Roger North: gentleman, accountant and lexicographer

Roger North's The Gentleman Accomptant (1714) stands out in the early English language accounting literature for a number of reasons. It applies double entry to landed estates, recommends a system in which the separate activities of an estate are treated in effect as divisions, with inter-divisional transfers, and includes an accounting dictionary. This paper analyses the contents of the book, sets it and its author in their respective contexts, and discusses the possible influences on North's text.