Reviewed by Maureen H. Berry The University of Illinois
This book describes the antiquarian collection of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland and is organized into three sections: an introduction by the keeper of the collection, Ms. Anna Dunlop; a listing of the main entries in the catalogue arranged alphabetically by author; and a chronological index.
The introduction contains a discussion of the history of the col-lection and a “bird’s eye view” of some of its riches. We learn that the collection’s founder was Richard Brown, an Edinburgh chartered accountant and accounting historian, well-known as the editor and part-author of A History of Accounting and Accountants, published in 1905. He began the collection about 1890, apparently purchasing directly from booksellers in Continental Europe, and by 1906 had acquired most of its more important and valuable works. Over the years additional volumes were donated and, in 1962, the antiquarian collection was catalogued separately for the first time. Subsequent acquisitions necessitated a second edition in 1968, followed by this third edition in 1976, containing entries chosen from almost 1,000 works. The sampling of the collection’s contents abounds with illustrations. These include: finger signs for numbers, current in 1494; calculating with jettons (counters) and a counting-board; calligraphy; portraits; merchants’ marks; and abstracts from title pages and page decorations.
All the works discussed in the narrative are contained in the col-lection. While the majority of them deal with accounting and book-keeping, there are a few on law, mathematics, and commercial arithmetic. We first focus on the countries of origin emphasized in successive centuries: Italy, Holland, Scotland, and England. We then go to examine their contributions. The earliers works include a first edition of Pacioli (1494) and a 1494 variant of the first edi-tion, as well as a 1523 second edition. Writers who helped dis-seminate the methods of Pacioli described include Tagliente (1525), Schweiker (1549), Manzoni (1554), and Gottlieb (1592), but the dissenter, Cardan (1539), is not overlooked. The then widespread
116 The Accounting Historians Journal, Spring, 1977
phenomenon of thought-borrowing and plagiarism is illustrated with reproductions of identically-worded transactions from Petri (Amsterdam, 1605; earlier edition 1583), “W. P.” (London, c. 1596), and Tap (London, 1613). Moving through the centuries, we turn, in contrast, to pioneering ideas, such as: the application of merchants’ accounts to government accounting, Stevin (1605); monastery accounting, Flori (1636); the heading of account pages with acount titles, Geossens (1654); a system of five accounts, Degranges (1816); and industrial accounting, Garcke and Fells (1893). Books on specialized topics include: estates, Snell (1718); shipping, Hayes (1 731); and farm accounting, Munro (1812), and works on accounting for particular trades are well represented. Academics will be pleased to note that texts by schoolteachers are also highlighted. Among the familiar names are Mair (in many editions), Macghie (1718), and Hamilton (1788).
Ms. Dunlop’s enthusiasm for her topic is evident from her writing style. The insights she offers convey an underlying wit and confident sense of communicating with a responsive audience. As an example, we quote from her comments about Edward T. Jones:
“His book, Jones’s English System of Book-keeping, by Single or Double Entry, was translated into Danish, Dutch, French, German, Italian (!) and Russian. The Italian translation was made via the German one and no doubt suffered in the double process. Meantime Jones, and later his son Theodore, assiduously promoted several editions of his book in Britain, making a sizeable fortune from it, though not without some second thoughts. Italy struck back, notably in the melodramatic style of Taddei; II Ragioniere Perfetto (Rome, 1839-43; 4 volumes), which attacked Jones’s English system and predicted that, far from double entry sinking into ruinous rubble, it would rise again more majestically than ever. And indeed the reaffirmation of conventional double entry proved to be the long-term result of the Jones system.” (p. xiv)
Our appetite whetted, we proceed to the main entries in the catalogue arranged, as we have mentioned, in alphabetical order by author. In most instances, the titles are sufficiently comprehensive to indicate the contents, a service which those interested in accounting research will certainly appreciate, as also the chronological index. The usefulness of the catalogue as a research tool would be enhanced, however, by a subject index. Under the present arrangement, the scope and extent of accounting topics contained in the collection is not evident. This is not, however, to detract from the worth of the catalogue. The editors are to be congratulated on the choice and profusion of illustrations which, combined with the informative commentary, significantly add to the value of the book.
