Dalla divulgazione all'istituzione: i trattati italiani di ragioneria (1850-1922) (from divulgation to institution: the Italian treatises of accountingh (1850-1922))

After its flourishing before and during Renaissance, Italian accounting faces a gradual decadence during the 16th and 17th centuries, also due to the foreign dominations of this period. Its techniques are revitalised by de Granges’ influence during the Napoleonic period, but the true passage of Italian accounting from a (poor) technique to a self-contained discipline dates from the treatises by Francesco Villa (1850-1878) and Giuseppe Cerboni (1873-1894). The latter, in particular, invents a new accounting technique called logismography (applied also to State accounts after 1877), and transforms this discipline into an accomplished science which affirms the similarity of administrative functions in every kind of firm. But the real revolution in accounting is introduced by Fabio Besta’s works. Its treatise entitled La Ragioneria (Accounting) (last edn. 1922) brings in two fundamental novelties: i. the transition from personal entries to entries opened to values, and ii. the definition and development of accounting – building on Vico, Schäffle, Spencer and Comte – into a theory of the control of wealth.