BOOK-CLAMP-BOOK-HOLDER.

difficulty of fastening the book so sewed in a cover, and the still greater objection to the stiffness of the back, it is not adapted to book work.

BOOK'-CLAMP: in book-binding, a vice for holding a book while being worked. Adjustment is made by the nuts for the thickness of the book, and the pressure is given by the lever and eccentric. The term is applied also to a holder for school-books, etc., while carrying them. The cords pass through the upper bar; they are tightened by the rotation of the handle.

BOOK'-CLUB, or BOOK-SOCIETY: association of individuals for purchasing and reading new books as they issue from the press, which, after being circulated among the members, are sold for the benefit of the concern. cases the used books are disposed of by auction among the In some members. For another method of circulation, common in Britain, see CIRCULATING LIBRARIES.

BOOK-EDGE ROLLER: implement in book-bindery, for putting a colored edge (known as wax-edge) on blankbooks. The old process was:

sprinkle hot wax on the edges, then brush them over with the desired color, scrape off the wax, and the edges would appear white wherever the drops of wax had adhered. By

the new process the ink is taken from a marble slab by a perforated composition roller-patented by F. E. Grady, of Brooklyn, N.Y.

-which is then passed over the edges of the books, producing exactly the same effect with much greater rapidity, and avoiding the many serious disadvantages of the old process. It is used in the U. S. govt. bindery at Washington, and by leading manufacturers.

BOO KER, JOHN: English astrologer: died 1667. He was successively hatter and prof. of penmanship at Hadley. Later he commenced the study of astrology; and gained such a reputation that he was appointed to review the works published on astrology and mathematics. His most important work is entitled: Mercurius Cælicius, or A Caveat to All the People of England (1664).

BOOKER, LUKE: 1762-1835: b. Nottingham: English author. He was rector of Tedstone, and published a number of theological and other works.

BOOK'-HOLDER: a reading-desk top, or equivalent device for holding an open book in reading position.

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BOOK-KEEPING.

BOOK' KEEPING: art and method of recording business transactions in a set of blank-books kept for the purpose, by all classes of traders, as well as in various kinds of establishments. Viewed as an art, B. was brought to comparative perfection first by the merchants of Genoa and other cities in the n. of Italy; and developed by the merchants of the Netherlands, it was brought to England, in which country, as also in the British colonial possessions and the United States, it is now carried on in the best manner by professional accountants and skilled clerks in countinghouses. The books employed are usually of a folio size, strongly bound. For security against loss, it is customary to remove them every night from the desk and ordinary shelves in the counting-house to a fire proof safe.

Although reduced to an accurate system, the details of B. necessarily differ according to the extent and the nature of the transactions to be recorded. In all kinds of B., however, there are or ought to be certain pervading principles. The object is to keep an account of the goods that a trader buys and sells, and the money that he pays away and receives; also to show, at short and periodic intervals, the exact state of his affairs-what are his assets (property and sums of money owing to him, and what are his liabilities (debts owing by him, and other pecuniary obligations). On the proper accomplishment of this object obviously depend the stability and the reputation of the trader; for otherwise he must, in great measure, be proceeding upon vague, possibly erroneous conclusions; the result of which may be bankruptcy. Viewed as credentials, a merchant's books are invested with a certain sacredness. Such a set of them is to be kept as will at all times admit of a satisfactory statement of affairs being made. This requires great neatness, accuracy, and perspicuity. As a rule, there should be no blotting, no scraping out of words or figures, and no tearing out of leaves-the records are to be beyond suspicion of falsification.

SINGLE ENTRY.-The simpler kind of accounting is called B. by Single Entry; the principal books used being the Day-book, Invoice-book, Cash-book, and Bill-book, all employed for recording the transactions as they occur, and a Ledger, to which the entries are afterward transferred, under the names of the parties concerned. The method is called Single Entry, for the reason that the items are entered only once in the ledger.

Day-Book.-The purpose of this book is to keep a daily account of all goods sold on credit-that is, goods not paid for at the time by the buyer. The book is ruled with a date-line on the left-hand side of the page, and with double money-lines at the right-hand side. The entry of a transaction comprehends the name of the purchaser, and beneath it a note of the articles sold, with the prices extended to the first money-column. The gross amount added up is extended to the second money-column; so that the amount of all sales may easily be summed up. After the name of the purchaser, it is usual to put Dr., and to articles in the entry is prefixed To-the meaning of these

BOOK KEEPING.

insertions being that the party named is debtor to the con cern for the articles mentioned.

Invoice-book.-This book, similarly ruled, is sometimes called the Credit Day-book. It is used for keeping an account of all goods bought on credit. When the goods are bought, an invoice, or account of them, accompanies the package, or is received by post, and on being checked off, the items are copied into the book. After the name of the seller of the goods is inscribed the contraction Cr., and to the items entered is prefixed the word By-the meaning of which is, that the party named is creditor by having sold the articles named. For the sake of brevity, some dealers enter merely the name of the creditor, the date, and the amount; and preserve the invoices, by docketing and tying them up in parcels, or by fastening them into a paper book prepared for the purpose. In any case, the invoices should always be preserved.

Cash-book. In this is kept an account of all cash received and paid, and of discount received and allowed. It is ruled for date and double money-columns on each page. Two pages, one opposite the other, are required for the entries; that on the left hand for entering cash received, and the discount allowed by the trader; that on the right hand for the cash he pays, and the discount allowed to him. The first money-column on each page is for the discount, and the second for the cash. For example, if a person settle his account, amounting to $20.00, less a discount of $1.00, the sum of $1.00 is entered in the first column, and $19.00, in the second; by which means a record is kept of the accounts settled and the money actually received. A similar explanation applies to the cash paid' side. ¿ the close of business for the day, the amounts on botn sides are summed up and balanced.

Bill-book. This contains an account of all 'Bills Receiv able that is, bills of which the trader is to receive pay ment; and Bills Payable '-that is, bills which he has to pay. Sometimes, however, in the case of large concerns, these two classes of bills have each a distinct book. The books are ruled in a particular manner; to admit of an explicit statement of dates, amounts, length of term, and other particulars: see BILLS.

Ledger. This is the great book of the concern. It com prehends an abstract of the entries in the day-book, invoicebook, cash-book, and bill-book, the whole collected in a methodic form under the names of the various persons, whether standing in the relation of debtors or creditors to the trader; and not only so, but an account of the trader's own private debit and credit. Two sets of columns are assigned to every person's account, one for Dr., and the other for Cr. The copying of items from the day-book, etc., into these ledger acccounts, is termed posting. According to the ordinary practice, books are posted after short and regular intervals-not longer than a month. Having books at all times well posted up is an acknowledged mark of a good man of business. By means of a well-posted ledger, and an inventory of stock and other

BOOK-KEEPING.

assets, drawn up with a prudent regard to realizable value, the trader is able at the end of a year to make a Balancesheet, or condensed statement of his affairs. A proper balance-sheet ought to show the amount of capital invested in the form of money, stock, debts, etc.; also the amount of liabilities, the expenses at which the business has been conducted, the money drawn on private account, and the profit that is over, after all deductions have been made.

Some other books of a subsidiary kind are kept by large trading houses-as an Order-book, in which copies of all orders are entered; a Memorandum-book; an Account Salesbook, from which particulars are obtained for making out accounts of the sales of goods which may have been sent for disposal on commission; a Stock-book, in which an inventory is kept of the stock on hand; an Account-book, to contain a list of accounts; a Warehouse-book, to contain an account of the quantities of goods; a Letter-book, into which letters sent out by the firm are copied; with some others.

With such a set of books, and a few additional memoranda, a trader could doubtless strike a balance at the end of the year. He could see how much was owing to him, how much he was owing to others, how much he had spent, and how much would remain over, or how much would be deficient, after all accounts pro and con were settled. But by this elementary routine he could establish no satisfactory check on different departments of his business; and for large and complicated concerns, the system, if not absolutely valueless, would prove exceedingly imperfect. What the wholesale trader wants is a process of checksone book checking another-the whole mass of details reduced to such a rigorously methodized system of entries that every fraction is thoroughly accounted for. No doubt, to effect this elaborate and minute system of B., a considerable expense is incurred for clerks; but in large establishments this is of small account in comparison with the advantages.

DOUBLE ENTRY.-The method of B. which has been so called is only an extension of that already noticed. The distinct peculiarity in double entry concerns chiefly the ledger. Its object is a system of checks, to be effected by entering transactions in the ledger twice-first to the debtor of one set of accounts, and then to the creditor of another set. In making the two entries, one is posted to an account under the name of the debtor or creditor, and the other is posted to an account under the head of the goods that have been bought or sold. Take, for instance, the article sugar. Say, the trader purchases a hogshead of the article from A. Brown & Co. He first enters it in the regular way to the Cr. of A. Brown & Co., and then turning to the folio headed Sugar,' he enters it on the Dr. side of the account as bought from A. Brown & Co. In the same way, when the hogshead is sold to E. Frazer & Co., it is entered first to the Dr. of these parties, and then to the Cr. side of sugar as sold to E. Fraser & Co. By this system of double entries, one the counterpart of the other, the one set of