ABSTRACT:
The ninth distinction of the first part of the Summa undoubtedly represents the most well-known part of Pacioli’s work, given that his reputation as codifier of the technique of double entry bookkeeping is due to this section. This distinction, which is the longest in the Summa (cc.150r- 224v), is composed of twelve treatises that all deal with topics useful to the formation of a merchant of the time of the Renaissance. From commercial companies to barters, from exchange rates to tariffs, all of late medieval knowledge in the field of financial mathematics is systematically presented in Pacioli’s work. The model for his treatment of commercial math follows that of Fibonacci’s Liber abaci, although it contains the necessary practical adjustments and updates pertinent to the practise of the mercantile art in the XV century. Without a doubt, to the birth of accounting, in addition to Leonardo Pisano’s Liber abaci dedicated in large part to the commercial use of arithmetic and algebra, many of the abacus manuals produced during the almost three centuries separating Fibonacci from Luca Pacioli also made their contributions. However, it must be recognized that the Summa amounts to a first attempt at organizing and providing a rigorous exposition of bookkeeping methods, that is to say, to the first theoretical deliberation on the practice of merchants in keeping their accounts in order.
KEYWORDS: Pacioli’s Summa,Distinctio IX, origins of accounting.
Argante, C. (2020). Alle origini della “ragioneria”: la distinctio IX della Summa di Pacioli, RIREA, n.1, pp. 98-112
