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Highlights of the collection

ICAEW has been collecting early works on accountancy for over 100 years and we now have one of the finest collections in the world, with over 4,000 volumes running from the 15th century to early 20th century. On this page you can find out about some of the highlights of the collection and their authors.

Displaying 1-12 of 12 results
Cropped image of the Summa de arithmetica
Summa de arithmetica
  • 1494
  • Luca Pacioli
This title is the first great work on mathematics to be printed and includes treatises on arithmetic, algebra, geometry, foreign exchange calculations and double-entry bookkeeping - the "Methods of Venice" . It is this last section that eventually, about a hundred years ago; led to its writer becoming well known for having set down the system of accounting which remains in use today.
Cropped image of the frontspiece of De Divina Proportione
Divina proportione
  • 1509
  • Luca Pacioli
Fifteen years after Luca Pacioli wrote the first published exposition of double-entry book-keeping as part of his celebrated work on mathematics, the Summa of 1494, he published another equally celebrated work, his De Divina Proportione, in Venice. The Divina Proportione, which deals with what may be called the mathematics of beauty, is in itself a work of beauty.
Cropped image of the Ayn new Kunstich Buech
Ayn new kunstlich buech...
  • 1518
  • Heinrich Schreiber
This book was the first dealing with bookkeeping to appear in Germany.
Cropped image of the Nieuwe Instructie
Nieuwe instructie
  • 1543
  • Jan Ympyn Christoffels
Jan Ympyn Christoffels' Nieuwe Instructie (translated into English in 1547 as 'A Notable and Very Excellente Worke') was the first work in Dutch on double-entry bookkeeping and was widely translated.
Cropped image of the Suma Arithmetica Parctica
Suma de arithmetica practica
  • 1546
  • Gaspar de Texada
This is the earliest known book on bookkeeping from Spain.
Cropped image of A notable and very excellent woorke
A notable and very excellente woorke...
  • 1547
  • Jan Ympyn Christoffels
A facsimile of the earliest book printed in English on double-entry bookkeeping which has survived. Translated by Ympyn from Italian into Dutch, from Dutch into French, and finally from French into English, it originates from an Italian manuscript by one Giovanni Paolo di Bianchi.
Cropped image of the Zwifach buchhalten
Zwifach buchhalten
  • 1549
  • Wolffgang Schweicker
This work is a translation of Manzoni's "Quaderno Doppio" from Wolfgang Schweicker, the earliest German author to follow the 'methods of Venice' of Pacioli and Manzoni.
Cropped image of Maner and forme
The maner and fourme how to kepe a perfecte reconyng
  • 1553
  • James Peele
James Peele, Citizen and Salter of London, clerk to Christ’s Hospital 1562 to 1585, was the author of the second English work on double-entry bookkeeping to have survived. It was republished in a much enlarged and improved form in 1569.
Cropped image of the Briefe Instruction
A briefe instruction...
  • 1588
  • Hugh Oldcastle, John Mellis
Schoolmaster and teacher of arithmetic in the parish of St Olave's, Southwark, John Mellis claims to have 'enlarged and beautified' Oldcastle's original work of 1543. The examples he added at the end show instances of following Ympyn and Peele rather than Oldcastle and illustrations with the text are also obviously Mellis's work. The overall impression is however that Oldcastle's lost work is fairly faithfully reproduced.
Cropped image of the Short Treatise touching sherrifs accompts
A Short Treatise touching sheriffs accompts
  • 1683
  • Matthew Hale
This is a long sought first edition and one of the later additions to the collection (a 1716 edition had been purchased for the collection between 1903 and 1913). The accounting section of this work made little impression but the irrelevant part of the book on the trial of witches makes it rather fascinating.
Cropped image of the Mercantile Library
The Mercantile Library or Complete English Tradesman
  • 1766
  • Daniel Defoe
This work, attributed to Daniel Defoe, offered practical help to his contemporaries on the law relating to bankrupts, customary frauds of trade and bookkeeping.
Cropped image of the Ship Master's Complete Method
The ship-master's assistant and owner's manual
  • 1792
  • A gentleman of the Inner Temple
An unusual title in the Historical Accounting Literature collection which includes advice for officers on-board His Majesty’s Ships.
Displaying 1-12 of 12 results
Historical Accounting Literature

The ICAEW collection of historical accounting literature currently comprises over 4,000 volumes and includes works published from the 15th century to the early 20th century. The collection includes books and journals in a variety of languages.

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