ABSTRACT
One of the important developments in economic history studies, is the increased effort to preserve important manuscripts and make them available to a larger group of researchers. Among these activities, publication of business letters and accounting records of the medieval merchants deserves special attention. They are valuable for political history, for economic history, and finally for the development of accounting thought during a particular period. In addition to these primary benefits they provide certain information about the legal systems and procedures of various countries. In this way an individual researcher can engage in extensive research projects with less difficulty of interpretation of peculiar hand writings and abbreviations of medieval merchants.
