Title page from 'Zwifach Buchhalten, sampt seine Giornal des selben Beschlus auch Rechnung', by Wolffgang Schweicker (Nuremberg, 1549). [Library shelfmark: ICAS.F111(3)]
Wolffgang Schweicker's book 'Zwifach Buchhalten' is the first work to introduce the Italian double-entry method into Germany.
It is also one of the most typographically beautiful books on bookkeeping.
Although the text was based largely on Domenico Manzoni's 'Quaderno doppio', Schweicker condensed and simplified Manzoni's work.
He also introduced the concept of a ledger account for bills of exchange payable and receivable, and added a chapter on how to index the ledger.
Schweicker, a native of Nuremberg, wrote the book when he was living in Venice.