Hernández Esteveun sabio en la corte de los traductores paciolianos

  1. Lanero Fernández, Juan J.
Journal:
De Computis: Revista Española de Historia de la Contabilidad

ISSN: 1886-1881

Year of publication: 2013

Volume: 10

Issue: 19

Pages: 153-174

Type: Article

DOI: 10.26784/ISSN.1886-1881.V10I19.59 DIALNET GOOGLE SCHOLAR lock_openDialnet editor

More publications in: De Computis: Revista Española de Historia de la Contabilidad

Abstract

Luca Pacioli�s publication of the Summa had an immediate repercussion in the European countries. The most tangible one is that it was translated to various languages. A quite clear example could be found in England where Hugh Oldcastle published his �adapted� English translation in 1543. In the same year a Dutch translation, Ympyn�s, appeared in The Netherlands which, in its turn, was translated to French and a few years later into English. Unfortunately, Oldcastle�s translation has not survived and the reference we have is through John Melis�s reproduction of the original text (1588). It seems that the English accountants and bookkeepers were satisfied with this translation. Many other Accounting treatises appeared in England, but all of them were �improvements� over Oldcastle�s early translation. Therefore, it is most surprising that in the 19th Century, the Encyclopaedia Metropolitana, one of the many Encyclopaedias which appeared at that time, had an entry on Bookkeeping which happens to be a direct translation of Pacioli�s Treatise. In the present study the connection between the Summa and the long article which appeared in the Metropolitana is traced. For that particular purpose, five texts are handled with: Pacioli�s original, a modern Italian translation, Oldcastle�s version (through Melis�s lens), Hernández Esteve�s translation into Spanish (a superb annotated version), and, of course, the text which approaching two centuries ago appeared in the Encyclopaedia Metropolitana. According to the research developed and contrary to what it might be expected, the Encyclopaedia�s version happens to be a direct translation of the Summa. This particular fact speaks volumes of the relevance Pacioli�s Treatise enjoyed four centuries after the first publication in 1494. Pacioli left behind a legacy which revolutionized the world: the Double-entry bookkeeping system. Its real depth is well seen in Hernández Esteve�s version. Anybody wishing to have a real image of the paciolian studies must see this translation that in this paper is defined as the translation par excellence.

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