Reviewed by Adrian L. Kline The University of Texas at San Antonio

This book, Historical Accounting Literature, comprises a catalogue of the early works on bookkeeping and accounting included in the library of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales. Also included is a bibliography of literature on these subjects published before 1750, but not included in the Institute Library.

An accounting history buff or serious researcher will find this book to be interesting and useful since it is compiled in a manner which greatly facilitates a rapid review of the contents. The main content of each entry is a “literal” copy from the publication’s title page. A great majority of the entries appear in the section on bookkeeping and accounting, which is chronologically arranged under each of eighteen different languages. The breadth of information and chronological arrangement by language enable the reader to quickly gain a working knowledge of the literature as it unfolds through time by country of origin. Other notable features include an introductory essay on the development of accounting literature by Basil S. Yamey, who has also compiled and included select bibliographies on Luca Pacioli and Edward Thomas Jones. An author index with appropriate cross references was also included.
In addition, entries are arranged under the following headings: histories, bibliographies, bookkeeping and accounting, accounts, public accounts, account books, commercial law, commercial arithmetic and various mathematical tables, actuarial science, cal-ligraphy and lithography, and, finally, a list of illustrations from early books in the Institute Library.

Increasing interest in the field is facilitated by the recent issue in microform of the more important and rarer books in the Institute Library by World Microfilms Publications.

It is difficult to make a catalogue of this nature both useful and interesting, but the Institute and their publisher Mansell) have suc-ceeded. Yamey’s introduction entitled “Four Centuries of Books on Bookkeeping and Accounting,” sets the stage in a professional manner and then the publication description methodology used holds one’s interest, e.g., the entry for James Peele’s work in 1553 states:

The manner and fourme how to kepe a perfecte re-conyng, after the order of the moste worthie and notable accompte, a debitour and creditour, set foorthe in certain tables, with a declaracion thereunto belongyng, verie easie to be learned, and also profitable, not onely unto suche, that trade in the facte of marchaundise, but also unto any other estate, that will learne the same.

The fringe benefit of watching the accounting vernacular of four centuries ago change through time is in itself a worthwhile and enjoyable exercise, e.g., accomptantship to accountancy and marchaundise to merchandise.

It is also interesting to visualize the apprenticeship system then practiced in England by young aspiring accountants and how ac-countancy of that day was combined with other practical pursuits; George Fisher’s work in 1750 states:

The instructor: or, young man’s best companion. Containing spelling, reading, writing, and arithmetick. . . . Instructions to write variety of hands. . . . Also merchants ac-compts, and a short and easy method of shop and bookkeeping. . . . To which is added, the family’s best companion . . . and a complete treatise of farriery. . . . Also some useful interest-tables.

One of the entries was a particular eye-catcher as it exemplified an accounting do-it-yourself kit with a much wider application than we attempt to package today; Mathew Quin’s 1774 entry states:

Quin’s rudiments of book-keeping; comprised in six cases, and attainable in as many days, without the help of a teacher. Calculated for persons of either sex, grown to ma-turity. With an essay on the fit manner of initiating youth in the rules of temperance and moral rectitude, by an easy arithmetical scale.

This book is an appropriate choice for a researcher interested in accounting history originating outside the U.S. Naturally it is especially rich regarding English and Welsh sources, but also includes sources who speak seventeen other languages. The liberal descriptions of the catalogue entries will greatly facilitate the researcher’s task.

(Vol. 3, No. 1, p. 3, 1976)