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17
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[MALTA – ECONOMY]. Memorandum from the Auditors of Accounts …
See original version (Italian)
17
-
[MALTA – ECONOMY]. Memorandum from the Auditors of Accounts …
See original version (Italian)
Estimate €300 - €500
Voluntary lot
Description
[MALTA – ECONOMY]. Memorandum from the Auditors of Accounts to His Most Eminent Highness and his Sacred Council, with the reply from the Secretary of the Treasury. [Malta: Mallia], 1788.
A memorandum shedding light on the financial organisation of the Order of Malta during the final decades of the eighteenth century. The work arose from an institutional dispute between the Auditors of Accounts – representatives of the Order’s various Langues charged with overseeing the Common Treasury – and the Secretary of the Treasury, who was accused of restricting their prerogatives. The Auditors maintained that the Statutes granted them the right to exercise prior control over purchases, sales and administrative acts of the Treasury; the Secretary replied that such an interpretation was contrary to centuries-old practice and would render the day-to-day administration of the Treasury impossible. In support of his position, the Secretary provides an exceptionally detailed account of the workings of the Common Treasury: he describes the responsibilities of the Procurators, the Chamber of Accounts, the Auditors and the Secretary, explaining the procedures followed for purchases and sales, the system for auditing accounts, the keeping of registers, the role of the General Ledger and, above all, the preparation of the annual Budget, presented as the Order’s principal instrument of financial control. Of particular significance is his description of the administrative reforms introduced during his tenure, through which he claims to have cleared the substantial backlog of accounts accumulated in previous years.
Folio (360 × 230 mm). 9 leaves. Marbled paper wrappers (short at the lower cover). (1)
See original version (Italian)
Auto-translation. Refer to original language for legal validity.
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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