ABSTRACT
The first French treatise on bookkeeping was published at Antwerp, in 1567, by Christopher Plantin, a printer from Touraine. The work of Pierre Savonne, a native of Lyon, it was republished, reset and enlarged, in 1581, 1588 and 1608. Also the author of a work on arithmetic republished several times, Savonne had travelled widely and claimed to have been employed to keep the books of a large number of merchants.
The first edition of his Instruction et manière de tenir livres de comptes par parties doubles (Instruction and manner of keeping books of account by double entry) shows the use of a relatively complete accounting framework, but the procedure for determining profit or loss does not appear correctly mastered. The technique is clearly set forth in the 1581 edition. In the 1588 edition, the function of a secret auxiliary ledger is described, recording the individual standing of partners vis-à-vis the firm.
The four known editions all contain a section devoted to carnets de foires (fair books). In Savonne’s time, Lyon was the premier financial centre in Europe. Payments of bills of exchange were made at clearing house sessions held in Lyon at the time of the four great annual fairs. The function of the private account books used during these events by merchants is fully described by Savonne. They contained independent accounts linked to the principal accounts by the technique of comptes réfléchis (reflexive accounts).
