Accounting History

Editorial

Re-Examining the Determinants of Barter Accounting in Isolated Communities in Colonial Societies

The determinants of barter accounting practices are re-examined based on a critical review of contributions on the subject, including a recent contribution by Bloom and Solotko (2004). In particular, it addresses the tendency for studies of this kind, especially of accounting practices in isolated colonial communities, to emphasize the economic determinants of barter and to focus attention on economic determinants to explain the structure and usage of surviving barter accounting records. Thro...

Origins and Evolution of Chinese Writing Systems and Preliminary Counting Relationships

The history of Chinese writing extends back more than 6000 years and the Chinese writing system remains unique among all writing systems. The origin and evolution of Chinese writing systems are discussed. In the Shang dynasty (about 1200 BC), the principles of Chinese writing had been formulated and that over the following 3000 years the structure and key elements of the system have remained, although the style of writing has changed. Explanations of the possible motivation behind the inventi...

Accounting History Research and Its Diffusion in an International Context

Patterns of dissemination in accounting history research are examined. Empirical evidence was gathered from all accounting history articles published in 3 specialized accounting journals and in 10 generalist journals in accounting between 1990 and 1999, all papers given at the World Congress of Accounting Historians held in Kyoto and Kingston, and the Societa Italiana di Storia della Ragioneria and papers given at its bi-annual meetings during the 1990s, and a number of other secondary source...

The Portuguese School of Commerce, 1759-1844: A Reflection of the 'Enlightenment'

The Aula do Comercio (School of Commerce) was established in Lisbon in 1759. This school was a product of the Portuguese Enlightenment period and provided a model for development of similar government-sponsored schools across Europe. The principal objective is to provide a comprehensive description of the school by outlining why it was established, how it operated, what it taught, what effects it had, and why it closed in 1844. It is important to gain an understanding of the School of Commerc...

A Personal Account Book of Joseph E. Bell: A Record of Survival in Nineteenth Century Rural America

The life of a nondescript early 19th century working man is described primarily through his personal account book. Joseph E. Bell lived in Lincolnton, North Carolina, from 1820-1827 and was at various times a minister, a teacher, a seller of books, a renter, a hauler of cotton, a farmer, an extractor of teeth and perhaps a merchant as well. Bell's account book illuminates a life rarely examined by today's accounting historians. It reveals the range of skills and flexibility that were needed t...

Book Review

Towards the Great 'Desideratum': The Unification of the Accounting Bodies in England 1870-1880

Towards the Great "Desideratum": The Unification of the Accounting Bodies in England 1870-1880, by Stephen Walker, is reviewed.