Libr. XV: Cotrugli and de Raphaeli on business and bookkeeping in the Renaissance

Abstract

Libr. XV is unique in the history of business and its first technology, accounting. It shows how accountants were taught and what they needed to know in the Renaissance. Libr. XV contains two manuscripts first bound into one volume in 1476. The first was written in 1458 on how to be a successful merchant. The copy presented here was prepared in 1475 and includes a description of the method of double entry bookkeeping. The second dates from 1475-6 and is the earliest known textbook on how to do double entry, some 18 years before Luca Pacioli published his Particularis de computis et scripturis (Concerning reckonings and recordings) for which he is widely acclaimed as the 'father of accounting'. Together they provide a clear picture of the nature of business at that time, and the way in which merchants maintained their financial records. They also highlight the complexity of some of the issues which merchants faced, many of which still resonate today. The roots of Pacioli's text can be seen, making this book the first step towards double entry and accounting being standardised into the practice we recognise today.