge the party to whom you sold it on time, and if you make
the sale partly for cash and partly on time, you shall proceed as I have shown you in explaining about the
If
buying.
If you should give merchandise in exchange, for instance, let us say I have sold 1,000 pounds of Engwool in exchange for pepper that is, for 2,000 pounds of pepper I ask, how shall we make this entry
in the Ledger ? You shaU do as follows
Estimate what the value of the pepper is, at your discretion, in
cash. Now let us say that you estimated 12 ducats per hundred; the 2,000 pounds would be worth 210
ducats.
Therefore, you shall make the wool a creditor with 240 ducats, for which amount you have sold
it.
This is the manner that you should follow in all the trade entries. If you have received 2,000 pounds
of pepper valued at 240 ducats, you shall make the pepper a debitor and say
Said pepper debtor on this
lish
etc., etc.
If you should loan cash to some of your friends, you shall charge the friend to whom you have given
and credit cash. If you should borrow cash from some friend, you will have to debit cash and credit
your friend.
If you have received 8 or 10 or 20 ducats in order to insure a ship or a galley, or anything else, you
should credit the account "ship insurance," and explain all about it how, when and where, and how much
per cent. and shall charge the cash account.
If anybody should send you any goods with instructions to sell them or exchange them on commission, I say that you have to charge in the Ledger that special merchandise belonging to so and so with the
freight, or duty, or for storage, and credit the cash account.
You shall credit the cash for all cash that
you have to pay on account of goods for instance, cash paid for transportation or duty, or brokerage, etc.,
and charge the account of that speciaV goods for that which you have paid in money.
it
79
iftincHotiona.Xrartatoe.xi'-BErcripturia
mcttcrc alcrcfOzdancc ml mcram.
3(1 cfjf
Uttc Ictnaflmnc oi cafa o oi bortcc^a cbeni ti truouu ODa voglwno eltcre per
o?dmc.doc tntte Ic cok fcrro oa pcrfe con fpano oa potcrc agiongncre fe bt
ro(inanc.coriOTrc5narciiimargincqu<licbefulTiiio pcrdutre ovcndutco
rmmirc ofpoco valox.
farert
ooiiarc gu3ft<:.^f^a non fi intcndc maflcnric
wtrc le cofc oiftagno . fi
umilc
ottro.
e
conimc
oa
pcrfc
cofe Dorconc
mdc
rtri
giofe
ti
dx tu aflfir alTi a tanti ouc.o a tante lire (aiino. quando m nfcoterai afitto al wa ql
quald?c gioia o uafcUaIfoin ari faiino a mettereal lib20 commc oifop?a ri o(lTt.l5):eftando
gio2iu
oiquefte tale coft no
quidici
iTienri oariento o 00:0 a qua!d?e tuo aniico per otto
pocbi
giojni laibariauere.
fra
fi mcttono al (I'bjo.ma fenc fa rico2do alericozdance.pcrdx
cofi per contrafe ate folTiprefhito fiimli cofe non Uocbbi mcttcre al libro.iae>afarnc me
mo2ia akrkoTdaa^c perclx pjefto lai a rcndcrc.
omme li fcriuono lire e (ddi e oanarie picfolie altre abreuiature.
lire foldi oanarf pidoli libbx once oanarpefi grani carat< oucati fiozinlargbt.
f
libbre
Cont^ocbbeoettarele^trteoe
flfbcccc?
tp
(5
omc
ocbitOTi.
fioJaf
ouc.
X.<?douicoOH)iero fozellai
oc Iwuerc a
49?.S:.44.f.| r 6.8.porto
contari in pfta,a.pofto caf
raauere.acar. 2
oi.i
I!
Irrrruj*.
Jtodouico oipieroforeftai
oeoarc aoiriu'i.nouenibre.
5*.
01.2 z.noucbrc
49^r.2o.f.4.$.2.f6nog
44 fids
;.tf.
c3U9lcaiipoftooarcac.2.S
piaccfpoftobatiqfto.ac.2.S 18 P1186.
di.i
4-"oocbre.i 49?.S.44.
aualcanninqlloac.2
foreflani in
62 ^i? &6
^1
5 8>
8 P11
S *.
.t.6^U
18^1166.
bre.r49;.S;'2o.M-^-2ci.P
mifT? anoliro ptaccf y lodo
44
to luimcdefimo contaripo'
ftocaflaacan 2
$
20 ^4^2.
8 f
ucbre.i49?'S^-62.^.i?.$.6.
20^482,
ftocafrad3rca.car.2.
80
po
%
$^$i^^6.
:
:
::
;
:
All the house and store goods that you may find yourself possessed of these should be put do^vn in
order that is, all the things made of iron by itself, leaving space enough to make additions if necessary
also leaving room to mark in the margin the things that might be lost or sold or given as presents or
spoiled.
But I don't mean small things of little value.
Make a record of all the brass things separately, as I have said, and then a record of the tin things,
and then the wooden things, and copper things, and then the silver things and gold things, always leaving
enough space between each class so that you may add something if necessary, and to put down a memorandum of any object that might be missing.
All sureties or obligations or promises of payment that you might make for some friend, explaining
clearly everything.
All goods or other things that might be left with you in custody, or that you might
friend, as well as all the things that other friends of yours might borrow from you.
All conditional transactions that is, purchases and sales, as, for instance, a contract that you shall
me by the next ship coming from England, so many cantara of woll di li lyiistri, on condition that
it is good; and when I receive it I will pay you so much per cantara or by the hundred, or otherwise; I
will send you in exchange so many cantara of cotton.
send
All houses, lands, stores or jewels that you might rent at so many ducats and so many lire per year.
collect the rent, then that money should be entered in the Ledger, as I have told you.
If you should lend some jewels, silver or gold vase to some friend, say, for instance, for eight or fifteen
days, things like this should not be entered in the Ledger, but should be recorded in this record book, because
in a few days, you wiU get them back. In the same way, if somebody should lend you something like the
things mentioned, you should not make any entry in the Ledger, but put down a little memorandum in
the record book, because in a short time you will have to give it back.
How
Lire, Soldi,
Denari and
Picioli, etc.,
should be written
down
as abbreviations.
Lire; Soldi; Denari; Picioli; Libbre; Once; Danarpesi; Grani; Carati; Ducati; Florin larghi.
(See other side for their abbreviations.)
HOW THE
HOW THE
44,
1,
And
S 11,
pay for him
4,
D2
D6
to Martino, son of
Piero Foraboschi at his pleasure,
posted said shall have at page 2
L18, Sll,
Cash in hands of Simone, son
of Alessio Bombeni, shall give on
Nov. 14, 1493, for L 62, S 13,
2, for Francesco, son of Antonio
Cavalcanti, page 2
D6
62,
13,
D6
chi, shall
for
promised
18,
11,
D6
try at p. 8
L18, Sll,
D6
L 62,
D6
62,
13,
D 6,
which
D2
81
13,
8;40 AiiulmoVihm04
94
Pro Cr
hmo // A doniudrii
per d^nnofeguido
j;;f-|-
1?
^~
,
ptrfitio
di
599^
//
tn e/Je <tppdr,
M4l^
^
Udf^
^J^
-^
^^
-^
Pro dc zfcchd
in
Pro
4^
o^
'*=
<J^"'^fc
f^
'P^^^
in ditto
pro
*J"^'''"
^^
<p-
,95
c ddtmo
Difafdarlefpcfcdcfaliriadi.m-ditto
pro&danro,
4>
ft-
17 ^
/
,
per
uii
^^Jq^\"^"J'^
,^0^
?.
^|-
monte //
pro
ptrfdldo fuodf
perfdldodtqusUcdf^S'^ iif^
399
^'
g'/^JJ^^'
izf^
1? Pro
4 o
M4I
'^^
45 ^
d
iWio pre/(rnte,come
^"^y
a.
M oidn // A
-,__,
^jL
-^-*
perpm
Pro CT ^^nno
qu(Ud ptr Vanno pnfentefinird dc LMto
^:
3 08
^ o
^1
-,
i54i,pcr/tf/dodeqMefli9f
97
cafd
/J?e/c/dttc,come i/ic//edpp4r,per/i/iodiqcfle,9f
"^X^
296
uaI^
^ 9^
J/
,/
u^l^
_
-rr
corfo.dd di primo
Mdrzo
S'^ofn ddi
Vs
me oc
ultimo Fe^
in
giorno
ho
fcriito di
mid ntdno^nr
per hduer
X pdrtide
lequdl
S-^portdk ml
ho
li"
bronouofs
gn&to
A
B2
f^
5JP
il
pro
&danno
nel-tue
the opposite page is given an enlarged reproduction of the last page of Domenico Manzoni's jourstated before, the writer has not an original copy of Manzoni's book at iiand, therefore only this
page can be given which was enlarged from a reproduction appearing on page 121 of Brown's History of
As
nal.
Accounting.
As we have seen in the historical chapter, Manzoni wrote forty years after Pacioli, but he was the first
author to give illustrations of the journal and ledger, although in the text he practically copied Pacioli
verbatim. Therefore, in Manzoni's book we have the first expressions in examples and illustrations of the
writings of Pacioli.
We will note that the date is in the middle at the top of the page that the name of the debtor account is separated from the name of the creditor account by two slanting lines, thus: //; that each entry
is separated by a line in the explanation column only (not in the money column)
that immediately to
the left of each entry we fiind two figures, separated by a short horizontal line or dash these are the pages
of the ledger to which the debit and credit are posted, the top figure representing the debit and the lower
one the credit. Immediately before these two figures, we find two slanting lines or dashes they are the
checking marks. We will see that Pietra uses a dot in this place and that Pacioli prefers a dot but mentions a check mark or any other mark.
They are not the two slanting lines which are drawn through an
entry when it has been posted. These two we find represented in the two little diagonal dashes at the beginning and end, as well as on the under and upper side, of the lines separating the journal entries. The
writer believes from the descriptions he has read and iUustratious he has seen, that these dashes are the
beginning and end of the much described "diagonal lines" and illustrates his idea by the two lines he
added to the reproduction in the last journal entry. The omission of these lines like that of the standing
lines in the money column, is probably due to lack of printing facilities. You will recall that Pacioli mentions these lines to be made at the beginning of the entry and at the end of the entry, just before the lire
;
sign.
The numbers from 294 to 300 in the left-hand margin, are the consecutive numbers of the journal enwhich Manzoni alone and no other writer herein referred to mentions.
tries,
On
dash
is
the right we find the four signs of the various denominations, lire,
provided wherever a cypher should appear in the money column.
soldi, denari,
and
picioli.
The two lines of printing above the money in the money columns are merely directions which Manzoni
as textwriter gave to his reader.
They are not a part of the journal entry. You will note that he prints
them in different type. The difference in coin between the uniform one used in bookkeeping and the one
used locally is also apparent, as the local coin is given as a part of the explanation to the journal entry.
The "p" to the left of the journal entry and to the right of the figures in the margin stands for "per"
(our by), and immedately after the slanting dashes "//" in front of the name of the credit account is
used
"A"
(our to).
Elsewhere we have stated that except as to numbering the journal entries Manzoni mentioned nothing that Pacioli did not describe. While he copies whole chapters word for word, in some of them, however, he was clearer, more brief and more systematic than Pacioli.
We give one of the chapters as an example.
83
&
Nota ehe
& Quaderno, in se
Quantita, Tempo & Ordine.
la
il
il
Tempo,
giorno, ilmese
si e il
&
e.
&
il
uno
debitore, o
quaderno.
lanno, sotto
vogliono.
si
grandi ehe
piceioli, o
si
siano.
il
La
Davauti a
la cosa debitrice, vi si
Davanti a
la cosa creditrice, vi si
pone uno
II
lo
A in
cosi
A.
tal
II giornale, si
II
giorno,
si
Et nel quaderno,
II
Et
numero de
le
Et queUi de
Per
le
il
medesimo
si
le
cose morte,
morte,
qui
s
si
si
le cose vive,
per
si
nel quaderno,
Li nomi de
le
notano a
man
si
sinistra.
CHAPTER
XIII.
You should
note that the rules for the Journal and the Ledger contain six things, namely
Have
(Credit),
Quality, by this
means
as
we understand
the things
Time, means the day, the month and the year in which the transaction
Order, means that which
The
first
we can
easily learn
to
aU
creditor.
84
things.
is
it
big or
made.
be.
little.
;:
made debtor
is
is
way "P".
And
the
"A"
In the Journal one must divide the debtor from the creditor by means of two small lines in this way //,
which denotes that from one entry in the Journal two entries should be made in the Ledger.
is
And
in the
is
And
entries.
living account
is
And
is
is
else.
In Chapter eleven Manzoni also gives eight rules for journalizing. The four principal things pertaining to buying, selling, receiving, paying, exchanging, loaning and gifts are
It
1.
2.
3.
4.
gives.
receives.
given.
is
received.
is
should be noted that here are four conditions to each transaction. While Manzoni does not explain
we will see later on, Stevin gives us the proper interpretation for this, somewhat as follows
their use, as
One transaction
1.
gives,
2.
receives,
3.
4.
i.
e.,
we must consider
Peter.
i. e.,
given,
is
proprietor.
e.,
i.
received,
is
need a double-entry.
will always
i.
cash
e.,
by
Peter.
Hence proprietor debit to Peter and cash debit to proprietor, which combined by eliminating the
name and value, or by cancelling (as in algebra a=b; b=e; hence a=c) makes cash
quantities of similar
debit to Peter.
rules
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Debit persons
8.
Credit persons to
sales.
who promise
to pay.
whom we
promise to pay.
some idea of the scope of Manzoni 's work, we give here a translation of
PART
I.
JOURNAL.
Chapter
1.
Those things which the merchant needs and the system of keeping a Ledger and its Journal.
2.
The inventory, what it is and how merchants make it up.
Form and example of inventory.
3.
4.
Last urging and good instruction for the merchant in connection with the inventory.
5.
A certain book, which majority of people use and which is called Memorial, Strazze or Vachetta
what it is how we must write it up and for whom.
6.
Some special little books, which it is customary to use what they are and how they are written up.
(Separate day books for petty expenses, household expenses, salaries, repairs, rents, separate
;
7.
classes of merchandise.)
in which in some places the
The manner
Chapter
The
8.
(Mentioning the
book, which is called Journal; what it is and how it is started and kept.
customary standing lines of a journal.)
The two terms which are used in the Journal and the Ledger, the one named "Cash," the other
"Capital," and what they mean.
Two other terms which are used in the Journal and which are mixed quite often, and what they
mean. ("Per" and "A" Debits separated from Credits by //.)
The principles underlying the use and arrangement of the Ledger. (Author claims this is very
dilficult to understand; "Per" and "A" used to separate debit from credit, but does not say how
to make debits and credits except that he gives in connection with the various methods of buying and selling, eight rules for Journal entry.)
The manner and system by which each entry in the Journal must be written under the proper
(Samples of Journal entries, with application of rules from Chapter 11.)
terms.
Short rules for the Journal and Ledger, and the six things each entry must contain.
Explanation of old abbreviations and what is meant by ''Lire de grossi." The kind of money used
Lire=20
by merchants in bookkeeping and which really does not exist. Common people use
first
five
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
(In Ducats.)
= 24 grossi.
grosso = 32 Picioli in gold.
Pieiolo in gold = 1-15/16 Picioli in money by common people.
1 ducat
1
15.
= 10
lira = 20
ducats.
1 soldo
soldi.
1 grosso
PART
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
= 12 grossi.
= 32 Picioli.
1 lira
II.
LEDGER.
The second and last principal mercantile book, called Ledger what it is how it is opened and kept.
The manner in which the old year is written in this book and about the kind of money used in post(Year and usually also the money is written in Roman figures; Arabic too easy to change:
ing.
Do not repeat date, but put a line. Leave no open spaces for others to fill in.)
to 6 or 9.
The reason for having two entries in the Ledger for each single entry in the Journal.
The manner in which we use both terms for each entry in the Ledger. ("A" on debit of Ledger,
"Per" on credit of Ledger; unlike the Journal, where "A" denotes credit and "Per" debit.)
The manner and system to be used in transferring entries from the Journal to the Ledger. (Crosses
Journal entry off with one diagonal line, at the time he enters the Ledger page, but does not say
where to put this line.)
The manner of marking entries in the Journal which have been posted to the Ledger.
The two numbers of the Ledger pages which are written in the margin of the Journal, when the entry is posted from the Journal to the Ledger, the one above the other and separated by a line.
Another number, which we write at the beginning of each entry, through which each entry can
(Numbers each Journal entry consecutively.)
easily be located again.
The manner in which the entries are carried to another place in the Ledger when one page is filled.
;
(Cancel blank space on either side to lowest place of writing. Balance not entered in the JourCarries balance only, with an abbreviation which means "Carried forward.")
The manner and system which should be followed in the checking of the books in order to detect
errors.
( Gives Ledger to assistant and keeps Journal, thus reversing method of Paeioli. He does
(See chapter 6 above and two lines benot use a dot but "another mark than that used first."
fore each entry in the reproduction.)
The manner in which a correction in the Ledger is made when we have posted an entry to the wrong
page in the Ledger. (Never cross the wrong entry out or erase it, for you cannot prove what
was there, and hence it wiU be construed as deceit. If an entry is posted to debit that should be
Mark ercredit, put another on the credit to offset it, for same amount, then proceed correctly.
(havere) some make correction in one entry by
or
roneous and corrective entries with an
using double the amount.)
'^^^^ii'-'
How to prepare an account for a debtor or a creditor when he asks for a statement of his account.
nal.
10.
11.
12.
86
'
PIETRA'S
As stated in the historical chapter, in 1586, or nearly 100 years after Pacioli wrote, Don Angelo Pietra
published a work on bookkeeping, which was fully illustrated with numerous examples. Undoubtedly
Pietra had both Pacioli and Manzoui before him when writing his book, because he describes matters which
Manzoui omitted but Pacioli gave, and also some which Mauzoni mentioned and Pacioli did not. This will
be explained fully elsewhere.
Pietra was a monk who endeavored to give a system to be used for monasteries, but which he claimed
was expedient for those who do not trade, or in other words, for corporations not for profit, and for capThe first page is a reproduction of the title page, in which the reader will find the author's name
italists.
just above, and the date of publication just below, the picture.
The next page gives a chart of the various methods of buying and of selling, of each of which Pacioli
Pietra sets them up here in a far more systematic manner, showing fifteen in all.
We show next the first four lines of the title page to the journal, which are the dedication of the
journal: "In the Name of the most holy and undivided Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost." Also
note the cross in the sixth line which is the sign used for the first journal and the first ledger when beginning a new business. Such journal and ledger as we have seen in Pacioli, is called the "cross journal"
and the
'
'
cross ledger.
'
Prom
this page,
we note
That the first page of the journal carries the opening of "In the Name of God."
That thereafter comes the date in the middle of the page. The date is not again given until it is
changed and then only the day of the month is given, omitting the year and the name of the month; "a
day of the aforesaid month."
di detto," meaning "on the
That each journal entry is divided by a line, not clear across the page, but from page column to
(3)
(1)
(2)
money column.
due
is
also
That the name of the debit account is given first and the credit last; that they are divided by
(6)
two small slanting strokes followed by the preposition " a " like this //a.
That the name of the debit account is not preceded by "P" or by "Per" as Pacioli and Man(7)
:
zoui require.
That the pages of the ledger to which the entries are transferred or posted are divided
(8)
zontal line or dash between the figures, the debit being always on top and the credit below.
(9)
full
by a
hori-
entrj'.
That each entry is carefully checked with a dot (not a check mark as we use and Pacioli de(10)
scribed or a dash as Manzoni showed) on the left of the ledger pages in the journal.
These dots also appear in front of each ledger entry.
(11)
That Pietra shows no combination journal entry or entries with more than one debit or credit.
show the diagonal cancellation lines in the journal as an eAadence of posting to
That he does not give any other value sign than the "Lire," omitting the
soldi, denari,
and
picioli signs.
(14)
in the
money column
The illustrations of the journal are followed by those of the ledger. The title page contains the name
of the ledger, in the fifth line " Libro maestro" (master book or principal book).
The ledger has the same
dedication as the journal.
Folio one of Pietra 's ledger is the equivalent of an opening balance account, giving the name of the
old and new account, the page in the old ledger and the page in the new ledger, it being posted from the
closing balance account in the old ledger and not from the journal.
The assets are on the credit side and
the liabilities on the debit side of the ledger.
The account shows a deficit of L 1706 - 10 - 3. The assets
are divided in two: first, the accounts receivable and their total, then the merchandise and other specific
accounts.
This page corresponds to the English form of a balance sheet. It is the proprietor's half of the opening inventory journal entry placed direct in the ledger instead of in the journal, and as such this represents a proprietor's account upon the theory that the proprietor is credited for furnishing or loaning to
the personification of the asset accounts and charged with the negative assets or liabilities.
As our modern
capital account represents a net difference between assets and liabilities (leaving surplus out of consideration), it cannot be said that Pietra employed a modern capital account, altliough the result is the same.
87
Page 59 of this ledger also represents an account with the proprietor or owner, and is really a continuation of the account on page one. The first entry on the debit is the balance and deficit of L 1706 - 10 - 3,
properly transferred from page one without the aid of a journal entry. The following five entries are
entries "corrective of the net capital, because they refer to transactions of previous years and are of little
importance for our study except that they show that the principle of surplus adjustments then existed.
Tlie seventh entry on the debit, of L 4 - 17 - 10, refers to the same ledger page as this selfsame account
bears (namely, 59). We find, therefore, the credit end of the entry on the credit side of this page. This
entry does not come from the journal, but is merely a "cross" or "wash" entry in the nature of a memorandum for the purpose of recording an omitted transaction. Note how carefully both entries are marked
with a little circle (o) to set them off from the others, much the same as we use a cross (X) nowadays for
the same purpose, and as Pacioli and Manzoni also mention.
entry on the debit side (L 3744- 0-3) is made also without the aid of the journal. Its
on page 61 of the ledger. It represesents the net worth or capital invested at the end of
the year, and balances on page 61 with the difference between assets and liabilities, and is merely a methodical closing entry in order that all accounts may be closed at the transfer of all open accounts to the
The
last
counterpart
new
is
ledger.
On
Page 60 represents what we call today an "Income and Expenses" account, sometimes misnamed but
being similar to a "Profit or Loss" accoiint. It is not so named here. The debit side is called "Spesa
Generale" (General Expenses), the credit side "Entrata Generale" (General Income).
It should be remembered that these books were not kept for a mercantile establishment, which operates
with the object of a profit in view, but only for a monastery, an eleemosynary corporation, an institution
or corporation not for profit, hence it could not use the words profit or loss.
5448
10
we have explained
is
Page 61 contains the last page of the ledger of Pietra's book. It is similar to page one, except that
and credits are reversed. Here then we have the closing "Balance account," called ''Esito," which
means final or exit. It accurately represents our modern balance sheet, but is placed in the ledger as a
permanent record and used as a medium to close all accounts in the ledger. It usually was and quite
often now is the custom to start a new ledger each year, hence all accounts should be closed when the ledger
They transfer the open balances of the asset
Pacioli nor Manzoni describe this account.
is laid away.
and liability accounts direct to the new ledger.
You will note that the closing entry of L 3744 - - 3 on the credit is taken from page 59, the monastery or capital account. You will also note that it is on the credit side of the account, and a total of the
This is not done anywhere else in the ledger, showing that
liabilities is drawn before the final balance.
this account is different and represents two purposes: one, that of a final trial balance (after Profit and
Loss accounts are closed) and thus becomes a statement of assets and liabilities; and, further, that net
worth or capital is not considered a liability, but an item distinct from liabilities, for the purpose of closing
the capital account in the ledger, and transferring it in the new ledger.
Page 21 of the ledger is given to show how carefully all blank spaces are cancelled by slanting lines
how accounts are kept in two kinds of money with the aid of a double column that no reference is made
to the pages in the journal from which the entries were posted, for the reason stated in the text that the
date was a close enough reference; that the journal entries are not numbered, as was done by Manzoni.
Pages given immediately before the amounts refer to the ledger page on which the other side of the doubleentry appears; note that on the debit the preposition "a" is used for our "to" and on the credit "per"
for our "by;" following Manzoni in this respect, but entirely opposed to Pacioli 's teachings, opening and
closing entries do not carry these prepositions because they do not constitute true debits and credits as
those transferred from the journal printers then, as now, make errors in figures, as the fourth figure from
the bottom of the debit side should be 250 instead of 205, as per addition and the opening entry on page
one; the explanation in the journal is repeated in the ledger and more than one line is used for an entry
if needed a single line is drawn under the figures only and then the total put in; the word "somma"
(total) is used in front of the figures instead of the double line m'c now rule under the total; no totals or
lines are drawn when the account contains only one item every entry is carefully checked with a dot in
the left margin the name of the account is engrossed at the beginning of the first line on the left and
thus approaches the definite ledger heading of the present day the date belonging to each entrj^ is not set
out in a definite column, although the text mentions this; "dee dare" (should give or debit) and "dee
havcre" (should have or credit) is only stated once at the beginning of each account and not in every entry, as we would infer from Pacioli the custom was.
debits
88
In order to give the reader a clear understanding of what is contained in Pietra's book and to show
it is than the book of either Pacioli or Mauzoni, and to
are giving here a brief description of each chapter in the
nature of an index.
2.
Day book
or scrap book
3.
Makes a
4.
"Per"our "To"
and
capitalists.
'
7.
Author uses
Economic Ledger.
Says some more about the ledger for capitalist and calls it the
this kind of ledger in his book of samples which he adapts to the business of a monastery.
The first part of the inventory covering immovable assets.
The second part of the inventory covering merchandise or goods for use in the house (not fixtures
8.
9.
5.
6.
'
'
'
11.
qualifications of bookkeeper, namely, bright and of good character; good handwriting; also
knowledge, ambition, and loyalty, and gives reasons for each of these.
Necessity for use of but one particular coin in the Ledger as the money used in Italy is of so many
Here is used
different varieties.
1 Scuto
4 Lire
80 Soldi in gold.
12.
13.
Put a value on those things which are harvested and manufactured, but
10.
About
this
current prices so that the proceeds will not fall below this value in case of
used should be charged to the proper department at the end of the year.
14.
About
15.
16.
Day
17.
There should be at least three of these day books or memorials used one for the cash receipts and
disbursements and the deposits in the bank; one for the petty cash disbursements and one for all
other entries from which the journal is written up, the latter to be in greater detail than the others.
Other day books can be kept with the sales and purchases, rents, taxes, etc. A book is needed for the
library and information pertaining to contracts, leases, employes, due dates, etc. Receipts for
money loaned should be kept in bound book form so that they may not be lost or stolen. Each department head should keep such a book with its transactions, such as the shoe maker, gardener,
18.
Describes a blotter or tickler which contains a sheet for each month, and a line for each day in which
the duties of the storekeeper and butler are written, one for each day in the year.
books or memoranda books are necessary because the journal and ledger, due to their legal authentication, can be used only by the one bookkeeper appointed therefor and whose signature appears therein. Furthermore, transactions must be written down at the time and the place where
they occur, and that may not be where the books are kept. Therefore, there are several memoranda
books concurrently used, the first one of which is marked with a cross and those which follow with
a letter in the order of the alphabet.
tailor, etc.
19.
20.
21.
it.
Journal
22.
to keep
is
and therefore
it is
essential that
kept correctly.
little cross (t)
The value
of prayer to success
made in the journal from day to day and hour to hour, but some times this is not
possible, especially in a monastery, where the memoranda or day books of the various departments
Entries should be
About the manner and order in which the entries are made in the journal. A list of days on which
entries are to be made is prepared by days from aU the memoranda or day books, the cash entries
always
fij-st.
24.
25.
26.
The greatest
list.
difficulty is to find
what
to debit
and what
three principles.
89
Debit
to credit.
CreditTimeValueQuality
All entries can be reduced to
27.
1.
(Receipt, sales,
2.
3.
(Assignment of a debt
28.
About
29.
How
30.
31.
Explains the opening account on page 1 of the ledger, and states it is the reverse of the closing acHere he mentions debit as debito and credit as credito, although he usually states debit as
count.
"dec dare" and credit as "dee havere." Capital account is the key and the seal of the ledger.
Explains the use of the two ledger accounts "Opening" and "Monastery." "Opening" is what
formation.
34.
Explains what entries may be made in the capital account. Corrections of errors and profits or losses
belonging to previous years. What we call surplus adjustments.
Gives a table of such capital account entries.
About the arrangement of accounts in the ledger, the capital account to be at the end of the book.
35.
36.
82.
33.
37.
38.
39.
"Per" on
credit side
of
ledger.)
40.
new
this to the
is
made by drawing
and transferring
page.
41.
How
42.
Entries which are written direct in the ledger without having been put in the journal.
About the income and expense account and the method of buying and selling. The author here states
that merchants use this account for their profits or losses.
43.
44.
45.
46.
47.
48.
49.
50.
51.
52.
53.
54.
expenses
56.
How
How
57.
How
55.
2,
income
3, assets
4, liabilities.
checked ledger.
debits
and
This he considers the most difficult, as some acto compute the income and expense account.
counts will have three closing entries, one for profit on sales one for merchandise used by other
departments of the business and one for merchandise remaining on hand. Furthermore, measures and weights should also be brought in balance.
58.
The manner in which the closing balance account is made up. Accounts are only ruled at the end of
the year by a line under the figures or amounts tlien entering the total, ^vhich must be the same on
;
both
sides.
If an account
is
the
59.
60.
90
In the comparative index we have given the items which are discussed by all the four authors there
mentioned. There are, however, a number of items which some of the authors use and others do not.
From among these, the following are taken as the most important.
Pietra discusses the following in his book, but Pacioli and Manzoni do not
Chapter
3
10
12
13
17
&
18
19
23
25
26
&
&
22
called
capitalists.
"Economic Ledger."
15
and
28
27
32
arrangement of journal with five standing lines, but omits numbers of journal entries.
divides capital into two accounts opening capital at beginning of year closing capital at
end of year.
interim entries in capital account or surplus adjustments.
33
29
31
34
37
39
42
43
45
46
47
48
50
53
special index.
apparent transposition of "A" and "Per" in ledger from its use in journal.
list of entries which do not go through journal.
vouchering of disbursements.
book for lands rented and cultivated for own account.
income divided in same accounts as expenses.
when to enter rentals in fall or end of fiscal year.
personal accounts and accounts with two different values of moneys.
acquisition
Pietra mentions the following in his book, as does Manzoni, but Pacioli does not, proving
that Pietra had apparently available both Manzoni and Pacioli:
by
this
standing or
"down"
lines in journal
numbering of journal
entries.
2.
may appear
a.
b.
Profits.
omitted credits
a.
collected
b.
uncollected
Cash to capital
Debtor to capital
judgments obtained
a.
collected
b.
uncollected
Casli to capital
Debtor to capital
91
and
illustrates
B.
a.
a.
b.
b.
b.
Capital to cash
Capital to creditor
lost
paid
to be paid
Capital to cash
Capital to creditor
2.
At
A.
Extraordinary Accounts.
balances of accounts
a.
b.
b.
paid
to be paid
judgments
a.
a.
Losses.
omitted debts
what is due
what is owed
Capital to creditor.
Creditor to capital
what
what
is
owed
is
due
and without
connection with the books
several kinds
B.
a.
b.
Ordinary Accounts.
Capital to income
Expenses to capital
excess in expenses
excess in income
Pietra's Chapter 42 explains about the many entries which are made in the ledger, without going
through the journal, and classifies them as follows
we
transfer from the old ledger into the new, partly daily, partly at the end
of the year.
1.
the introduction
2.
when
it is
3.
4.
5.
profit or loss
6.
7.
8.
92
N D R
Z Z O
DEGLl ECONOMI.
OSIA ORDINATISSIMA
INSTRVTTIONE DA REGOL T M EM
A
TE
INVNLIBRO
DOPPlOi
AGG VN TOVI L'ESSEMPLARE Df VN LIBRO
MOBILE^CO'L SVO GlORNALE,AD VSO DELLA
CONGREGATION C ASSINESE .DELL'ORDfNE
01
(TEnCDEtto
qONDVETAVOLEjLVNA DEC APITOLI, ET LALTRA
DELLE COSE P[V DEGNE.A PIENO
I
INTENDimENTO
Ol
CIASCVNO
Piecrj GenouefeMoiiacOy&indegnoferuodiGieruChrirco,
IN MANTOVA.PcrFranccfcoOfanna.ConliccnxadeSupcnori.
93
MDLXXXV
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<Cre(ce I encrata
rVcnderc
(ap.
27*
^
'
ifngrofla Ca(Ta
rlmborfo tScoderc
<Mancano
jlngroiTa CafTa
<Si ta debito
'-Impreftito
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rComprare
"
credici c
i.Settcujbre.
<MinufcelaCaflaf 4
i
viborfb
jMancano
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idebitii
iMiniuicelaCallal
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vimprcftarc
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8
w
s
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< Si
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rAcrcdch2
:2
,
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inpagamcnto
(7
.
jCrefcelafpcfa
ISi fcode credico r
'
^Acredenza
2,
*Si fa crediro
Vendenc
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pagamento
u,
>cnza prezzo
Si
jCrcfcclafpefa
>
<Crelcc J Entrata f
VBarareatw |
cQ-efcc
la
fpefa
'CrefceJcntrau
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Sequeftro paiiente
'^equeftroagcnte
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pa^a debito
.
lO
2Cre(cc Ten era ta (
5
cCrefcelencraca. f * f
<Paga debito
'5codecredito
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crcdiio
^
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/
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1 5
Dc3t
94
N SANTISSIMA
O M E^D ELLA
ET
INDIVIDVA TRINITA*
PADRE, FIGLIO, E SPIRITO SANTO.
O,
SAN
GIO.
C H R
O.
BATTISTA DORIAN A,
DELLANNO.
1586.
Scritto
Padre Benedetto
So
ALNOMEOrDIO,
20-10
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Mutationi A aCafla,lirecmquantacinque^ lo.date.cioe/iz.alP.D.Benedettoda Bologna Decano , mutaco quefto capitolo a Modona, per fiia muutic
10. dateaDonGio. Pietro daSalo,
ne di vn arino,ebuona mano.e'jf 55
mutato aPraglia.per fua mutatione di vn'anno.fpefc fatte,e buona mano, co
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per fpendere a minuto
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3 7
3? -.. x
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ii 8-
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car. Ji
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car. 52
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car. jp
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1 4-
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car. 60
quantos'efpefomenoquefto anno deU'Entrata hauuta
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>
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47
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PESA gcnerale diqueft'anoo
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car.
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.Viaggi
.Tafle,& Annate
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Fabrica
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ftara 618
flara 36a
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____
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cat. 53
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(^
Tiiis
of far later date than the ones heretofore mentioned, but as explained in the liistorical chapter
remarkal)le in that
it
attempts to
book
it
is
was made in
Simon Stevin's book hereinafter reproduced, which was published in 1604 in Holland, was far in advance of tliis of Mainardi's.
V.'e reproduce the title page of the second edition of this hook, and a page which explains the purpose
of the tiook as far as trustees' and executoi-s' accounts are concerned.
The two pages of the journal
we give in order to show that each page is provided with the address to the Deity, that the dot is iised
for checking, and that we here find so-called coml)ination journal entries, by whicli we mean entries
in which are combined more than one credit or more than one debit in one entry.
We do
It
not, however, find the use of the v.-ord "sundries," as in Stevin's work and as we use it to this day.
The
illustrations
to
Holland,
will he noted tliat iu Kuch entries the deljits nre always named
enumerated, and that the division between debits and credits
dashes, one below the last debit and one above the first credit.
signs, except the principal or tlie lire sign.
107
as
first an<l
is
We
horizontal
lines
or
money
C A M BIO
R E A L E
PER
OGNl PIAZZA.
FormaJmente Ragguagliato
D A
MATTEO MAINARDI.
Con diuerfi
altri
Quefiti
alia
tjue/la
moua
vtili , curiofi ,
e neceHarij
Mercatura
Impreffiane 4ggiantoiti
il
mode,
IN
Per
il
BOLOGNA,
Longhi,
Con
108
M.
D.
l$cenz,4 tU^
CC
Superim,
M. DC. XXXIV.
Laude, e gloria dellaSatitifsima, & IndiuiduaTrinita Padre, Figliuolo, cSpirito
Santo; della Gloriofifsima Vergine Maria,
delli Santi Apoftoli Pietro ,9 Paolo , e delli
Santr N.N. noftri Protettori , come ancora
Amen.
dituttalaCorteCeleftiale.
chefraPannoSguiteranno
eifoil
fuori
109
ClOR-
Laus Deo,
'^
Adi
DC, XXXIII,
xo
sA}t\
j I.
Deccmbre Sabbato,
ta il
Caneuaro lontanti ,
nojiro
rrnl/a
il
(t
bohgninifecte la cartca
cento,
e ntimerofet-
I.
II
,.291.13.4
iz
^ crcdtto Fajft
i.
nte
dt
^fpefe difuoco
in
num, 7000,
njn
1 1 2,
^405.
1 !
II
II
^ cndito
Fajjt di vtte
por-
li
num 48 2
^.
/..C 26. 5.
j 8.
.
alia Tofsffjpone di
Tondi lir,
(entodici(ifette quat, I
cioelir. cento per It patti in denari contanti , e Ur. diciafette per cor be quattro
dtOrzo hauutopiu meftfono dal no/fro Fat tore, a lir. quattro,fol, cinque la corha,
Z.
Domemco Manganeliono(no
8^
00,
171
/.
:xuozzo.aiia rojsejjtQne
lir.
^creditoOrzoa Montoriocor.^.
lir.
t.Cii7.
d'accordo.
v<i, fol.
centouinti per
li
patti
neiioi iir.
(ti
cemoquaram
!.[;
L. 120.
L.
2 1. J.
jl Liuio Carboni ,
due., den. fei
venture,
_8^
ifol.
e frateili
quat. cioh
lir.
Orzo a Montorio
corbe cinque, e
meza
/.,
quat. cio^
lir.
li patti
meza
d'
.(,143, 2.
23. 2.5,
3.
L. 1140.
40.
den. fei
died,
L.
20.
23.2.6,
^Mt110
31
M. DC. XXXIII.
Adl^ifDccembreSabbaco,
i__
'
e Itr.
lir,
vintimue
c/ot* lir.
vinti per
J
bamto piU*
i-C ^^'
,AcreditoLmgodi Romanello,
i20.
sAcreditoOTzoingTimarocoT.z.qt*ar.2.
L.
g,
*^fpefe d'Elemo/ine
lir,
cen(onorjanta,fol.otto,quat.difpenfate
lO
w4credUo
alii
nojlr^ 7arockfa,per
Leonido,
'
/,.r?9'
in Filla
lit-
di
Canape
""
-i
7
^credito Ltuio Carboni per lib. 837.
pajfato a di-
.^ C anape grezzo
12
Hat ale
il
*~"
it
cento
L, f 5^9* ^4'
L, 107* 1.
^.142,4,
"*
7_
lib.
61
2. e
meza.
meza
14
Z.. 1
67.
o.
JL. 1
2 2.
Z.
3o
|
1
-.
^^1
^fpefe di reparatwni, efahriche hr. censotrentanoue^fol. fei, den. otto. quat. pagan (
per mandata queft^ giornafudetta a M. N. nojlro QapeUetto, e fona , (ioi lir. an- 1
quanta per la fua annua promfwne di coprire , erinedere tutte h nojire caje di
j
yUla,
^ credm
It
mefi pafati,comprefoui
^Alla Tofejfione dt
fol. otto^
le
'
L.^ 77, 8. $
condotte,cos)d'(iccordoinfieme.
,
'
buom
aljudetto, co-
!.1
.
Tondi lir.fettantafette
..
^lla Tojfejftone
lettomandatoliilfudettQ^comefopra.
.Alia 'Pojfejfione di
8
'
altre otto
Romanella
lir.
nauats di/lrjmo da
L.C 77,
di
Jframa da
^-f-
letto
bauute^come fopra,
4,
111
8,
loj.lj.
'
mkti^mm
h\xtt3mmiPvni^iiito^M(M^tt
memo;jiett) Coopmattt)att:^ntSber^
)^tnint)tn\x
Uefben en p?of^
112
'
NOTES ON YMPYN
We are reproduciug herewith the title page of Ympyn's book, which we have taken from Kheil's book,
where a thorough comparative study is made between Ympyu and Pacioli. Ympyn, as we have seen, was
the first Dutch writer who practically translated Pacioli into Dutch, French and English, and from him
The original of this book was not
continental Eui'ope has derived its subsequent texts on bookkeeping.
available to the writer, but we have taken from Kheil's book the most important subject-matters which we
review in the following lines
Ympyn, as stated heretofore, copied Pacioli practically verbatim. We find, however, here and there a
few deviations which we think it important to mention at this place.
Pacioli speaks about the two divisions of his book, one covering inventory and the other "disposition." lie is somewhat vague in explaining this latter term. Ympyn says that "disposition" is "the
establisliment, systematizing and execution of the current and customary as -well as the extraordinary affairs of a business.
Ympyn suggests that the index should be bound in parchment and placed either at the begiiniing or
He uses the Italian
the end of the ledger, but in such a manner that it can be taken out if necessary.
unti-anslated.
In front of corrective ledger entries he uses a cross and does not
terms "Per" and
mention any other distinguishing marks. The term "cash" is personified to cashier instead of pocket
book, as used by Pacioli.
He enlarges on the terms "Cash" and "Capital" more than Pacioli does. For
branch stores the sales are entered into a sales journal, and totaled once a week for transfer to the ledger.
Ympyn is more extensive in his explanations than Pacioli about barrato or trade, also about the draft and
should remember, however, that Pacioli describes these more fully in the parts of his book
its use.
"A"
We
Ympyn recommends a separate book for household expenses, and a petty expense book for the small expenses of the business. The totals are transferred from these books to the journal once a month. He mentions a special cash book for special kinds of species or for foreign money which is handled by the firm,
very mxich as some banks today use a separate account with bank notes of large denominations. He advocates the use of separate books for statistics, or memoranda, in the nature of diaries; and suggests a
shipping book. As to accounts, he mentions interest, building rents, ground rents, expenses, household
expenses, merchandise expenses, building repair, garden expenses, salaries, loans, expenses of childbirths
and an account for marriage gifts.
Like Pacioli and Manzoni, Ympyn uses a profit and loss account, very much the same as we do today.
draws off a balance to prove the correctness of the ledger. Ympjoi, however, puts the balance at
the end of the ledger as an account, although he does not explain it as such in his text in this he does not
follow Pacioli. He balances the profit and loss account to capital account without passing it through the
He
also
journal.
uses a merchandise
on hand are closed
these entries. HowPacioli does not do.
Assets in the balance account are put on the credit side and liabilities on the debit side. He uses no
opening balance account in the new ledger, but evidently posts from the old balance account in the old
ledger in reverse order to the new ledger, because the closing balance account in the old ledger gives the
folios to which the items are posted in the new ledger.
We have seen that Pacioli says that you can transfer the capital account either as a balance in one item, or itemized the latter having the advantage of
then representing a summary of the inventory, and each new ledger then starts with an inventory.
;
The journal, profit and loss, capital, and balance accounts illustrated by Ymp^-n are printed in Kheil's
German review of Ympyn, bTit we regret that he did not reproduce them actually, as with th(^ modern
printing much of the form and arrangement is lost.
Ympyn permits no erasures. He wishes a line drawn through the wrong amount or words the same
as Pacioli does, in order to be able to prove of what the error consisted.
He insists that explanations to
the journal entries must be so clear that anybody can understand the transactions they record that books
kept in the Italian manner as described by him, with a journal and a ledger, "make everything as clear as
daylight and will prevent swindles and defalcations, as occur now so frequently and almost daily."
;
He adds the freight to the merchandise and posts it to the merchandise account. He deprecates trading on long credit, and announces it as bad because "the wolf does not eat any days and the due date
comes nearer not only by day but as well by night.
'
lines of which Pacioli speaks, are used in the journal when the posting is finished
in the ledger when the account is closed or transferred to the new ledger.
Capital account Ymypn
credits wdth the assets and debits with the liabilities, which agrees with the idea of the personifying of
accounts and results in a net credit in this accovmt, which net credit is the same as we use in the capital
account to this daJ^ Ympyn uses no ledger headings and shows but one cohnnn in the journal. He uses
Roman figiires in all money columns, both ledger and journal.
and
113
STEVIN'S
The following pages, Nos. 119 to 136, represent reproductions of the journal and ledger and other
interesting forms as given in the book of Simon Stevin, which appeared in the Dutch language in Amsterdam in 1604, was rewritten in The Hague in 1607, republished in Latin in 1608, and republished by
Stevin 's sou Hendrick in 1650. As we have seen, Stevin was a tutor and adviser of Prince Maurits of
Orange, then Governor of some of the Dutch provinces. Stevin first taught the Prince bookkeeping and
then induced him to install a double-entry system of bookkeeping throughout his domains and government
establishments.
Stevin apologizes for the use of terms in foreign languages, such as debit, credit, debitor, creditor,
balance, journal, finance, etc., but says they are necessary because if he used Dutch terms the bookkeepers
would not understand what he was writing about, and as bookkeepers only are supposed to profit by the
regulations promulgated and ordered by Maurits, the Prince of Orange, for the double-entry municipal accounting system, he insists that he must use the foreign terms.
The objection of the Prince that government clerks would not understand Italian or double-entry bookkeeping, he overcomes by advising that he could hire and should hire clerks who did know it, for they undoubtedly would be better men.
The objections to the necessity of double-entry bookkeeping for municipalities and governments he reaaway by stating that a merchant has some direct personal supervision over his bookkeepers and cashiers, but the government must direct them through other persons.
As this is not as safe as the merchant's
personal supervision, it follows that if a merchant needs double-entry bookkeeping and finds it profitable,
the government needs it that much more.
Stevin does not give rules for the making of journal entries, but he explains a difficulty which the
Prince evidently met, when the latter asks: "If Peter pays me $100, there are two debits and two credits:
I am his debtor and my cash is also a debtor he is my creditor and liis cash is also a creditor.
"Which two
of these four must I select for my books ?
Stevin answers
Take always my creditor and my debtor
because Peter keeps books with his creditor and his debtor."
Stevin urges upon the Prince that governmental treasurers invariably become rich, and when they die
leave such a muddled state of affairs and records that there is nothing left but to forgive and forget, but
that such is not the case with bookkeepers and cashiers of mercantile establishments they invariably die
poor. A merchant, he says, knows what his bookkeeper or his cashier or treasurer should have, but this
is not so with a Prince, who has to take the cashier's word for it.
The Prince then asks if bookkeeping ever had been worthy of such consideration that books were published on it.
Stevin replied that numerous writers had taken up the subject, and that while doubtless the
double-entry system was originated in olden times, yet in Italy where it is said to have been executed first,
it is considered an art of which no other is so honorable and worthy.
The Prince (apparently floored by Stevin 's lucid arguments) thereupon agrees to take up the study
sons
'
'
'
'
with the view of installing double-entry bookkeeping in the governmental departments as soon as Stevin
Stevin has a firm place in tlie heart of the writer, because he mentions in his book that one of his forbears was a treasurer of the city of Flissingen, thus supplying the missing data for the genealogy of
his family.
Comparison of the journal and the ledger with the reproductions of the Italian writers heretofore
given, will at once show that in printing as well as in arrangement the Dutch were far superior to the
Italian.
comparison with Pietra and Mainardi will make this very plain. The examples must be pronoup.ced as being excellent for their time.
The journal entries are differently grouped than has been done
by any previous writers, very much more systematic, and in many instances only totals from other records
are used.
It will be noted that all religious terms at the top of pages or at the beginning of books, customarily
used in the Italian method, have been omitted. The slightest reference to the Deity is absent in these
books, due to the fight for religious freedom which then waged in Holland.
Stevin was a great supporter
of the Protestant party, so much so that Brown relates that when in 1645 a proposal was made to erect a
statue at Bruges to liis memory, a Catholic agitation was aroused in the House of Representatives to defeat the project.
Even a clerical editor expunged his name from a Dutch dictionary of biography, where
it had appeared in earlier edition.s.
However that may be, the writer having been born in Holland and
there having kept numerous sets of books, can vouch that twenty years ago the majority of books which
came under his supervision were opened and closed in the name of the Diety.
Stevin 's omission of the use of religious terms was folloM'ed in England, whereas Europe to this day
follows Ympyu and others, which is corroborating evidence that Stevin through Dafforne has influenced
English and American bookkeeping more than has Mellis, who followed Pacioli in the use of religious terms.
Through a peculiar coincidence the use of the terms "pepper" and "ginger" appear as frequently in
his illustrations and examples, as they do in those of the Italian and other previous ^Titers.
Stevin personifies the impersonal or economic accounts when he states that cash account is an account
with the cashier and follows this idea throughoiit his work in connection with other accounts. He men-
114
tious the three methods of buying and selling theretofore described bj- the Italians, namely, on account,
Like liis predecessors, he
for cash, and in trade, and the combinations that can be made with these three.
states that in the beginning of every book two entries are necessary, wliich sliould cover mereliaiidise, and
cash on hand, as also the debts owing and accounts owning, and like Pacioli and Ympyn he explains fully
that sometimes a business can be started on credit but he doubts the advisability.
Stevin is the first to use the system of controlling accounts, and as shown in the first page herewith reproduced, in the second line after the table, the same name for tiiese accounts is retained today, lie uses
the word ""coiitrcrole," wliicli comes from the French "controler," which in turn comes from the Iwo Latin
words "'contra" and "rotulus" (our roll) and "'rota" (our wheel). The definition of the word "conThe total of his controlling account
trol" is "to check by a duplicate register" or "verify an account."
was obtained from the detailed monthly reports from the sub-treasurers or casliiers of the various places
and departments, and were posted to these controlling accounts through the medium of journal entries.
From these accounts tables were compiled showing the delinquencies for each year of each sub-treasury or
He describes that an endless variety of these tables may be made in order to show the true
of each place.
status of the various operations at various places. He also states that if no tables are desired, then there
should be a separate account for each column in these tables, and especially for each year. The table reproduced shows how particular and careful he was on this subject.
The ledger shows both the page of the journal and the page upon which the otiier part of tiie doubleentry appears in the ledger. This is one of the first writers who enters the journal pages in the ledger.
The pages of the journal are, however, put in the margin, on the left of the date in the ledger and not
The explanations in
directly to the left of the amount, as we are accustomed to do at the present time.
the ledger will appear to you to be shorter and clearer and more to the point as to relevancy than was
customary in the Italian method. It should also be noted that the term "per" is used on both sides of the
Stevin says that many bookkeepers use "a" on the debit side where he uses "per." lie sugledger.
gests that his method is more reasonable, as can be learned by translating the entry in an ordinary sentence; thus, which is better language? "Peter is debit to me 'for' ('per') pepper sold to him," or "Peter
He then states that it is not a matter of importance, that
is debtor to me 'to' ('a') pepper sold to him."
his readers can do as they like, but he wishes them to follow the better sentence.
In the journal he does not use the expression "per" before the debitor, nor "a" before the creditor,
nor does he divide them with the two slanting lines // as do Pacioli, Manzoni, Pietra and Ympyn. Stevin
simply used "debit per" between the names of the debtor and creditor thus coming closer to our present
form of journal entry.
It is difficult to state
lines (//)
'
'
'
Stevin explains that Roman figures in the ledger are not needed because they are never used in the
journal, which is a book of more importance, and if they are not put in the book of more importance why
should we put them in the book of less importance? He explains (as does Pacioli) that the ledger is not
important because if the ledger is lost it can be written up entirely from the journal, whereas the reverse
is not true, because the detail which the journal contains is lacking in the ledger.
He further states that
in the Italian books Roman figures are not used in the day book.
It will be noticed that each page of the ledger has a consecutive number (not as we number by giving
two pages, the debit and the credit, one and the same number). Stevin explains that this is better because then all your debit pages will be uneven and the credit pages will be even numbers, which will aid in
checking if an error is made in putting the little dividing line between figures representing the pages of
the debit and the credit in the journal, as is customary in the Italian method. The fact that but one column is used in the journal, makes this little dividing line between the figures of the debit postings and
those of the credit postings very important.
Stevin further explains in this connection that it is still
more confusing with a combination journal entry, where there are a number of debits and but one credit,
or vice versa, when the word "sundries" is used.
This because the debit of a combination journal entry
comes first, and thereafter a number of credits, yet the total of the journal entry (which is the amount for
the debit entry), stands at the last and therefore the debit is posted last, as will be seen from the illustra-
tion reproduced.
Stevin is the first of the writers mentioned in this book to use combination journal entries with the
word "sundries." We have seen that Mainardi has combination journal entries or journal entries with
more than one debit and more than one credit, but he does not use the word "sundries."
In the ledger it will be noted that the first entries, or the opening balances on some of the accounts,
bear the date of "0 January." The use of the cipher at the beginning of the year, he says is absolutely
necessary, because the books are opened on neither December 31st nor Jaiuiary 1st.
It is a period in between these two. He explains this with the illustration that the first rung is not the beginning of the
ladder.
The date in the ledger is repeated before each entry, instead of following the Italian method of using
the words "a di detto," which mean "the
day of the above month," because he saj-s the date to which
"ditto" refers may be several pages back and therefore hard to read at first sight.
11 r>
Uulike Pacioli, Pietra aud Ympyii, Stevin uses deliiiite headings for his ledger accounts, and is the
one to use the terms "debit" and "credit" instead of "dee dare" and "dee haver e.''^ He puts the
year on top of the page, aud he balances his ledger accounts by making a sub-total. Closing entries do
not go through the journal. Profit and loss account is written up at the end of the year, and also at the
close of particular transactions, and wliile IStevin does not give a trial balance, in his descriptions he speaks
very particularly of the same, and describes how to prepare it. While in his illustration he credits a legacy
to the profit and loss account, in his text he admonishes the reader to put it to the capital account, giving
Cash entries are journalized in daily totals. He maintains a separate cash
his specific reasons for it.
book in which the receipts are put on the debit and the disbursements on the credit, the same as they would
He also explains that this looks as if it were double
be found in the ledger if it were a ledger account.
work but it is not, as it is not the bookkeeper's work to keep a cash book, but the cashier's. He further
argues that because the bookkeeper is sometimes also the cashier, that fact should not alter the rule. He
has a separate cash book for petty expenses, in which to enter small items which are posted to the ledger
only once a month, in order to lessen the number of entries.
first
About the reconcilement of differences between bookkeepers, cashiers, treasurers and others, he claims
that these variations are due to the different closing periods of accounts and reports by the various officials,
and requires that they be preserved by writing their full detail in the journal and making a reference of
the same on the ledger account affected. Stevin says that as the head bookkeepers through these reconcilements would discover entries which belonged to a period previous to the date of their discovery and
their entry in the journal, that the current date on which the entry is made in the journal should be used
in that book, but that in the explanation the original date should be used (we now use "as of date" so and
so)
But he warns his readers that when posting these entries to the ledger, the original date and not the
journal entry date should be used. He advises that trial balances be taken in February, May, August, and
November, which are customary mercantile due dates, which in turn will lead to a settlement of many
accounts and will make this work easy aud light. Furthermore, it will give data aud statistics upon which
He advises that the
the merchants can base their buying, selling, and credit budgets for the future.
Italian method of bookkeeping is so adapted to expansion that whereas before but one bookkeeper could be
employed, under the double-entry system any number of bookkeepers can be used, for, if the work becomes
This means
too much for one man the system should be revised so as to i^rovide for controlling accounts.
to post in totals only, so that one sub-division can be given to a bookkeeper to be controlled by one head
bookkeeper, who deals in totals only.
.
As to the cash book, it is used because it obviates the making of numerous journal entries every day,
thus shortening the work greatly. He fully illustrates this, and transfers the totals of the cash book to
the ledger by journal entries, preferably monthly.
Stevin provides a double column in the ledger account for merchandise. In one of these he puts the
weights and measures, and insists that they be balanced also. He says that in his illustrations he made
them come out even, although he admits that that very seldom happens. The result, however, would be
the same, for the balance to be carried to the new ledger or to be used in "the statement of affairs" would
be based upon the weight, aud whatever is over or short, as far as weight and measure is concerned, would
automatically adjust itself in the profit and loss.
He objects to the name of memoriaV as used in the Latin couutries for the day book, stating that
''memorial" is a book of memoranda (things to be remembered), whereas the day book is used to write in
roughly the daily transactions preparatory to journalizing them. This he calls a blotter. He draws a
line between each journal entry from one side of the book to the other side of the book, through all the
standing lines and columns. He explains that this line is necessary, because some entries cover several
(How we accountants wish some bookkeepers would make journal entries with explanations pages
pages.
long!)
Stevin says it is customary to ascertain once a year what the profit or the loss of the business has been.
This is what he calls "balancing" or "making a statement of balance" or "ascertaining of capital." For
this purpose, he advises to "add together cash and merchandise on hand and actual accounts receivable,
deduct therefrom the accounts payable; the difference is net capital provided the accounts receivable are
all good.
The difference between the net capital of last year and this year is the profit or loss for the
year." According to Stevin, the making of a statement of affairs was not done concurrently with the closing of the books, the latter being done only when a new ledger is opened or where the merchant retires
from business or dies.
'
'
'
To prove his profit aud loss arrived at through the making of a statement of affairs as above explained,
proof statement.
he makes up a profit and loss account, which he calls
Therefore, his profit or loss is
ascertained first from the balance sheet, and in order to prove whether that is correct, he builds a profit
and loss accoiint. How few modern bookkeepers and young accountants understand this principle today
'
'
'
'
from the reproduction of his financial statement and profit and loss account, that the
statement is just as it would appear in the ledger accoiint if these entries were really posted
The balance sheet therefore represents an unposted journal entry,
to a ledger account as we do today.
whereas the profit and loss account shows the result of a posted journal entry. In this Stevin is of course
It will be seen
profit
and
loss
inconsistent.
Stevin makes the statement of affairs a mathematical problem rather than the result of debits and
He adds and subtracts, but does not reason where "proprietorship begins and ends," as he does
with all other journal entries. Hence, the entries comprising the closing of the ledger and the profit and
loss account should not be in the journal (he reasons), as the making of such entries is only done when proprietorship is affected.
They are merely the bringing together to a conclusion of net proprietorship or
net capital.
credits.
116
He further explains that the ledger must always be in balauee because of the mathematical rule of
"equal amounts added to equal amounts must give equal totals."
In closing the ledger, Steviu transfers the balance of the various accounts direct to other accounts in
the ledger without the aid of journal entries, and calls it often "by sloto" the Dutch, and sometimes "per
solde" the Italian for "in order to close." He puts his assets and liabilities into the capital account, and
He Hually closes all accounts by closing the profit and
his profit and losses in the profit and loss account.
As the diffei'cuce between present assets and liabilities or net proloss account into the capital account.
prietorship must be equal to the capital at the beginning of the year, plus or minus the current profits or
losses, the entering of the present assets and liabilities in his capital account is an unnecessary duplication, except it be to effect a closing of all ledger accounts and using the capital account for this piu-pose
as a clearing account.
Steviu explains this method by saying that other writers, and especially the Dutch writer Bertholomi
de Rentergem, have in the rear of their ledgers a "balance account," (as Pietra and Ympyn) into which
they close their ledger accounts. This, IStevin says, is built from a journal entry made in the old journal.
This entry is also posted in reverse order in the new ledger from the journal entry in the old journal. This
method Stevin does not like. He says these writers when opening their first journal and ledger, in tlie
beginning of a new business, start with an inventory (see Pacioli and others), but in subsequent ledgers
he says they do not do this, and there they call it a balance account. Why not be consistent, he pleads,
and open each subsequent journal and ledger with an inventory? He dislikes the balance account method
evidently so very much that he wants to get away from it as far as he can, and thus he dumps it all into
the capital account, because, he adds, "the result is exactly the same."
Stevin gives an exhaustive chapter about the settlement of partnership affairs. He states that if aU
the partners are active and were conducting a portion of the business in various cities on the principle of
branch stores, each partner should keep a separate set of books, very much the same as the method he explains for consignments or traveling agents, and at headquarters or at one of the branches there should
be a joint bookkeeper, whose duty it is to deal in totals, so that each partner may know where he stands in
If only one partner is active, this partner should keep the books.
relation to the others.
He learned in one instance, as very likely modern accoiuitauts will learn from time to time, that a
good merchant, no matter how illiterate he is or how ignorant he may be about bookkeeping, usually can
tell very accurately whether the accountant's financial statement and bookkeeping results are correct.
Stevin was called in to adjust the affairs between a number of partners, of a large partnership. The five
active partners wei'e residents of the cities of Venice, Augsburg, Cologne, Antwerp, and London, where
they conducted branch establishments of the firm. One of these partners had not kept any books. Stevin
was finally induced by this partner to visit him and to write up a full set of books of all the transactions
of the partnership which he could find, and thus ascertain the financial settlement between the partners.
This he did, after considerable labor. The particular partner who had kept no books, however, objected to
the settlement, because it was 300 less than he figured was coming to him. To prove this, he stated that
" If I dethey had no assets or liabilities of any kind, having liquidated the business therefore he said
duct my disbursements from my receipts, and add to the balance what is due me from the others, the total
Steviu agreed with him that this was right, and the set of books was
must be my portion of the profit.
discarded and a settlement made upon the argument of the partner who was ignorant as far as bookkeeping was concerned. From this experience Stevin determined upon the following rule when called in to
make a partnership settlement, he would demand three things: first, the amount each partner has received more in cash than he paid, or what he paid more than he received second, the diffei'ence between
presently existing accounts receivable and accounts payable, to which he added the cash and merchandise
on hand; third, what the agreement was between the partners as to divisions of profits and losses. He
illustrates the application of this rule by the following example
:
'
'
2,000
4,000
he received by
3,000
The net assets, or the difference between accounts receivable and payable, added to the
cash and merchandise on hand, amounted to
7,000
He
then puts
up
Partnership Debit.
Due A
Due C
2,000
3,000
Total due
Net
Partnership Credit.
and C
5,000
profit
6,000
Total
11,000
117
Due from B
Net
assets
4,000
_
7,000
11,000
':
'
As
Due
is
due
as per above
Plus one-third of the profits
2,000
2,000
4,000
Due C
as per above
Plus one-third of the profits
3,000
2,000
5,000
.',i.J
9,000
Due from B
as per above
Less one-third of the profits
4,000
2,000
2,000
Net
assets
'.Z
7,000
Those of us who have read the numerous involved court cases on partnership settlement, certainly
must admire Stevin 's ingenuity.
Consignment accounts, which Pacioli calls traveling accounts, are more thoroughly described in this
work. Stevin thinks it wrong to debit consignment account and credit murchaudise, when the goods are
shipped on consignment, because the test when to make an entry is "the beginning and the end of proprietorship." He says it would be foolish to debit a clerk and credit merchandise when a clerk takes
goods from a cellar or warehouse to the store or from one part of the store to another. And he feels that
consignment is a transaction of a similar nature, with only a greater distance between the places of storage.
He states if we want to keep track of these consignment transactions, it should be by way of memoranda but not in the regular books. Like Pacioli, he wants the traveling man or consignee to keep books
on the double-entry system and report sales at convenient times, these reports to be entered in a separate
journal and ledger until there is "a beginning and an end of proprietorship." It is important to note
that Stevin very seldom uses the word "capital," but substitutes the word "propi-ietorship" throughout.
All the way through, Stevin uses as a test for the making of a journal entry "the beginning and end
of proprietorship."
Thus, when goods arrive in the warehouse, that is the beginning of proprietorship,
and that account is not touched again, as far as the journal and ledger are concerned, until the goods have
left proprietorship through consumption.
So, if a barrel of beer were received from the brewer, it would go
into the warehouse account or the merchandise account, and there remain until finally the butler on one of
the war vessels would distribute it to the sailors, when it would be charged out to them. In the interim, however, the warehouse has sent it to a small ship, which brings it to the ocean, there it is transferred onto a
transport, and probably is transferred on the ocean two or three times from one steward 's warehouse on one
ship to another steward's warehouse on another, until it finally reaches the war vessel upon which it is
consumed. While he urges the necessity of following this barrel of beer from place to place, he states that
this should be done only in memorandum accounts and not in the general ledger.
Equally insistent he is on the reissue of tools used in the construction of fortifications, canals and
buildings, or on the farms and in the field.
He says that tools are first purchased, issued to one particular
piece of work and then returned to the warehouse and used in other places and transferred from place to
place until finally worn out. All of this he feels should be carefully recorded but not in the general ledger.
As to the wages, he very carefully explains that a wages or pay roll account avails one nothing. The
wages he says should be carefully distributed to each department for which they are incurred, exactly the
same as we have seen Pietra does. He first distributes his wages, as he distributes all his supplies, to
definite departments.
Thus he says we can arrive at true costs. This method he uses also in checking up
the supply house and the cook, for he instructs the cook, as we have seen, to give a record of the daily
meals served in order to check the pay roU, and he checks the cook by instructing the warehouse men to
figure out the cost of the meals per man.
Thus he says, if the cost per meal is considerably higher than the
average, and the pay roU agrees with the meals served, then the warehouse man has either made an error
or stolen some goods.
In this connection, he provides a perpetual inventory, in which each kind of merchandise has two
columns, one for the receipts or " ins " and one for the disbursements or the
He balances each
outs.
column when new goods arrive, then counts what is left, and adjusts his books to the actual count.
'
'
'
'
Gifts of merchandise, he states, must be valued, for three reasons first, in order to be able to ascertain actual expenses and consumption of merchandise for each department second, the proprietor should
know at all times for how much he is obligated to others third, in order to know exactly the actual capital
invested.
:
In municipal accounting, he urges tliat the ledger of any year be held open until at least the end of
the next year, to prevent heavy transcribing, very much the same as is done now with some tax rolls.
'
Stevin in instructing his bookkeepers in the municipal department, tells them to use the words debit
credit
in the explanation of each journal entry, thus making it a little plainer to the uninitiated in
the terms of bookkeeping.
From the illustrations it
be noted that he does not do so in mercantile
bookkeeping, but only uses the term debit.
'
'
and
'
'
'
'
mU
'
'
'
What the writer has said in praise of Stevin should not be interpreted as meaning that he considers
Stevin 's system perfect or even as perfect as we have today, for in many respects, it is not. But the writer
believes that Stevin has left his unmistakable stamp on modern American methods.
It would be interesting to study the earliest American financial books and ledgers in order to establish that through the Dutch
settlers of New Amsterdam (now New York) Stevin 's ideas were brought to America, rather than by way of
England through Dafforne, who we will see further on in the book, failed to translate to the English language many of Stevin 's ideas.
118
V E R R
Mettc
EC H
DCONTREROLLE
O me"
Verclaring
warden
men
tot
N G
't
bdet
li^an
Welck.
ts
upte fclve fprupende, dienoch toe uytgeen %ekencamers van oouietne en Ftfiante
heejtconnen wercn.
Wcfendc Oeffeninghen
dcs Docrluchtichflen HcK)^ftghcboren Vorft en HeereMAVRITS by Gods gVnade Prince van Orange, &c. Ho: LofF: Mcmorie.
Befthtewndcur SIMON STEVIN van Brugghc, in fl/nlevendes Hooghghenielteo Hceie
PlUNCtN Superintendent
IVSTVS LIVIVS,
119
BOVCKHOVDING.
45
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font, comt
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gj' 5
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n-
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.
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verlies credit.
yyicns pojlt
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'tlaeCKJoo.
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114
I77i tat i.i.
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;^" I 4 - 264 tar z. o.^
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15 - lyotan. o. ^
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'
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99
tar 6. o.
maent
6
800
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123
150
i3
18
s
i6
J
J
3
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s
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7ncnii1ri.nl
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t^cndiby'l rnemorijclyondicn
Icn vcrfchryvcn
tc nicer dattct
footocgaet.
127
80
Gapitael debet.
Umuu
Deam,
't
laer
600,
cA
Peryerfcheyienptrtiia
Per mienftl. ), ileitr dulcet indr (f,ieimal{iiig bnonilen \i]n 17 j -Q^
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lutiiM
600 fol.
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laer
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///w
609
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800-0-0
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'
'
'
We have seen that Richard Dafforne was really the first writer in the English language whose work
went through several editions and therefore may be considered as having been more popular than that of
Dafforne resided for a good many years in Holland,
his predecessors Ympyu, Oldcastle, Mellis, and Peele.
where he obtained his knowledge of bookkeeping. He was a teacher in the Dutch and English languages,
and in bookkeeping. Part of his treatise called The Merchants Mirrour was written in Amsterdam beThe preface to his book indicates his familiarity with the then existing books on
fore he moved to London.
bookkeeping, as he names quite a number. Most of the authors of these books he discredits, but he seems
Simon Stevin, however, was
to think highly of Simon Stevin, whom he copied in a number of instances.
a great scholar, whereas Dafforne evidently was but a shallow teacher, for while he quotes freely from
Stevin on the most important points, yet he omits to bring home the force of the question as Stevin does.
Thus through Dafforne's faulty transfer of the bookkeeping ideas of the Dutch authors into the
English language, we have lost the very essence and foundation of the theory of bookkeeping. Any
one reading Stevin first and then Dafforne, will have no trouble in arriving at this conclusion. It is
like the reading of a letter from an experienced old man, followed by the treatment of the same subject
by a high school student.
'
'
'
'
'
In the following pages we are giving a partial reproduction of Dafforne 's book, consisting of the title
page, the introduction, about half of the text, and a few pages of the journal and ledger, together with the
entire trial balance.
We are omitting part of the text, because it is simply a repetition of previously mentioned methods, applied to numerous mercantile transactions. All of the text in which he attempts to give
some theory or explanations, we have reproduced. It will at once be seen that Dafforne was great at explaining HOW a thing should be done, but incapable of expressing clearly why a thing should be done.
He has attempted this in one or two places, and failed signally. We are reproducing so much of his book,
because, as explained before, we believe that in Pacioli, Manzoni, Ympyn, Stevin, and Dafforne we have
the gradual steps of the transfer of bookkeeping knowledge, within a little over one hundred years, from
the Italian through the Dutch into the English unless, indeed, the Dutch transferred their knowledge to
America, direct through the settlers of New Amsterdam (now New York).
;
At the time of Dafforne's writing, Englisli mercantile customs and bookkeeping methods certainly
were in a bad way, judging by Dafforne's own words and complaints. There is an entire absence in the
journal and ledger of references to the Deity, although the text is full of them. Dafforne even quotes in
the language in which it was written a Dutch dissertation on "God, the Giver of all good, all knowledge, and
all
wisdom."
He explains that a merchant in Amsterdam uses a cash book and a bank book, because his ledger and
journal are always behind in posting, otherwise "the ledger might cause the avoidance of the use of these
two books." He urges the use of a petty expense book, the totals of which are posted once a month or
quarterly, in order to avoid numerous small entries. $^.^4, -..,..>..
Wliat Pacioli calls the memorandum book he calls a waste book, because he says everything is transferred from it into the journal, and when this is done it is useless to preserve it. In Holland they do not
preserve it. The inventory and the trial balance are not written in this waste book, because they contain
information of a private nature. Blotting or erasures in the journal are improper. He puts his slanting
lines (//) in the left-hand margin of the waste book, in order to indicate the transfer to another book, and
he evidently prefers this method to the diagonal line drawn through the entries, because, as he says, "it obscures the writing and the figures."
Checking of the journal and ledger he calls "re-pointing," using
the translation of the old Italian expression of "lancing" or "pointing" as explained elsewhere under
Pacioli.
Dafforne, however, does not say how he does it.
137
does not use the expressions "debit" or "credit" throughout his books, but names them debitor
He charges the one and discharges the other. He insists that nothing can be entered in the
ledger unless it is first entered in the journal. This includes the forwarding of balances from a full page
to a new page also the closing entries for profit or loss, and the balancing of the accounts.
He
and
creditor.
'
Inventory he says consists of stock or estate or capital of the owner, which consists of increasing improperly" and "decreasing improperly" of the stock or estate. He attempts to explain what the word
"improperly" means by quoting from Stevin, but he missed entirely what Steviu meant, as he applies it
wrongly.
'
He uses the word "stock" wherever Stevin uses the word "capital." As the word "stock" comes evicapital,
as through all the definidently from stick or stem, it really has the same origin as the word
tions and derivations of the word "stock" the thought of "main" or "principal" seems to appear. From
this we might state that capital stock is really tautology, for the two words mean the same thing.
'
'
'
'
In explaining the fii'st journal entry "cash debitor to stock," he personifies the cash account, because
He indicates the meaning of debitor by stating that by reason of giving
it "represents (to me) a man."
He
the cash to the man, he is obliged to "render it back," or, as we have seen in Italian, "shall give."
Italhave
seen
in
or,
as
we
"upon
confidence,"
the
words
mentioning
of
creditor
by
indicates the meaning
In spite of his quoting so freely from Stevin, and coming so near to what Stevin says,
ian "trusting."
Dafforne has failed entirely to transfer to posterity the idea of the real reason for a double entry or two
The nearest he comes to it is by stating that cash, merchandise, and all we possess
debits and two credits.
are but "members of that whole body {stocke), therefore by the joint meeting of all those members the
body (stocke) is made compleat." Thus it goes through the entire book, always how but never why, the
Merchandise of large size and quantities is always kept iu a separate account, designated by the name
If, however, the merchandise consists of small articles of which but a few
of the merchandise it deals in.
He credits a legacy in one place to
are handled, the account is called a general merchandise account.
Debitors he calls
stock or capital account, and in several other places direct to the profit and loss account.
those "of whom we are to have," or in other words, as written in the Italian, those who "shall give."
" and as far as inventory items are concerned, he says that stocke is
Creditors he caUs " debt-demanders
debitor to these debt-demanders.
He says that through a personal or private ledger you can keep a secret of a person's present worth
He is very emphatic in denouncing the use of the cash account for this purpose, as he states
or estate.
do in their treatise, namely, Waninglien, Buiugha, and Carpenter. Here he again barely
Dutchmen
three
rubs elbows with Stevin 's ideas of proprietorship. He flays the three Dutchmen for promulgating ideas
as "book deforming" instead of "book reforming," and he calls their ideas " indefendable errour,"
"forged imagineries, " "forrain bred defects." He further says: "If we were as exact discussors as we
are imitators, we had not been so besotted as to entertain those forrain defects, having better at home." It
should be noted that elsewhere he praises Stevin, and nowhere does he flay him like the above three Dutchmen, yet had Dafforne been less of a discusser and more of an imitator, he would have presented Stevin 's
exact theories without fault, and thus preserved them for us in the English language as Stevin did for
his
Dutch countrymen.
gives 15 rules each for journalizing debits and credits, but he personifies everything to debitor
In the ledger he uses a double column, one for money, the other for quantities and weights.
and
Cash disco\mts he deducts from cost of merchandise, whereas rebates are credited to profit and loss. Thus he
disagrees, as he says, with Passchier Goossens, Johannes Buingha, J. Carpenter, and Henry Waninghen.
Dafforne 'succeeded here through his faulty reasoning, in mixing up things to such an extent that many
minds today are still mixed up on this subject. Waninghen and Carpenter want to carry trades of merchandise through the cash account. Rightly he objects to this, for cash he says should have no entry un-
He
creditor.
less
money
is
does not call in his text the difference between the debits and the credits "the balance," as we do
today. He says deduct the lesser from the greater, and make a journal entry for "the difference." In his
" but he caUs it "balance to
ledger accounts, however, he does not call it, like the Italians do, "difference
the
same as we translated Paci"balancing,"
now
-where
we
use
"equalizing"
word
the
uses
He
close."
The closing of the ledger he calls "ballaucing of the
oli's'word "soldo" into "equalizing" or "closing."
leager," or " leagers-conclusion. " Like Stevin he claims that the ledger needs to be balanced when new
books are started, or when the merchant ceases to trade or the owner dies. Balancing, he says, consists of
three things, the equalizing of aU open accounts, the entering of the difference and transferring of the
same to the new accoiuit or to the balance account. He does not like the word "balancing," and prefers
to call it "estate reckoning," the same as Stevin does, and in this connection he refers to Stevin by saying
that Stevin carries his closing balances into his opening capital account, which he calls contradictory, and
merely a mistake on Stevin 's part. The balancing is divided into a trial balance and a true balance; the
trial balance consists of debits and credits of the open ledger accounts before profit and loss entries are
made. He published in Amsterdam a " three-f old-mony-ballauce, " which we have reproduced further on.
The true balance he says consists of the "remainders" of the ledger accounts after profit and loss entries
He
138
the ledger uamely if cash is debit in the ledger it should be debit iu the true balance, for he says, balance
a debitor in tlie place of cash. He gives a detailed explanation of how to close accounts kept in foreign
money, and to take care of the profit or loss in the exchange at tlie time of closing. Wliile he exhibits a
balance account and makes journal entries in order to close all accounts in this balance account, he is very
particular in explaining that such a pi'ocedure is not needed if you desire to use the balance book in the
nature of private information. In that case, he says, post direct from the old account in the old ledger to
the new account in the new ledger.
;
is
The illustrations given of the journal will show that all entries are numbered, that he uses "debitor
to" instead of "debit per," as Stevin uses. Neither does he use the slanting lines (//) so customary in
the Italian metliod, for a division between the debit and the credit, although but one column is given. The
ledger page references iu the journal are written in the form of a fraction, as Pacioli mentions. Ledger
headings, while not as used at this day, are more pronounced than the Italian method, and are almost
identical to Stevin
's
ideas.
In the ledger accounts herewith reproduced, "to" is used on the debit side and "by" on the credit.
The journal page is also given as well as the ledger folio of the relative entry in the other part of the
ledger.
Both sides of the ledger bear the same number of the page, and they are called folio. He does
not use the word "sundries," in the journal nor in the ledger, nor does he use a sub-total in balancing his
ledger accounts, as Stevin does, but uses in front of the total the Italian word "summe." Nowhere in his
work does he use the term "assets and liabilities." He uses dots instead of check marks.
139
THE
MERC HANTS
M I R R O U R.
R E C T
For the
termed)
pcrfea:
ACCOUNTS.
Framed by way of
ffo
O N
D e.b
Italian
With
Manner
Anfwers,
their
Containiog
in
his
Creditor,
t o r and
after the
50 ^are Queftions,
Dialogue.
forme of a
AS iIKEf/S
A
WASTE-BOOK,
wich a complete
Journal
end
AHV ALSO
MONET
H-B O O K ,
all
other
CompUed by
Richard DAFFORNBof
an Exquifite Method
Englifh and Dutch Language,
after
J.
g>oo eenigl)
sppn
Dte mattbtt
Mote
luft hoc!)
^mn,
meet
H. L.
i^iet goet
Dooj
ban [?n
the
fotcto fonteeren,
iDoajeelt iemant
in
Vahden V.
litljt^tJerifpttH)
'jafttbb
tc Ceeten.
S-.
iJDoiDcl tocc^en.
iieercnoe, Icett
itfe.
LONDON,
Printed
by
it.//,
of the
and ^.G. for Nicholas Bourn, at the South-entrance
1660.
Exchange,
Royall
140
TO THE
HONOU RABLE
RIGHT
RIGHT WORSHIPFULL
GOVERN OURS,
FELL o'w
Merchants of Eafi-land.
Merchants of England , trading into the Levant Seat,
OF"?
Merchants of London
for
a.
Richard DAFFORNEfo
Illuminatron
mended
lie
and
make
that
com-
few^
Right Honourable,
^^Fcer many
~
your Undevftandings
Thou
wiilieth
^c.
fecmycourfe untofeverall Stationers Shops ^ there gazing ame fas one reviving from a Trance) to view what the Laborious Artift
had aded and divulged
Print (as other Nations) fortheAlTiftance of Mer-
i>out
City
is
Eat
this
Renowned
as a
Shipper anchoring
upon an unknown
a
141
f ai ts
The
Epijlle Dedicatory,
by the
or the like
TSlon-tillagc,
even fo (contrary to
S<f\mne
beck,
Authors;
fevierall
as Vorefiam, John
(^ntergem
NicholiU fieterfon,
Marten
Jmpen
Cioot
Menn-
Vanden J^jck
Hoor-
TaJJdk,
Coojjen^
and
divers others
whofe Books
many Sdwce-/oVm
By which
are extant.
wherethey
to
fee
Pen to
rers.
The
its
them (with the preChildren and Servants in theSchoolesj daily to publifh new
Queflions
But we,alas,the fmall love (pardon my truth fpeaking) that a great part of
our Merchants bear to this Science, daunteth the Pen of Induftry in our Teachers,making thenfi with a fufpe<5tive fear to doubt(&; not altogether groundlefs) that the profit will
Merchantsy
and therefore
What may be
by which means
Teachers^
(b infufficient
this
Art)
many
iheir Documents
can be but
Want of love to
Eijtiiyahit Imitators.
who by
this -^rt^
written in Englifh
upon
is
this
Imitation.
Yea, even the meto
no
caufe
commit
their painfull
mory
Labours to the ^ame-reVtying Prefs. How then fhall our Youth attain unto
this Art, but by frequenting abroad amongft other nations ? And
is
Will
do as there
is
done.
we did by
for if at
home
(as
other
people do)
Love' allure,
y^rts
Ignorance
documents.
I
have emboldened
?ny felf to
prepare
this
142
by
lv(^fK/T
Divers are
a generall fatisfaaxon is uiiblameable.
to pleafeallryeLtocndeavouc
^mcifles as fully fufftcienc, though
intent is not to prefcribe thefe
for time at prefent doth not yield permiffion to
for their K^mkr approveable:
and Will determined to divulge , but thel^
impart what my Affeftions dcfircd,
amend whae I (through
to ftir up the better exi>srienecd to
My
atcAHmments
onely,
and
it
dererves,bemg
an Art
be
Cfaith Simon
it
from the ConVerfmon and Enwithin the \)Ounds thereof, that we are abridged
Nations , as well by their frequenting ot
tcrcourk ofMeichandi^n^ with forrain
them in the Body of their Coupes. And
our Mers as we Commercing with
in their places,wy? noi
when our Merchants (Old or Young) trade with them
ufed among them concerning Commerce?
thy team t9 k acquainted mth tkir ^hrafes
none of the Icaft in feverall places of Europe, Unto which
Of which Banqk is
Concourfe.
our Englifli Merchants hav/etheit
the
<l^ght Worsts
counted as a needleffe thtn^ in my Book ?
us ignorant of Martiall
black Envy thar endeavoureth to have
affairs, untill
we
cometothepointofBattaiLThelikeObjeaionisallcagedagainftmyemring
What if we have them not in ule aof an Account of Tim? and %eady.mony.
other K^mm and (to our
mongft our felves ? Let us caft up our accounts with
an account oitime md^eadymony ->f our
coft) they will teach us how to frame
and tor
in disburfe for us any quantity ot mony ,
Faaor or
Correfbondent
be
Time worth
Ignorance merit ?
zr
n
and Ready-mony (fay they)may
A2ain,the keeping of an account of Time
General acctiunt, upon whlchls entred
be avoided with an dccount Currant,- or a
Deporito,and the like:
m^tzasBought^Sold^Dra^n^Hermedfiiyenpt Taken upon
us come to the Priod,or Foot
of which manner I am no way ignorant.Butlet
thy wilful!
Qieweth.that
of that General account ^^nd there the Concludon
to another, or the Contrary
amDEB itor
143
OPINION OF BOOK-KEEPINGS
A N T
j^U
7.
Good
forme of Book-keep
ing (imeaning his ownej befotc it was perfefted in the
he was of judgement that it had not been ufed
l^refle
But that the fame,
in ifd/y, but about two hundred years
Old
fed in the
many
or one in
of
Juluis Cafar,
and
in
Rome
long before
to the. hands of
come
them,
that
of
late
have received
again.
it
Which Opinion
who faith,
faid Friend,
that
For
<;
expenjt.
TabuU accept
Accepum o" expenfum.
Nomina tra/ijlata in TaiuLut
Nomeniaccnst
-
Adversaria.
apparent in innuirjerable places of the Latine WriComado. And that the onC
ters, but efpecially ex Oratione Ciceronk pro (l^fcio
fide of theirBook'was ufed for Debitor ^ the other for Creditor ^ is manifeft
All
which
(faith he) is
lib.
2^ cap.'j*
where he
Hum
/<?/<
Ex
en
A.
FerunturAccepta, &
UT
R A
QJl E
PA G
NAM
in tota
RAT
o n E Mtrtd-
f'tclt.
Simon Steyen,
fol.
Grecians,
it is
from the
whereof fur-
in reafon
105, 106.
144
Thus much in
Tuo ic lous
.,
..
Briefe
Contents
\N Introdudion
I.
^^ofa Dtdogue,
wd.y
28.
AgaiHy m-
THE
pl.ice 1,2,3.
is
l>y
Jpoken,
and
o/"Proper Accounts,
DEPENDANCES,place63.fol.2I.
29. of Buying upon fcverall conditions ^phce
6.
7.
of
9.
place
10.
the
33'
Wafte- Books,
/<;r?
And
office,
5. fol. 6.
of the
11.
of the Inventary-r<^/f,pl.io.fol.8.
of the Ready- mony in Ca(l\and how to
hookit,ph.i^.{o\.9.
of the Mony
13
34.
35.
JoatnMs,matter,formiand 0ffice,
place8.fol.8.
12
in Banck,rfW^<'ir to
book
SS.offelling rvares, to be
or3.mekes,
place ly.fol.?,!.
is.
Barter^
delivered by me,2,
;V,
fol.ii.
of
16.
fol.
jewels
Moveables, Ships-parts,
17.0/
2.
11.
Fa^or
ac-
22.
45-
47.
25. ofS/cckes concealment, pla. 52. fol. 17.
2 6. of Traffickes contmuall exercife, place
1 8.
kept,
fol I p.
of
Mcs
or part of
fol. 1 5. place
27.
<
14.
23. ofDcbt-demandeTS,ph./\6So\.l').
52.ioi.
place
fol.
rvarcs fold
My
12.
1 8.
or
place
145
the
146.pl3ce.fol.35-
place157.fol.37..
ris
uuto our
/, place
above,
lournalls margine,
corripiledin I,oW(7,fol.5
82.0/
the compleat
faid
Lit.L.M.
of the Kaleiiders/tf;-i,4^Ure,Lit. N.
of the compleat Leager^ depending upor{
173.fo.39. the fore- faid Wafle-book^and lournaS, Lit. O.
of
83.
8/^,
i74fol. S9'
Mee
place
and Leager,
Niw
books
Lit.S.
175.fol.39.
59. Receit ofthepomifed monj, place 176.
fol.3P.
rvares,
place 179.
fol.40.
6i.Bu)iAg upon
Wares fhift to
another
Landfor company^
upn feverall
conditions y^hce
and
inflantly
difcemed bf
Titles,
SC'
andfo compiled, that, the furbe paQethfthemoremcreafeih his Studies
gmners
place 184.foi.41.
63. payments
181.fol.40.
62.
the Io:nnall^KaUnder,
Ss.of
ther
exercife
occafions.
i88.fol.41.
the
^J.Of
ftration,phce i91.fol.42.
65
199.
Sales
ties
fol. 43.
Faftor, or
Cor-
om fludy
refpondentjplace 201.fol.43.
by
MEE,
to be
faid fre-
cannot
ing of it
at the very
End,
tti
anfof
the former
73.
place.2i8Xol46.
146
How
INTRODUCTION
PLACE.
THE FIRST
SPEAKERS,
Thilo' Mathy. School -'Tamer.
Phil
partner?
us by way%t Qaeftionsaud
examination,
becaufe I frequent not the daily
BootkeeS/taught
much,
it
Anfwers, whereof
in
fome
have torgottea
Art
;
Very likely For Exercife is the Preserver of
the which not onely confirufeth
continually
Mafter
our
examinatL,which (you know)
Augmenur ofKmwUig, according to the Motto of
met^what w^have'Lt it is likewife
Umes Ved: Pra^icefroiurethfcrfefiton
intteat you (feeing we have time and opportuniSch Surely vou fay truth Therefore I
beginnmgw^h
tyuoqueftionmeinfuchthingsasatprefent are.ieadieft in yourm.nd-,
wade through them ^1,
Matters Inftrueiions,and fo in brief fort to
Phil.
the
firft
grounds of out
Very gladly
my memory.
already
^!
alleis
rcljeppc jgt,
fo^m, of 3Cp8t,
S>elf;^nDial) toec^en, nonoct ^to.t, of
^tt
ons begrip,
oeociifeen
ton, of batca
eni)-,<o6Disbbobcnmaten!
Slktljain, aitftatisb, caJ^.
(nnt
miv
oix^m aoisftKOcn,
aectjcn,
flwtcn ^upDen a'ers baafe aah m? sbitttcn
uto'\^ulp
m?
atb luat ?tU atbtinss liicfo, of toaan
^ ^at)
'.
aoe
ebon fibcraw,
CbafC m? eenftbevpbcstip,
<Poctt
oJ^al' ^^"^"^
'^""'^
Jlaten,
5DW Dinsben onscr tcbtio ^asm, uyt mv.te
bait 53it ! toat^matb
2E<f cbiftfli ., dio uaa^.
147
m i^m
^^^^^
XntroduUion
Merchants Jccmpts,
to
(hew
me
its
jucjcu
event.
The Event
or
End
is
(faith one)that
-,
t|ie
End,,
...
Jn
like
manner.
The End
Reqiiifue, UfefuU
and
Commodious for
the writing.
hs Mathematician, and
{
is
of
And
this
of
needle[fe
in
the Leaei!,wftofe
Booh
FhiL Bein^ that the tenor of our fpeech concerneth Sooks^ I take it not unfitting that
you rehearfe thofe Books that are moft requifite for Merchants ufe.to avoid all thofe needlelTe
Books.
of
the
of
the S^cie-Seoki
Merchant ufeth likewife a Specie- BQok,More ufcfull for the Low-Countries then for
Englandjbecaufe* of the variety of Coines there in ufe as likewife in times of controverfie
to approve what Coins pafTed in Receipt of Payment whereof Job" Conterech of Ant,
werp
148
An
werp hath Ihewed
to
IntroduBion
a
worthy example
of
Merchants Accompts,
Book
in his
the pell j
Expences-Sook.
More he
ufeth a
mon
This Book of
partly, for brein one fume into the Journall
which eenerally are potted once a moneth
great
m
mens
becaufe
houfes, ics the
partly,
one fumme
vity to poft many petties into
expences,rendnDg
an account of
petty
thofe
adminiftrate
proper office of fome one man to
as
the
fire,
ot
things
kindle
of greater
Matches to
particular as well for Muftard and
.-
each
importance, unto which end there
is
of
the Memoriall.
fome things
there to note
a {hilling,or a
fol z I
Some
in the
Accomptant whether
ic
SomeufelikewifeaCopyBook
for
r iVAfie-hooi,
either in
cell
as
much
on.
as the
Po"^'
Ort thee,
God, I do depend^
offord :
Sp'rit
149
Ajlb
-I
-^--^r-^
of mine.
That it to many ufefull he^
The praife thereof jhall all be thine.
becaufe
and of no efteem
book, as here
efpecially in Holland,
ourf Nation
do
ich.
in
is this
book
void^
England.
Wafte-book.
that this book is lined towards the left hand with one line (bat fome ufe
the right hand with three 5 leaving towards the left hand a Margine or
towards
two) and
inch
or lefle, according to the books Targeneffe, to enter therein the Day,
an
whitenefs of
Commodity, or all : and between the three lines towards the right
the
Moneth, Mark of
mony, as by feverall inftances (hail be made plain.
the
hand, there to enter
The office of this book is, that onely the Daily-trading ought to be written therein, e-
ven
as it is truly
a^d
AS
when the Merchant ufeth an Accomptant thatdwelabfent when fuch matters are aded. Again,
may fpmetime be
for Blotching or
in
the Journall
is
unbefeeraing-
150
..
An Introdi^ion to Merchants
The quaatity or quality of the
Accompli
4.
at
Time
cnlumg examples.
Anno 1530.
London.
iL
^9
15
him
certain raony
foL
95t
.9-
1630^
March
.=?o.
thampton
1012 10
each Uaready-mony,is
abating a 2. 7
fil.
51.
3834.
8. i^-
for
the Margine
are ^rawn
ufe have thofe (lantling (Irokes that
(hew how farispofted out of the Wafte-book
5./^. They have two ufes: i.They
called
that a man omit no parcell, being
into the Journall, and they are a fure mark
away.
"llmg
the faid
away from his polling: neither to enter one thing twice upon
parcel,
Book
fuch a Wafle
2. They fliew how many Journal parcells are included
may /he eafier lee he
a
man
Wafte-Book,
the
of
infomuch, that in re-pointing
be compared
and Journall
quantity of the included parcells. when ttie Wafte
J^
right hand, where the mony is j
againft each other. Some draw thofe ftrokes on the
fummes : exch ha choice. The
but that multitude of Strokes darkneth the mony
pofted 'ntoj^ Jof;
Wafte-Book parcells ought with all convenient fpeed to be
may the better difcern how b cale
nall, and Leager, to the end the Book owner
Torm, Office,
the Wafte-Book
ftandeth with each man,and matter. Thus much of
Thil.
What
and Circumjlances
Now,
OF THE JOURNALL-
being the
f^rft
Seach
wordsCacwrdmg
151
An IntroduHion
to
Merchants Acompts,
Mark well he that can difcern the tiue Debitor and Creditor
any propounded propoiuion (concerning this Art) hath the right (Theorick) inwArdgrotmd- knowledge and contemplation of the matters and he, and ondj he (with the help
of Arithmetickj goeth firm in his aflion , to give cacli man his due, and book his matters
belonging unto book- keefin^.
in
It is
man
pollings.
rhil.
What
Sch,
5f^.
for
The
it
From
Ti.
the Inventary
|.2.From TralSckes
5.
proceedetti<<
5.
.
Phil.
Exercife
as
in
63.
place
(including
From
new
leaf, Sec
206.
place.
4.
10
20J.)
continuall
From
See
2. place.
From
place
Sch.
'i.
Ready-morty,and that
in
2.
^Increafins
'^
impropeHy
by ttieansof
Debi
tors:
/^^'
and V
"S
them a-i)^*^"^''^' ?
a-)fn ,r3-P^Wrs,S^that have not as yetgiven us
5,ame
m^^_
full fatisfacSion.
Mafters, )^
fOf.
>
11
Phil, In the above- ftanding Table you fpeak of Stockes Increafing, and Decreafing Improperly explain the word Improper.
-,
Sch.
Simon Stevin,
Maw
rit/.
152
y:
Merchants
jin IntroduBion to
yfccompts.
rw,concerning ScockeS Increafing, and Decreafing the Prince faith, that, Moniei^ Wares
aod Debitors, Increafe Stock for the more a man hath of them,the greater will his Stock
be. Contrarily, Debt-dtmanders Decreafe Stock. Simon Stevin replyeth, to be of another Opinion exprelTing himfelf with the enfuing Inftance li (faith he) in former Books
that Pepper augmenteth not my Stock
I bought of Peter a Bale of Pepper upon Time
expired. Inlike manner, my Stock debeing
value,time
of
me
the
forPeterdemandeth
for its as much augmented by the PepDf^;-</fwWfr
becaufePeterisa
creafethnot,
truly augmenteth my Stock: for I engiven
that,
me,
per. But ifa Bale of Pepper be
giving certain hundreds to MarMerchant
/o/
Pepper-debitor
And,
54.
ter,
to Stock.
may eafily be difcerned, what
this
By
decreafeth
Stock.
D^^s^^^/i-r,
that
riage with his
-,
.-
ons.
Sch
'
firft,
OFTHEREADYMONY.
Phil.
13
Sch. Caf}
Phil,
14
the
'-
Debitor to Stock.
it)
is
obliged to reltore
it
again ac
me)
me.
15
Phil.
tion f
is
n
ufe amongft our
c
-KT
Nacc
\,
Simon Stevin
tQ\\3.Vtit\d,Monj
is
treating of this
word with
Debitor.
...
Our Mafter ufually alledged the difference between private, and generall dilcourles,
other Nations, with
(hewing that many words arc ufually among Dutch, French, and
ufe generall words,
itficteft
to
whom a Merchant doth trafficke; therefore he thought
being generally known, andmoftufefullin Book- keepings elfe (laid he)
'
not Monj bear its own Name as well as other commodities
as
16
why
Ihould
is
OneotherQueftionI have to demand before you proceed, which is. Why
Slock made Cr editor i
rr x.
a,
u
*
\vhether. WoSch. Becaufetheword5/()f;&conta!nethinit, all what a man poffefleth-,
particular
nej,mres,Debtsd\ittoMS, or the like: and (marke this well) C^, yea, each
the.joynt
by
therefore
Stocke-,
thing that IpoiTelTe, is but a member of that whole body
meeting of all thofe members,the body(S(cft) is made complear.
Phil.
17
Phil.
firft
part of Ready-mony,treat
CF THE
I
MONY
IN
BANC KE.
now fomewhac
fumme
of
^^^^
mo-
g^nck
NOTE.-Pages
^Zl'TudZeZore arelt
Jn hitroduBion to Merchanii
14
40
Fhil.
Sch.
chis
They were
Jccompls,
enternow.
plJce,
41
rbil. But fuppofe the charges that you did at the firft fending were writ off from his
above-named Roan account, unto his account currant, being that I would have all disbuirand therefore that account hath no charge now upon it.
fed money upon one account
Sch. Edward Denis of Northampton,his account at Roan in France, in the AdminiflraNota, for a Blank fumme, both in Debit and Credit
tion of P. D. is Debitor to Stock
and muft be fo carried to each account fer Fermam, becaufe there muft not be a Debitor
-,
whereof you
Phil. Suppofe P. D. had in the former books made fale of part, or whole
had advice then, but no Returns. See 46. place.
for as
Sch. P. D. at Roan, for the proper account of E- D. at N. N. Debitor to Stock
much as the known fales import and fo I pafs forward, according to the Tables tenour,
,
-,
unto,.
for
Company-
Account.
^J;. School-
you cleave
men
(as I
44
thil.
rehearfe
fome Inftances
[and
45
Phil,
Having
for
in
of
Company
Pint^ being in
Company^
I
Pedro del
Partner,
unfold Wares,
Verde
for
.^
being
^ames
in
^ojncr:,
me.
Debitor
>
\
to
Stock,
-J
DEBITORS, OF
WHOM WE
TO HAVE.
Sch.
and
Four
in
number
are they
ARE
comprehended under,
o.place.
Ci.B.
<
C'i.
5. Partner^
154
An IntroduBion to Merchants
'Whobath
j
Partner <
3.
Whofe part
lam
'
':
My
of Stock
is
'5
<
part of
Accompts.
in
my
N. N.
be imployed.by
my account by him
N.N.
By
46
the
Thil.
word
Thus
Currant,
you have pafled through the three branches of Stocks IncreaGng, with
in a briefe manner: what foUoweth next to treat of
I fee
:^
DEBT-DEMANDERS.
Sch. In the 10. place
that again
is
is
as thus,
fi.
v;e accepted
Books.
. F.atConftantinoplc, my account Currant', for that he hath made me
more Returns then my fold Wares did import.
/My account by him in Company, he having paid out more then
his part doth import.
3.Partner,|His account by me in Compaby I having received into my hands
mony for fold Wares, and detain his part thereof, where he
2.
Stocke is
Debitorto^
ff
4. F. G.
oughctohaveit,
J
His
,
. , ,. ^ ,
^
^.
the credit or which being heavier then his
.
account Currant
-^
the fornverBook
Company,! for A.B.-^ for B,C. and | for me for fo much as in the
former Book was fold upon that accoaint: Sec 37. place, it being compared
Durances
with
in
this,
of Northampton, his account at iJ<?4</fr4w;, in the Admias the known Sales import. iV<?/i, in the 42 place, th:
fador was made Debitor to Stock, for. the like fumme: therefore our Stock flandeth
well in the like cafe with others. Again, we have our firft charges done uj good unto our
Stockin the 40. place.
Stock Debitor to Voyage to Lisborne, configned unto Pedro del Fergo, being in Comi^(/rprfriDf*f
niftration of P.
pany,
7 for
D.
for as
much
jhodd flandDe:h\tor to Stocky for the likefummc, that Stock ftandech Debitor to the
Voyage for the Sales ; for the I'^o'^age cannot have a Credit, but by one, or more Debitours
5hat even Counter- poize that Credit.
4T
tlie
Merchant
will not
have
05
alfo in
his eftate
known^
ho^r
153
An
\6
how
Will
IntroduBion
to
Merchants JccomptSf
Ha!
felf therein^
I think I
Now
you
In fuch difficult Queltions you cannot debarre me, to take the aid of fome Renowned Authors : tor ip the firft place of our Dialogue 1 feared my weakriefTe, becaufe I
ScIj.
frequented not the daily Examination but although I frequeut not the School, I am yet
not ignorant ot what the Authors paflages are upon this Sutjeft-- and therefore I -will decide vourQueftion, with the Solution of Matter Henry Waninghen inthe firft Chapter,
,
the
7. Queftions
king
all that is
anfwer
his
words
are ihefe
:
rw-
us.
very fame words) agreeih his Difciple Joannes Buingha^ who now
at Am(terdam, after the death of his before-named Mafter,fucceedeth his place in Schoolmafterfhip. See the 38. page of his Book,printed 1 627.
^. Carpenter Gent, in his Mojl Excellent InliriiBion^ printed in London 1 63 2. is a direft
tor the greaImitator of both the former See foL 20.24. o^ his Book and no mervaile
Wininghens
publiftied
Book,
Henrj
his
is
nothing elfe but a generallcopy-of
teft part of
and
words,
number
of the Queftions.^. C. in his Epiftle to the Reader,
Book, both in
Ignorance,
of
not
knowing the Author, who in the French Language many
pretendcih
years agone was eafie to be found.
With him
(in the
r^8
fhil.
and
their paTTageT.
firft,
OF THE WARES.
rrGrograines^
^Debitor to
Kerfies
Cafii,
Durances,
us.
Of the
Cafli 'Dt}MOX
49
fhil.
Book
Sch.
Phil.
paid
his,
how (hall
he
that^
The before-named in
not to be entred^
50
till
Suppofe with part of that concealed mony you bought Wares^md with other part,
are indebted
that i
Wares,?
People
51
f^
debitor to Cafe.
my
156
An IntroduUion to Merchants
me
Firft,let
worth ;wliich
if
/fccoyfipis.
Debit ftde of Cafh ought to be heavie(l, er, having no mo/ty, it mufl be cvcn^ beeaujc all is
but if he have any Eftate, then is the Credit of his Cafh (who ftandeth in
Stocks Rend) heOLvicQ. : and therefore an frz-w^, being there is more paid, then was re-
faidout
cei\^ed.
Secondly, the commoditiies that we have at the making of our Inventary, were bought
made Debitors ; and that we now enter ihem agam Debitors to
Cajh, is to re- buy them -and confequently, in place of book- reforming, hok- dtfor ming
^
and an undefendable Errour^
Thirdly, the People vvhom we now make Debitors to Cafh^ ^xq abfolutelj om Debitorf',
and do we fay them,who are to fay us < many men would defire to be our Debitors.
Fourthly, As fenfelefleisit, to niake Ca(h Debitor to People that are to have of us will
they that are to have of us ICO. T. for a Bill of Exchange by us accepted, fay, Come mj
Friend, you have accepted an Exchahge, to pay at time expired, which is now . fend your
man to my hoafe,and the mony (hall incontinently be paid to hi m 7 think nothing lejje.
(Cj^Fifthly, Cafh may never hea:x'itmed, Nota^ not namtd, but when money is either truly ,
and really paid, or, received, as in the ly.place is mentioned. But if thefe People enter
/^rg-e^ Imaginaries in the /"^rf'/rwr of their Books .-what is not to beexpe(fted before the
Informer Books, and there
-,
End?
The
Stock
let
our Judgement
>2
is
of this Art,
Phil. I perceive their ^JaTTages in Booking of thefr Matters,doth not digeft with you
there a more plain way ^ difcover that.
Sch. If we
were
as
is
(o deforced, as to
Lookiato ^ames Peek, whofe well- entrances, through neglcding Age (or dlldain of
Domeftick Writers, and extolling ofForrain) are as ffrange to us, as though (as the faying is)they were written in Heathen Greek.. He rtieweth us the fit ground- work, how to
conceale a mans Eftate, in the Booking of his private accounts, and matters maaifefted
for Mcrchandizipg.
Phil. Inflance
53
Sch.
You
(peak o(j>art
we
whether he bring
it,
part.
who
can certainly
of cloth.
And
know
for that
which he manifefteth,may be
//
Cafh,^
\\Banck,
//
,.
cntred|Perpetuanes,
^'f'""
iMarmaduke Man,
\j^ohn Knoll sx. Lisborn,
Fhil.
54 manifefted
for
((
^'^'^"^^ ^^^O^""'
my account Proper,])
Merchandizing ^
rfCa(b,
""^ ^^=
Marmaduke Man,
\ foJm Knoll at LisborD,ray account Proper
fi
157
Books the
thiftg*^
55
P/'//.
Suppofe there
Sch.
Wares Debitor to
and
is
Jccompts.
all
LofTe arifeth.
57
58
Fhil.
matters
Book-owner
feverall
?;
feverally,
Jick.
59
Fhil.
upon
Private
are tound
Book of Traffick i
his
go.
But
Thil.
if
trings
A worthy Refutation,
Then.by
their
Approbation
PA//.Rehearfe Tome other Inftances of their Mif-cntrances, that (for the Reader) they
may be as Buojes in this 5M,to keep him from Ignorances Ship- wrack.
Sch. Very loth am I to frj any further into their Books: for their Adjurdttiet are mainto them all, it would be thought that I onemy
where
flain meaning is, to ftirre them up to a more
ly uttered Satjricall Snarlings,
not
ftuftrate of his Expeiftation : feeking in them
feriottififidj, that the filly beginner be
riy in
('as
divers matters.
let
me proceed
purpofe.
6i
Phil.
Well
thfcJ'i'f'<";)',
nall is
Sch.
we
The
do as you
defire
feeing
is
What
is
are to treat
Ninth place
is
rehearfed
wherein
is
confifting
la
15S
An IntrodnBim
to
Merchants
J^ccompts,
>
'9
^^'V
laUFaHorage
^^-
^^^^^
j^^^
{^Comfsnj 2i
^^^^
if
vForrame-affaires.-ioxio do
ters,
r With
the
Wares
Bills
Matters Wares, becaufe they were not Vendible here, as in the 39. place is expreffed
the
Friend is to be countable for the Sales thereof to me, and I to my Mafter , with
whofe order I fenr them thither-, he not having any acquaintance with the man, nor
Trading for that place. Of thefc t intend to treat in order^i.% they are entred in the abovc.
faid
Table
flanding
but
firfl I
will
Moay,
ther
rage, or
Wares)
or
Company
account,
the fame
is
to be
1.
us
(whether
Mony,
Debitor.
2,
2.
is
-Debitor.
man is
fcd
Creditor.
4.
4.
Of whom we
one in the
efttrance)
is
Debitor.
creditor.
The man
"
Debitor,
account
is
we
receive^
Creditor,
When we
aflothcr
by Wares,
Crtdiiori
is-
his Older.
The man
for
and fentthem,
is
ges,
6, If
Debitor.
we
Aflignation in payment,is
This
is
much
Upon whom
but
this is
is
ter
OR,
Debitor,
NOT A,
to be paid by
I deliver
him for
his
mine Aflignation,
own
man is
account
that
-Creditor
OR,
Wholbever (to pleafure, or accommodate me) payeth my Aflignation, the accommodating man,is
Creditor.
7. When we receive advice from our
underftanding of Aflignation.
7. When we,or any other man for ns,fendeth commodities unto another Land, or Fadtor, that thofe fent commodities, or part
Towne, to be fouldj for Proper or Company of them are fouldjOr loft then is
account, then is
Voyage
2
159
An InlYodiBion to Merchants
20
Voyage
a
,,
man
When we
8.
9.
8.
(as above)-
Dtbttor.
but pay
Voyage
lo.
("as
Wares, and
then
is
any mans
enfure
n. When We
mony
the
p.
is
The
Infuier
Creditor.
is
10. Infurance-reckoning,"^
fent
Or
^is Creditor.
and Loffe.
Chufe of thefe which you pleafe.
11. As above
Creditor.
prefently
Debitor.
Infure any
Infured thofe
-Bcbitior.
above)-
When we
Creditor.
it
Creditor. Noia,
When we caufe
infured,
ly,
Voyage
man
Voyage
Accowfts,
mans
mony
Profit,
fent
Hota,
prefent-
we
When we receive
12.
Mony
then
WareSjthen is
The Fador that payeth
to be paid,
12.
When we
receive
is
The Faftbr
that
fold
them
count
or
Wares,
JZf(r, either in
in lieu
'
of thofe fould
us, or caufeth us
>
Creditor.
15. If any
is-_
14. If
man,
man:
we
Debitor.
Creditor.
is
TheFaftor, If forme^ or the man for whofe account the fame was remitted to nie
Criekter,
Debitor. is
whofe account it was remitted ,is
When
is Profit,and LofTe
ever,then
jxbitor.
Creditor.
is Profit and Lofle
15.
When we
Phil.^
<53
firft
of
I will dij^Uj
Prpm
160
An IntroduBion
Merchants Acompts,
to
ii
(
1
rr.
at. .if.;,.,
CDomefiuk-Mfatres.
vvhofe parts
1
\
may
^W'-w: Seethe 10 j.
place,
bei,^l"'t('"'r>fsyi?ot*j^^j,Sf:etht lop.^hc^.
j
I
Receiving
Gratuity
in
r Sould j See the 1
1 3. place,
\Loft See the 1 1 7. place.
of them are
Con-<r
^pfrares: See the 1 19, place,
^Reiurnes m^^^y
, see the 1 2 1. place.
r Advice ,
Forratn-affanes
lifting in
or, part
The Table being entred in briefe as above, reqaireth an cxplaiumg 5 therefore leC
me fee your Entrances upon each member apart.
Forrairte, I intend to treat firft
Sch. The parts being divided into Affaires Domeflick, and
Phil.
64
is
with
BUYING.
i')^/.I%Wheat,andpay
c$
for the
receit thereof:
How
Wheat Debitor to Cafh. Neta, Some wilUthatof the like Paffages fliouldbe
Entrance, becaufe upon all Occafions the mans name might be found upon
double
made a
do his pleafure I account this way clear, and evident. For afterward
each
the Alphabet
arife, that Book (from whence the Queftion arifcth) will {hew
(hould
controverfie
if any
All accounts of
is it upon my Book eafie to be found. Nota^
then
Mpneth
and
the Year,
Weighty and the
EBs,Meafre,
qmaiityoi
the
keep
to
taaAhdivdintsrvithin^
Commodittcs
Sch.
-,
-,
hke.
PA/Z.IBuyRyeContant.butpaynotinnantly.
Sch Rye Debitor to the Man of whom T bought
66
it.
r
-c ^
Nota, the word Contant hgniheth,
Demand; and that again,for 1.2.3. daies, or 1.2. or three weeks: generally, it is indunomination of monethf^
ded under onemoneths time ; for tnat which is contained under the
upon
is
67
1.2.3. or nlore
moneths.
thil. I
like
Mam
mrefpeclot ray
bought It of him.-, but unto the Principal!, or Man,. r<n'/;tfw;>^f/(^f//',
Moneths,
2. Years,
Daies,2.
2.
upon
which
buy,
I
that
of
Entrance
knowledge Nota, the
acknowledged man muft be known upon my Books, as well for
is all
as one.-
for
my
'.
'
Creditorsj.
161
An
Zl
JfitrocfuBion to
-,
Merchants Jccompts.
or elfe they muft learn to place their parcels
buy Cloth upon 9. n-icneths Time, which is to ride out j, then to difcount for 6.
moneihs paying for tbcm in Banck, and otjoy Banck- monies allowance in hand.
<i<i/^?, the
Jf;^. Cloth Debitor to the Mian, for the whole coft upon p. Moneths
ard
then^
the
Difcount
Man
Debitor to Banck for the
5
Man Debitor to Cloth for the
fummewrit in.- andther.,Cz(h Debitor to Profit and LclTe-, becaufe the monyby me
Phil. I
69
firfl
Principall
upon 9.moncths.
70
-,
and Lofle, tor the difcount. Pa(]chier GWj(/</, ju VJamburglj, printed 1594. pircell
Buingha, /dig ^9, ^f/?/<> 7. entreth the
44. 47. and others, entreth the like. Johanna
Carfenur^fol.^^. his Booking is with Henry Waninghen the 14, farceU alike 5 and
hke.
fit,
f.
-ncly an Imitator: and fo of other Authors. But premeditation ftieweth, that the iJf/faff/ofcommodities(houldff/^f carried unto Profit, and Loffe, as our printed Authors
,.
do, without any further in- fight into the nature ot the matter : For Barlj^v/hkh
heiorev/is Barly apon Time, hnovr become Bariy for Ready-menj ; which atche buying
hands)
(in refpeft of the Time I was to fland out,and have the ufc of the mony in mine
the while then B/*ri^ upon 8. mocoft me we^f then it now will yield me Ready mony
in generall
mn
-,
neths was more chargedat the buying, then it now is worth Centant^ reafon requireth that
See Ralph Handfon upon
Barl/^ (liould be dtfcharged^ becaufe I have disburfed my mony
.
Abatements in
his
Table.
in
may
bear his
own
Burthen well noting, that the Rebatet are not made good in fnony: See Ralph Handfon,
ffS'Butifwebuyfundry commodities, and have an allowance upon the whole buying,
,
we enter,
The man of whom I bought, Debitor to Profit, and LofTe Proper for > one commodity may enjey the allowance made upon the whole Cargo,or ParcclLj and to make a divifithen muft
r>
^"y^g^Upon
BARTER, OR TRUCKE.
j
f/;//.
equall.
bought Wares(vhat name foever) Debitor to the Deliverd Wares this is feldome feen. 05- But if writing be not tedious unto us, or we not paper-penurious , the
bcft,and moft uni- forme Booking fin refpedi of the generall verieties) of giving, or receiving of divcrfities (being Wares, and Mony, or feverairWares^ istohave the received
Wares Debitor to the Trucking M.an ; rnd then,tbe Trucking Man Debitor to the Deli^f^. In
'
vered Wares,
FM,
162
An
You have
Phil.
72
paying with
o/Z'^r
Merchants Aaompts,
InttocidBion to
related your
mtndc
in things
2;
If 1
boy Wares
2,
in
Dutch-, Trgott
uatmcn fcopt a?fb<aeti vTaaa, 33aecnaer, CaffA 3Dtbitatnt gott oatmctitocghaft, / z^///J n
The Wares that we buy, Debitor to Ca(h aftirwArds^ Ca(h Debitor to the Wares that
,
we
The Wares
deliver: *f/^f,
that I
-,
which you
11
ow*
*
Seeing you Jruitate inentringof their <&rds ^ haVe tti^y your Jpprobatiori
Follower,
but
as
an
Admirer
of
an
dffeCHoriate5f/>.'l have related their words, not as
faid;
may
^Cafli
not
be
thisi:J"is
by
thch imitation. For as in the 17. and 51. place
received: Nota^ and the while
medi no not Named) but where Moy is either Really paid, or
meftiioned
72. place not paid oat
aboveit isabfolurelyfalfe, thatCafli hath in the
Phil.
that
74
Phit.
is
an ^{[e,
in the conclufion,
But
itcometh
all
foone porporc.
not meteriall why many words, when few may fuffice < For ^. Carpeniei"
direi to the number % rhegocis which you buy, owe to the 5f/fol. ^z. par cell 7, anfwereth
/fr.-Andcontrarily, Heowethto Ca(b, and to the goods which you have deliveredhim. This
Sch.
That
is
fomewhat
like a
mans mony
But as
in
we may have
But
theretore let
75
Phil. I
me
difcuffe other
have no time to
mens works 3
proceed.
ia
Mony.
Sch. In-bought
bitor to Delivered
Wares Debitor to
Wares,
Man, for their value-, 2. The Man DeCa(h Debitor to the Man, for tl-e Received
rhr Selling
3.
mony, to ''quail the Truck. So, in brief-, it the Wares are of an equall value, rAf enter
Bought Wares, Debitor to the.Trading man.- 1. Trading Man Debitor to Delivered
Wares? becaufe the value is eqoall. If un-equall, and Mony given then enter, In-boughc
Wares Debitor to the Trading Man and /Af,Trading Man Debitor to Delivered Wares,
and to Calh. But if un-equall, and Mony Received In^ bought Wares, and CaOi, Debitor
I proto the Trading Man and then. Trading \f3n Debitor to Delivered Wares. And fo
-,
,,
Delivered race,
2. 3.
Weckes,or Moneths
after
the agreement.
7<5
Phil. I
bat
am
to receive
them
23
moneths hence.
Sch.
77
The
have already by this one parcell conceived, that you digreffc from divers Printed
Phil. I
Aathors
Promiftttg
for,
Paffchier Goefjens
ofBruQel^m the
163
German Language,
An {niYodvBion to Mercfoatns
+4
/Iccompts,
Phi!.
107
/<;
from one
another.
Motives ?
the one, when the Leaves of the Leager are full written in
other, becaufe tlie formtr accounts are
the Debitor, or Creditor fide, or both. The
generally
there remainetli a remalner due
account,
concluded, fo that upon foot of that
the
have
accounc
will
begumie again upon a New
and we
to me, or from me
Sch.
They may be
fn'c-,
Leafe.
208
-i
be made.
muft Commodities-reckonings fitly be tranfportedjto make true^omnd^
parcellsofthem t
Sch. 1ti all tranfports (if poiTible) muft heedfully be heeded, that not any parcel! be pofted with BlirJc-jiimmcs^ or Biancks, as feme tearme them : that is, Not without Monjfummes. Many in their Books tranfport with Blankcs in their Leager, yet have Mony to
tranfport, if they had An to carry them handfomcly forwards ; to which end obferve the
209
How
ph:l.
enfoing Documents.
Suppofe the Wares were Cambrix-cloth, and the \vho\G Debitor- fide contamed400.
Peeces,whichcoft7(55.r.8.6. and that the whole faleinthe Creditor-fide wereayS. PecceS",
to
producing
make
Mony
in
mony
without Wares
will
and
in
the other
though ufed by
many.
Their forme U
as thii Jnflmce.
Creditor,
Debitor.
2 June,coftof Peeces.
7^
Auguft,carried to
400, 7
new
7558-
acI
count.
78910
count.
242
22
X. 10.
inftanceth.
F. 8.
6. for
Mony
foe
And then
Cambrix- cloth upon /o//'<
i
12.
parcell in
Wares
/<;/ 30.
789. f. 10, g.
Wares, and
Mony,
tran-
789.1'. 10. g.
164
Jn
\
couttt Peeces,
77^5
278 30789 10
45
1'.
.78910
18. 0.
And
fol* 30.
n^'^'
400 30765I.8
count.
Pecces.678.i554.l'. 18.6.
12. Creditor,
Dihitor.
Foil 2.
fi^^d
7.Aug.coftsofPeeceS40o.765.r.8.6.
Here you
fee the
as
Uke
becaufe
thofe
accounts,
210
Is this
Phil
an ufuallcourfe
in
'no:
Journall
If
make the
old account Dehitor
all
Sch.
Hence
is it
hence
to the
^euf.
..
it
is,to explain
why
(fr^-i,
or
ai2
//;/^ is
the Journall
end with the Third Ground matter,oi which
is
made.
Sch.
The
oyer, or,
Eqtidi:(ig, or, eVen-nuking of
Weight
Leackage
Pounds
made.
from the
is
under'tniaftires^
Ells,
or the like.
aij
p)&7.
5/W
centnel,tohVmonyrntheDebit,andCreditoffuchJournallparceU:.
165
^^.^^
Merchants Accomps,
yfn IntYoduBion to
A(S
ai4
Sch. If in weight
215
Whence
Phil.
nallr
Sch. In the p. place
it is
faid to arife
from the
116
Phil.
What
Sch.
The fame
1.
Cauies
When
may move
man toa
Generall Ballance i
Sch,
written;^.
full
'
Phil.
217
By
Ballance \ under/land,
Jlanding Leager-accottnts
word
r Then
is
p,
a Bal-
^^^^^
J?"<^^
j|
Ballance ?
Ec^nall-
trsinCponlngail thofe
accounts Title, whofe name Generally we call Ballance : for being that
that account incltidefh all the Leagers remaining differences j fo itconcludeth with One fole.
it felf.
Ncta.^
true Scales
Ballance
is
Of
118
Sch.
ger.
MP
Thil,
Sch.
(as above)
of the
Lwger
accounts,
166
Merchants Accompts,
//; IntroduWion to
4.7
the
antf from'thence into
Leager Neta, before any unfold wxra, or GAm, and Lo^e of any
:
Of fuch
fhftU
220
be
^ Pbil
'
Sch
in this
Book.
tlh mo'nits.
my
Of
3il
the True-hallance.
Sch.
W
:
them
fhall
be
in.this.
OhferVations in hdlitncing
of
the
Leager.
ButforaPt'eparati\/e, firH
in their accounts
:.
Go forwards in this
f^/.
a 2
J.
Sch.
matter.
A Decent
Order
Phil.
"S
,
,. i,
,
Leagers ballancmg that ts, Whicft
both in Dehiter-zad Creditor lidt:
.
weighty.
Phil.
224.
Which next?
whom you
,f
therechanges, Affignations, or the hke entring the differences into your Ballance- Book
unto prepared,
:
Phil.
ras
What followeth
'.
(h-ox
there
is
ho
it
167
firft
faid) the
for Prsper,
y our
An
50
IntroduBion
Mercha?us Jccompts,
to
VOYAGE.
4Debitor.
Creditor.
fliipt at
ForSalesofSo. Pieccs,ac
2.l'.i6,S.
-300.I'.-
is
is
224M'.-
3.1'. fc>
60X.-
Loft by Sales,
i6.l'.--
Siimme 300.1'.
435
-,
Suppofe thera
Thil.
The
Sch,
ill
^39
all
Voyage
fold
is
and there
is
Gaines.
a Prefident.
thil.
Sch.
firft
The
fecond
Voyage
is
an Inlbnce.
Fhtl.
Sch.
fold,
Suppofe lofTe upon the Sale ofpart of your Commodities, or upon the whole.
upon part Sales, the Fourth Voyage is an Inftance If loiTe upon the Sale of
a whole parcell : See
Phil.
Sch. It lode
THE FORME.
Debitor.
Creditor,
For Sale of
with charges.
-134. r.8. 8. f 6.
.
6. Butts, at
is
-i.r. 12
Summc
i34.i'.8.
tinder ths name o^ Commodities in the fecond branch of the 10. place, is included //<?/,
Lends, Ships-farts upon which if yoa will fee the yearly Gain, or Lofle, then rate theni
as'theycoft-, entring them in Credit as in the fecond Voyage: thefi, in your Honfe, and
Land will appear what is gained by the Rents, above reparation, and maintaining of them ;
and in your Ships parts will be made plain what is advanced by their Voyages, more then
,
her viiftualling: carrying your Proper Gains or Lofs,to Profit and Lofs proper
panies Gain, or Lofs, to Profit and Lofs in
tiU tlie finall
ending of them
then
in the 2op. place.
-,
Company. But
crofs
them,
as
is
and
Com-
Cambrix-dotb,
240
Phil.
What followeth
next
upon
in
-f
Company
tranfponmg that
difference (ifvhich
is
tVic
fumme
168
IntroduBion
to
Merchants Accompts.
51
accoilnt to
NOT A,
Having drawn
taken:
in
in
ofthe Old Leager, or beginning of the New.- entring into the Old Leager ihe/tf/<7 whither carried into the New-, and in the New Leager the /f/i/ from whence that remaineris
broughtout ofthe Old Leager, and fo avoid (perhaps) the writing of two or three hundred Journall- parcels in both Leagers.
T^/V. Rehearfe
firft
true- ballance In
Debit,
refrefl)ing.
lance.
them
and <
in
'
^^'''"^'''-^^^o
^^^^"^
'
I
non,
(^the firft
arife
of thefe two
may
accounts.
i'fiT^wi/;,
fliipt
to another
Town,
or Land, there to be
gajn
own Adminiftration: coniiftingaWares ^ H0ufes,Lands,^emls,Shifs-fayts,zud the like whereof fome of thofe Wares
he hr Proper, Faiforage^ot Company-acceunts : and thofe Ships- farts for Proper, of
in
m2y
Company- accounts.
Bank, or
in
both.
Company Gain, and LolTe ^ ofthe which we flill keep an open-ftanding-acbecaufe the Company continueth in Trading, upon unchangeable terms. And thefe
Laflly, of
Gount,
26ii
Phtt.
haUarice.
r/w/Ztf-of whom \ve bought, as alfo, whofe Exchanges we accepted ; or whofe Affignmcnts we promifed unto their CrcI
Firflly,
Btbt-demandtrt',
andthemin
j
Stent
'l^/-f(7w;-that ferve us
H
169
The
laft
of thefe
either
from
stcor)di)y
'
/in Introcfudton to
51
McTchan
/Iconipts.
Scccndl)^ Unfold- {^'^ra, Houfes, Landsy letvds^ Rents, Foya^es, and the like
upon which
accounts theGiinsoj.Lor'S
(at prefenc)
Ballancedebit-fide, and the Dek-demanders in the Creditor fide of your Ballance-accounc. Or more plain 5 take the whole Debit- fide of yom Ballance, dedud from that all
that you owe: and the differing mony will be Equall-neighty, with the difference brought
account.
And
thus
Of
J43
'7'/;//.
This
is
much
of the
fifth
the Journalls
matter
is
made,
Form.
rae"heare yourExplica
tion.
The i='tfr/ is
Jf/^
generally
in folio,
or the
full
Ruled towards the /f/z-Z^^w^ with w;f //f, and towards the rtght-hind mi\x three : entring
between them I'. 6. fi. as in the Wafte-book is, and in the Journals Inftances fha'.l be made
plain.
towards the left-hand, as doth Simon Stevin in his Princely- hookkeeping- loiirnailufe t\nee: entring therein the Day, and Montth: but that maketh the
manner of my day, and Mtneths entranJournall between line, and line, too narrow.
in
the Explication of the Journals Office.
ces fliall be fliewed
My
and fo through all the Book of which I approve, and ufe it. For in a Greattrafficking- book (as an Eafi, We(i^ Turky, or the like Company) feverall fides are ofttimes filled in one day fo that the Margin of the Leager qxioteth dire^ly to the fide of
cond
Tvith 2.
that Journall-leaf,
fides.
Of
244
Phil.
Let
me know that
for that
is
in
the Eighth
place.
Sch. The Journalls Proper office is, to have the Matter Cthereunto appertaining) entred
true method, with mrds fuitablc to the ABioti
Book-keepings
plainly expreffing what
in
-,
muft be obferved, that the Debitor, that is,the M*n,ot Thing, that ought to be
be firft named, and placed towards the left- hand, as thus'.lames Mirth is Debitor.
Then enter the Creditor, Man, or Thing, that bught to be difcharged, as thus
Umes MirthisDehlior to lohn Melody.
Unto them annex the quantity of Mony, as thus
nall
HS
is
charged,
other
and
As how
Compare the Waftebook
Phil.
~An
170
^n IntroduBion to Merchants
54"
IS
change-,the
5_
written
il
fi.
S-
36P IJIOi
fumme
Jccompts,
in, is
is
3.
I'.
14.8.15. for
Bank-raony of $1
.3 14' .8
in Company, is Debi213.1'.
Readj-monj^
of gl
tor to Dito Edrvardhis account of
5 J fi. for his
fold
Mudde
of
Company
Rye,
to
3834.8.i2,pen. produft of 18. Laft, 7.
5*^
24<5
thereof
is^
213
fignifie thofe
Scfj.
*47
What
Phil.
Why
are
Sch. Thofe that are pointed, are tranfported into the Leager, the other not.
248
Thil.
at all.
Sch. They are fubjeft to miflake,or they rauft enter each figure above> and under, when
they have entred the parcell into their Leager, and that is tedious. The point's are very requifitc to avoid
from
24P
fumme
twice, if a
man
fhould be called
his porting.
Fhtl.
When do you
open before me, making firft the ftraight ftrokes that are betweeo
the figures.againft each parcell, on both fides of the Journall then do I enter the folio, or
leaves, or thofe figures, before I touch the Leager.
Sch. I lay the Journall
550
Phil.
How then 1
fetting my Journall teforc me, I tranfport all the Debitors and Creditors Cthat
correfpond upon one Leager- leafe) one after another into the Leager 5 then removing my
hand from the Leager,imTiiediateIy I fet point by that Debitor,or Creditor ,that is pofted
Sch.
Then
removing of my
Thus much
Journall,
171
payment
for
Company- ufe,
(i;
being-
31
145 II
the enfuing
12
8. Bales
10.
Wares fold by
hira
01.2753.9.4.
Gcrritfer,-,
as
Thomas
received)
mony
-gl. 12400.
gt
5I.
is
part at
1515
or 33.6.4.8. are-
our company,
Dito
for
21
II<52
-4
10.
l'i35'
^I35
4
3
The Rule
is
8.
in the
-r.isJ.
244. place
405-
contra- di^ied.
no,
.1.
viz.
.8.12
-1
yet {landing out upon 4. moneths time: the fum now tranfported.is
390 14
123. ^ean da Bop for company Rmdell Rice f, and f for me, our
account Currant, debitor to Thomas Trufl for dito company f , and
four account of Ready-mony l'.io92.i7.io .$, forgl.II02o.re-
_6. mitted
13
in his
own Bills,
dated their 2.
prefent,..
^^
72.$
124. Randoll
dd Farm
his
M
172
forts
1092 17 10
Jnno \6i^^
the
10 day offuly
much due
to
J3
I.
(ip
books, as
it
here ftandeth
^,
^tques Reinjl
Sifl
991
.6
19412
.i
t,
the
mony is
187. bito Companj their account of Ready- mony debitor to Bal/4;7 1 97,7.7.^ for conclude due to them
188. Dito Ctmfaj their account of
13'
London,
pleat in ne\v
10.
i,
me
in
99
9319 .8
P47
.i
1046
10
2p02 12
.7
in this
191.
Srofit
tacondude
this,
being
173
OF
THE LEAGER.
Aving (in form as is inftanced ) entred all the trading- parcels of
Merchandizing into the Journal! in fuch after-Following manthen hath the 'Book owfur his
ner as (hey daily happened
whole Trading, with all the Circumftances in writing! but
not in fuch fort, that he is able to confer with any man about
his'accounts for each mansfevcrall Parcels arc difperfedthrough the whole
neither doth ic (in drawing an account to a Head upon a Paper)
Journall
content the mind, fearing that any Parcels might be miftakenor omitted.
Upon the like Reafon we may conjecture the Obfcurity in knowing what
mony isinCafh, what weight, meafurCjandqiiantity of any Commodity
might be in the Warehoufe what Profit or Loffe there is upon any fort of
Wares, or Matter,- what Weekly, or Moncthly debts arc to be received^or payd
for Wares, or Exchanges: and many fuch like.
For the avoyding of all fuch diffidences,, the Journall Parcels mud be
tranfporced into t\\tLeager in fuch manner, that all what doth concern one
mans particular, muft (under one accounts Title) be gathered together, to wif,
all \\\sT>chit parcels upon the Left-hand 5 and ail his Cr^tiJt parcels upon the
Righr-hand of the Opoi lying Leager of the which manyinftances follow in
theLeager the like manner muft beuQd in each fort, as Monj, Wares ^Teople^
or what ever elfe , each muft be gathered together in an Exquifite form,with
j
.^
few words.
The
thing charged
its
dilcharge, or Creditor
even oppofice againft it felfe when the Leager lieth open. In this Leager,
where fo/. ftandeth between the lines before the L, both upon the Righc
and Left-hand, are many Arithmetical Chara(f;ters. The Charaiter, Chaor Figures that ftand between the two lines upon the Debitor
radlers
fide, point (as with a finger) unto the Folio where each fevcrall lines Crevthether ic be upon the fame Leafe , or
(liter ftandeth in the faid Book,
elfe
where
upon
the
point
at
the
ftand
Folio
where each
fevcrall
lines
^Debitw
174
Of the
Dehtor ftandeth in the faid
Leager.
the
fame Leafc or
elfc-
where.
In Brtef^
But
theJ unto whom thou doefl owe^
Upon the Right let them befet ;
Or
This
E^ate in each particular account ; whether Bou^ht^
without the
Sold, Sent, or Received, Commodity: People with-in, or
Book
Ltnd
fiieweth our
Exchanges
fa^ofa^e
rall
places
So
trtie
is
/)/4i/)ibedifcerned.
Ot
175
/o
Foil.)
i^;;. in
London,
s
Fol
o
Cafh
Debitor.
Janu.
Felir.
1^54.
is
10 8 MayToFigst-K.ii. tforme
12 22 Dito to UmesWUkinfort^ received to clear a truck
14
June To Diego del rarifio his account of Ca(h
14
Dito To Profit and Loffe, gained by Diego's fruits
2 July To GeergePincback received by his Affignment
Dito To liicob Sjmonfon his account CurraintDito To Randall i^ce his account Currant
1620 Dito To Andrew Hitchcock received in part
I6'll
Summe
Stock is
1^54.
1000 15 7
.328 10 II
..9 II
4 102
7 .13 4
3 4^5 .&. 5
2 .28 I
7
6 284 16 8
.
II
IL
Jana.
Jana.
20 July
100
iPo3 13
Samme
176
3052 12
la
60^0
150
13 2902
Sdmme
1^33-
12 .25 10.
7
Debitor.
3d^20
9 55
14J
90
.1
477 10-
92 10-
IL
570
yfo
i<5^5 in
London,
Fol.
1
I
Dy
%
Ci//? is
4 Janu. By George Pinchhack^ paid in part9 Diro By ^ames Wilkinfen^ paid in^part
30 Dito By George Pinchbeck, paid him-
144
120
13516.8
1^54.
Creditor.
me
8
4-
.5.4
^94
200
.
.g.tf
t'
ac-
10
10
By Silver, for charges
6
May By Randoll Tijce his accQunt Currant
10
99 9 I
.6
Dito By Amfterdam-exchangei {ox Jacob SymMffon
2 2510 7
12 -7 June By Diego del varino his account of Cafli
12. 7 Dito By Figs in Company ^ R.R.-, for me;
9
12. 7 Dito By Andrew Hitchtock paid him
7316 .2
I3|i5 Dito By lacob Sy mofifon his accomtoi Cambrix-cloth-- .8 1-7
IP20 July By BallaKCCi iranfported thither to conclude this- 13 947.2
April
of 8.
Barrs
Summe
Stock is
j6^^.
2903 '3
Debitor.
'^34.
Samme
L,
>3
21
Janua.
in-- ..
477
55
240
229
17 .8
1046 8 la
3
3052 12
90
Summe 6090
177
1000
270
300
570
Mno \6i\ in
y)
London,
Day
-ol
Trcftand
i
company
>.
for RandollKice^znd
me, Debitor.
16J4
for
Lojje in
Jaou.
SummeTrofitofid Lo^^,
Debitor.
Febru.
To 74ff^
Sftnonfon
-'
1534.
Summe
^wo
i^54.
iVi
London.
f7
il
Day
CoMfr<J,
Creditor.
Summe
Anno \6^
!
the 23,
ofOHoher
in
zJmJlerdam.
SURVEY OF THE
General! Ballance^ or
Eftate-reckoning.
WaftcBook
into
Second,
Etilfance
Tnall(land
to
ioto your
New-Books.
llie
Lcager.
(!!7UiI.i(li.;p.
23
Dito.
Dito.
fol.
Dito.
To Coucbaneilie, as in fol. 4. ^
Dito.
Dixo.
Dito.
Dito. ToInfurance-reckomng,tol.
Dito*.
Dito.
Dito.
.5573
To P/eter Bra(fefir at
my account Currant, fol.
.713
14
fJUp.
i
555-5,
15
16
11328
1260
.6.8
.713 14
2648 .6 .8
I250
4648 .6
1160
.5568 -^
.2877
10080
15
1D888L
.44
320
2353
1967
3463
29561
8qoo
.8
1533
15
70 II
1533 15
t^o'
2600
27153
440
27153
440
1043
5555
d^ui!.
7810
To Voyage to Hambroughjfol.
To Voyage to Danfick, fol.
HLW,
i3688'i7'.8
.6213
(5\.\il
60
Danfick,
53 12
Dito. To5'''^P^/^atLondon,his
account Gurraat, fol.
Summe
(Jl.
130544.
180
42124 10
41P04
Anno
SURVEY OF THE
GeneralUBallance, or
Eflate-reckoning.
ofOBober
Creditor.
Currant
Dito. By French Aqua-vits 58. Hogf-
heads fold
Dito.
Dito,
By Brafil, as in fol. 4.
Dito.
By Intereft-reckoning, fol.
By Profit and Loffe, tol.
By Voyage to London, fol.
By Voyage to Hambrough
By Voyage to Danfick, fol.
By In'urance-reckoning, fol.
By Ca(h, as appeareth in fol.
By Cambrix-Cloth, fol.
By Ship the Rain-bow, fol.
Dito.
Dito.
Dito.
Dito.
Dito.
Dito.
Dito,
Dito.
Dito.
I
Dito.
(!?UiI.
III.
8133
15
7538
4860
Summe
q\,
or
TriiU-
\A
Hand
Ballante
p.
(?5U(1.
(|i.
True
Rait inct
Hand,
Mhich
(rjnfpott
to
you
10 Nft-
(I5ml.lnf.
I32S
.465
102 16
58
394 .7
74
3140
1463
1838
113
.3
12
545
12
1432 12
389
8350
3816 .6
3805 14
3576 6
2408 3
32941 18
24592
130544 15
181
p.
1392
3720
3752
6960
1788 12
13950
10817 12
9145
8105
Amjlerdam,
aad Lcagcr.
Dito.
Dito. 'E>y ^ack Pudding ditLondotiyhii
account Currant
in
444 12
3906
13
3
2377 18
24592 -
42124 10
2377 18
39526 .8
41904
P.
^ftertoorb
^0
tf)e
comlusiiong
tfjat
hnn
no sense htsirth
autfjor in
reaber.
manp
"arfe ^ges"
t!)e
stronglp
f)is
to intrube too
manp
translations into
tfje
t\)t
JjiS
toriter
fje
fjas
tf)e
tas formeb.
experience
3t
is
beboutlp to be f)opeb
tfje
lias tafeen in
tfjat tfje
182
t^at
reaber
tfje
bJill
autfjor
to fjis fellotos.
University of California
Parking Lot 17
Box 951388
it
was borrowed.
'^Oiin
UC SOUTMERN HEGIONAl llBnnv
'.
EiTTOi.,-
iiiiHiiiLltiiilll^
:\t^y.'w