BOOKS. 
and bark, especially of the tilia, or phillyrea, 
and the Egyptian papyrus. By degrees 
wax, then leather, were introduced, espe- 
cially the skins of goats and sheep, of which 
at length parchment was prepared : then 
lead came into use ; also linen, silk, horn, 
and lastly, paper itself. 
Books, form of. The first books were 
in the form of blocks and tables : but as 
flexible matter came to be wrote on, they 
found it more convenient to make their 
books in the form of rolls : these were com- 
posed of several sheets fastened to each 
other, and rolled upon a stick, or umbilicus ; 
the whole making a kind of column, or 
cylinder, which was to be managed by the 
umbilicus as a handle, it being reputed a 
crime to take hold of the roll itself: the 
outside of the volume was called/roas ; the 
ends of the umbilicus, cornua , horns, which 
were usually carved, and adorned with sil- 
ver, ivory, or even gold and precious 
stones ; the title ciAXaff©-, was struck on 
the outside ; the whole volume, when ex- 
tended, might make a yard and a half wide, 
and fifty long. The form which obtains 
among us is the square, composed of sepa- 
rate leaves ; which was also known, though 
little used by the ancients. 
Books, in a mercantile sense, or Book- 
keeping, the several registers wherein mer- 
chants and other dealers keep their ac- 
counts. 
A merchant’s books should exhibit the 
true state of his affairs. They should shew 
the particular success of each transaction, 
as well as the general result of the whole ; 
and should be so arranged as to afford cor- 
rect and ready information upon every sub- 
ject for which they may be consulted. 
Merchants’ books are kept either by single, 
or according to the method of double entry. 
They who keep them in the former method 
have occasion for few books, as a journal, 
or day-book; and a ledger, or post book : 
the former to write all the articles follow- 
ing each other as they occur in the course 
of their business; and the other to draw 
out the accounts of all the debtors and cre- 
ditors on the journal. This method is only 
proper for retail dealers, or at least for tra- 
ders who have but very little business : but 
as for wholesale dealers and great mer- 
chants, who keep their books according to 
the double entry, or Italian method, as is 
now most commonly done, their business 
requires several other books, the usefulness 
pf which will be seen from what follows. 
1 he most considerable books, according 
to the method of double entry, arc the 
waste-book, the journal, and the ledger ; 
but besides these three, which are abso- 
lutely necessary, there are several others, 
to the number of thirteen, or even more, 
called subservient or auxiliary books, which 
are used in proportion to the business a 
man has, or to the nature of the business a 
man carries on. These books are the cash- 
book, the debt-book, the book of numeros, 
the book of invoices, the book of accounts 
current, the book of commissions, orders, 
or advices, &c. 
The waste-Book may be defined a re- 
gister, containing an inventory of a mer- 
chant’s effects and debts, with a distinct 
record of ali his transactions and dealings, 
in a way ot trade, related in a plain simple 
stile, and in order of time as they succeed 
one another. 
The waste-book opens with the inven- 
tory, which consists of two parts; first, the 
effects, that is, the money a merchant has 
by him, the goods he has in hand, his part 
ot ships, houses, farms, &c. with the debts 
due to him ; the second part of the inven- 
tory is the debts due by him to others : the 
difference between which, and the effects, 
is what the merchants call neat stock. When 
a man begins the world, and first sets up to 
trade, the inventory is to be gathered from 
a survey of the particulars that make, up his 
real estate ; but ever after is to be collected 
from the balance ot his old books, and car- 
ried to the new. 
After the inventory is fairly related in 
the waste-book, the transactions of trade 
come next to be entered down ; which is a 
daiiy task to be performed as they occur. 
The narrative ought to exhibit transactions 
with ail the circumstances necessary to be 
known, and no more. It should contain 
the names of persons with whom the mer- 
chant deals upon trust, the conditions of 
bargains, the terms of payment, the quan- 
tity, quality, and prices of goods, with every 
thing that serves to make the record dis- 
tinct, and nothing else. The waste-book, 
if no subsidiary books are kept, should 
contain a record of all the merchant’s trans- 
actions and dealings in a way of trade ; and 
that not only of such as are properly and 
purely mercantile, but of every occurrence 
that affects his stock, so as to impair or in- 
crease it, such as private expences, servants 
fees, house-rents, money gained, &c. 
The journal, or daybook, is the book 
wherein the transactions recorded in the 
waste-book are prepared to be carried to 
