Summa de arithmetica geometria. Proportioni: et proportionalita: nuouamente impressa in Toscolano su la riua dil Benacense et unico carpionista laco amenissimo sito de li antique & euidenti ruine di la nobile cita di Benaco cum numerosita de imperatori epithaphij di antique & perfette littere sculpiti dorato & cum finissimi & mirabil colone marmorei inumeri fragmenti di alabastro porphidi & serpentini. Cose certo lettor mio diletto oculata fide mitatu digne sotterra se ritrouano. Continentia de tutta lopra
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Luca Pacioli's "Summa de Arithmetica, Geometria, Proportioni et Proportionalita" was first published in 1494, making it one of the most significant works of the late Middle Ages and early Renaissance. This book is a comprehensive treatise that covers a wide range of mathematical concepts, including arithmetic, geometry, proportions, and proportion theory, which were pivotal in the development of modern mathematics, accounting, and the scientific method.
One of the key sections, "Particularis de Computis et Scripturis" (On the Methods of Calculation and Writing), is regarded as one of the first comprehensive expositions of the double-entry bookkeeping system, which would later become foundational in the field of accounting.
Luca Pacioli (1445-1509) was an Italian mathematician and Franciscan friar, often referred to as the "Father of Accounting" due to his contributions to the field of bookkeeping and financial management. However, Pacioli did not invent double-entry bookkeeping. Prior to Pacioli, merchants in Italy and other parts of Europe had used rudimentary forms of accounting to track financial transactions. Pacioli's work codified these practices into a formal system, providing clear guidelines for how financial records should be kept, the importance of balancing debits and credits, and ensuring that the accounts would always balance. His detailed description and the systematization of the method in the Summa was revolutionary and became the foundation of modern accounting practices.
The work was printed in Toscolano on the shores of Lake Garda.
Download at: Library of Congress, USA
Download at: ETH-Bibliothek Zürich, CH
See also: Johannes Widmann, 1489
See also: Balance sheet