Martin, George W.Martin's interest and average tables, at seven per cent. per annum, on the basis of 365 days to the year: arranged with references to dates, greatly facilitating commercial calculations, especially the averaging of accounts: to which is added table of wages, rebate or discount tables, annuity tables, etc. Rochester, N.Y.: Erastus Darrow & Brother, 1860. First edition. 63 pages; 38 cm. A very worn copy in original cloth, stained with use and with significant abrasion to the right margin of the front cover.

            A practical volume for bookkeepers concerned with mercantile accounts, by the chief clerk in the Office of the Comptroller of Currency office in Washington, DC. In his preface, the author explains that this work is “to lessen the tediousness and intricacy of commercial calculation.  Charts allow the easy calculation of interest on sums from $1 to $10,000, and offer tables for partial payments, annuities, compound interest, and other actuarial matters. The author calls the reader’s attention to the fact that 1860 is a leap year, and that a day should be added to calculations accordingly. Reviewing a later edition, the Columbia Law Times noted: “Any compilation which lessens the labor of mankind deserves the recognition of those whom it benefits… the banker, the merchant, the book-keeper and the business and professional man, can save hours of calculation.” This is an unattractive copy of a book that seems not to have survived the ravages of time. The only copy on record is at the Rochester Public Library. Not in AAS.  LOC has a later (1877) edition.

Sources

• “Advertising Manager’s Column,” Banking Law Journal 15 (1898) p. 610.
• Reviews, Columbia Law Times 1 (1887-88) p. 109.