Farm Accounts in Rural Europe, c.1700-1914
"To Better Know One's Own?"
Published on 3. June 2025
Book
Hardback
268 pages
978-1-83765-100-9 (ISBN)
Description
Analyses how book-keeping and estate accounting transformed attitudes and practices in farm management over three centuries of European history.
From the eighteenth until well into the twentieth century, an ideal model developed of a farmer as accountant, who would record economic transactions meticulously; tidy book-keeping was regarded as the basis of sound management, and only those who accurately dealt with finances would survive and thrive. It is clear that this happened in both theory and practice, with growing numbers of farmers (men and women) keeping increasingly formalized records of their businesses during this period; a wide range of valuable documentation, originating from large estates, small sharecroppers, tenant and owner-farmers alike, has survived.
Drawing on that rich body of sources, this book examines book-keeping and account practices in farm management across Europe, with case studies ranging from Westphalia and the Rhineland to France and Switzerland, over three centuries. It considers who kept these records and their motivations, how practices changed and developed across the period, and in what ways and to what extent accounts and accounting influenced the development of agriculture. It also examines the role of farmers' own organisations and government in encouraging higher standards of accounting.
The Introduction and chapters 7 and 9 are available as Open Access under the Creative Commons licence CC BY-NC-ND.
From the eighteenth until well into the twentieth century, an ideal model developed of a farmer as accountant, who would record economic transactions meticulously; tidy book-keeping was regarded as the basis of sound management, and only those who accurately dealt with finances would survive and thrive. It is clear that this happened in both theory and practice, with growing numbers of farmers (men and women) keeping increasingly formalized records of their businesses during this period; a wide range of valuable documentation, originating from large estates, small sharecroppers, tenant and owner-farmers alike, has survived.
Drawing on that rich body of sources, this book examines book-keeping and account practices in farm management across Europe, with case studies ranging from Westphalia and the Rhineland to France and Switzerland, over three centuries. It considers who kept these records and their motivations, how practices changed and developed across the period, and in what ways and to what extent accounts and accounting influenced the development of agriculture. It also examines the role of farmers' own organisations and government in encouraging higher standards of accounting.
The Introduction and chapters 7 and 9 are available as Open Access under the Creative Commons licence CC BY-NC-ND.
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Woodbridge
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Boydell & Brewer Ltd
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Cloth over boards
Illustrations
2 maps and 2 line drawings
Dimensions
Height: 240 mm
Width: 161 mm
Thickness: 19 mm
Weight
570 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-83765-100-9 (9781837651009)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
NATHALIE JOLY is a senior lecturer in sociology at the Institute Agro Dijon and an associated researcher at the French National Institute for Research on Agriculture, Food and Environment (INRAE). FEDERICO D'ONOFRIO is Associate Professor at the Institute for Social and Economic History of the University of Vienna. FEDERICO D'ONOFRIO is Associate Professor at the Institute for Social and Economic History of the University of Vienna. NATHALIE JOLY is a senior lecturer in sociology at the Institute Agro Dijon and an associated researcher at the French National Institute for Research on Agriculture, Food and Environment (INRAE).
Content
1. Introduction - Nathalie Joly and Federico D'Onofrio
2. Accounting for Labour on Capitalist Farms in Eighteenth-century England - James D. Fisher
3. The Estate Accountant and the Development of Manorial Accounting:
The Rentmeister in Westphalia and the Rhineland - Friederike Scholten-Buschhoff
4. The Advocacy and Use of Farm Accounts in Late Eighteenth- and Early Nineteenth-century England - R. W. Hoyle
5. The Fantastic Accounts of the Large Farmers of Geneva in the Long
Eighteenth Century - Fulgence Delleaux
6. The Accounting Practices of Two Large French Farms in the Middle
of the Nineteenth Century: the Farms of Adolphe Dailly - Laurent Herment
7. Women that Count: The Missing Link in the Modernization of Agriculture
in Nineteenth-century France - Nathalie Joly
8. Did Farmers want to be 'Rational'? The Landokonomiske Driftsbureau
and the History of Danish Farm Accounting - Markus Lampe and Paul Sharp
9. The Intentional Spread of Farm Accountancy Offices in Switzerland and the Netherlands, 1890-1940 - Federico D'Onofrio
10. Agricultural Book-keeping in Switzerland: Adaptations, Institutionalisation
and its Impact on the Perception of Gender Roles on the Farm - Peter Moser
11. Conclusion - Nathalie Joly and Federico D'Onofrio
Bibliography
Index
2. Accounting for Labour on Capitalist Farms in Eighteenth-century England - James D. Fisher
3. The Estate Accountant and the Development of Manorial Accounting:
The Rentmeister in Westphalia and the Rhineland - Friederike Scholten-Buschhoff
4. The Advocacy and Use of Farm Accounts in Late Eighteenth- and Early Nineteenth-century England - R. W. Hoyle
5. The Fantastic Accounts of the Large Farmers of Geneva in the Long
Eighteenth Century - Fulgence Delleaux
6. The Accounting Practices of Two Large French Farms in the Middle
of the Nineteenth Century: the Farms of Adolphe Dailly - Laurent Herment
7. Women that Count: The Missing Link in the Modernization of Agriculture
in Nineteenth-century France - Nathalie Joly
8. Did Farmers want to be 'Rational'? The Landokonomiske Driftsbureau
and the History of Danish Farm Accounting - Markus Lampe and Paul Sharp
9. The Intentional Spread of Farm Accountancy Offices in Switzerland and the Netherlands, 1890-1940 - Federico D'Onofrio
10. Agricultural Book-keeping in Switzerland: Adaptations, Institutionalisation
and its Impact on the Perception of Gender Roles on the Farm - Peter Moser
11. Conclusion - Nathalie Joly and Federico D'Onofrio
Bibliography
Index