James Peele
James Peele (d. 1585) was an English schoolmaster, accountant, and clerk of Christ’s Hospital in London. He was one of the earliest English writers on double-entry bookkeeping and played a key role in introducing Italian accounting methods to an English-speaking audience. Peele authored two important treatises on commercial arithmetic and accounting, helping to lay the groundwork for formal business education in England.
Life and career
[edit]Peele's early life remains obscure, but he is known to have been active in London in the mid-16th century. From 1562 he served as clerk to Christ’s Hospital, a charitable institution founded in 1552 under the patronage of King Edward VI.[1] In this role, Peele was responsible for managing the hospital’s financial records and accounts.[2]
Peele also worked as a teacher of writing, reading, and bookkeeping.[3] His written works reflect the didactic inclinations of their author, in that they seek to make complex accounting principles accessible to merchants and tradespeople, and to facilitate their practical application.
Works
[edit]Peele wrote two notable works on accounting. The first, titled The Maner and Fourme How to Kepe a Perfecte Reconyng[4], was published in London in 1553 by the King’s Printer, Richard Grafton. It is the earliest extant original work on bookkeeping in English (there are no known surviving copies of an earlier English work on the subject, Hugh Oldcastle’s A Profitable Treatyce[5]). The book provides instruction in the maintenance of accurate financial records using systematic methods, and is considered an important and influential[6] precursor to later, more detailed works on the subject.
Only one complete copy of The Maner and Fourme is known to survive, held in the Library of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales; a digitised copy is available online.[7]
In 1569 Peele's second treatise on accounting, titled The Pathe Waye to Perfectnes, in th'Accomptes of Debitour, and Creditour[8], was published in London. Taking the form of two Socratic dialogues, it presents the Italian method of double-entry bookkeeping in a form tailored to English merchants and scholars, using practical examples. The book describes procedures for keeping journals, ledgers, and other commercial records in considerably more detail than Peele’s first treatise.
Legacy
[edit]Peele’s writings mark a significant milestone in the history of accounting in England. By presenting accounting methods in English and demonstrating their application to the practical needs of native merchants, they contributed to the diffusion of the double-entry bookkeeping system — originally developed in Renaissance Italy — into English commercial practice.
In addition, his works (particularly The Pathe Waye) are acknowledged to contain original contributions which improved upon some of the models and procedures previously put forward by writers on the Continent. For instance, Peele has been praised for setting forth novel procedures for closing a ledger.[9]
References
[edit]- ^ Larsen, T. (1928). "The Father of George Peele". Modern Philology. 26 (1): 69–71. doi:10.1086/387746. ISSN 0026-8232. JSTOR 433575.
- ^ Yamey, Basil S. (28 September 2006). "Peele, James (d. 1585), writer on bookkeeping". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/56446. Retrieved 2025-05-28. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
- ^ Whitworth, Charles (2016), Smith, Bruce R. (ed.), "George Peele", The Cambridge Guide to the Worlds of Shakespeare, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 908, ISBN 978-1-316-13706-2, retrieved 2025-05-28
- ^ Peele, James (1553). The maner and fourme how to kepe a perfecte reconyng, after the order of the moste worthie and notable accompte, of debitour and creditour, set foorthe in certain tables, with a declaration thereunto belongyng, verie easie to be learned, and also profitable, not onely unto suche, that trade in the facte of marchaundise, but also unto any other estate, that will learne the same. London: Richard Grafton.
- ^ "A profitable treatyce..." icaew.com. Retrieved 2025-05-28.
- ^ Davies, Glyn (2013). A History of Money (Third edition, with revisions ed.). Cardiff, Wales: University of Wales Press. p. 235. ISBN 978-0-7083-2379-3.
- ^ "The Maner and fourme how to kepe a perfecte reconyng". icaew.com. Retrieved 2025-05-28.
- ^ Peele, James (1569). The pathe waye to perfectnes, in th'accomptes of debitour, and creditour: in manner of a dialogue, very pleasaunte and proffitable for marchauntes and all other that minde to frequente the same: once agayne set forthe, and verie muche enlarged. London: Thomas Purfoote.
- ^ Yamey, Basil S. (1979-06-01). "Oldcastle, Peele and Mellis: a Case of Plagiarism in the Sixteenth Century". Accounting and Business Research. 9 (35): 211–212. doi:10.1080/00014788.1979.9729160. ISSN 0001-4788.
External links
[edit]- James Peele, The Maner and Fourme How to Kepe a Perfecte Reconyng (digitised edition at Turning the Pages)
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