A SICILIAN AUTHOR OF ACCOUNTING: EMANUELE PISANI AND HIS "STATHMOGRAPHY"

The paper intends to present the accounting method 'invented' by Emanuele Pisani, the most relevant Sicilian author of the second half of the XIX century. His method was called "Stathmography" and it can be considered the "middle point" between the "personalistic" approach to accounts - that dominated the scene with Cerboni's work and the "materialistic" approach - that was introduced by Crippa and continued by Besta. Although its premises originated with previous authors, his idea was founded upon a new theoretical basis that was the first step to the greater development of the following accounting thought. Considering the importance of the context. A cross-fertilisation will be made within the contents of accounting and the context in which it operated, so a "cross-disciplinary" perspective will be adopted. In pursuing this aim, this paper seeks to explain how this method worked, what kind of implications it had and how the context influenced its ideas. The author will also be considered in his local mainstream of thought: the "Scuola Palermitana" from past times (Flori, 1636) up until contemporary and present day developments.