English fiction began and was read. There were some books
for children. Books were copyrighted, although non-gentlemen
writers needed a patron. At the lowest level of literacy were
ballads. Next to sermons, the printing press was kept busiest with
rhymed ballads about current events. Printed broadsheets on
political issues could be distributed quickly. In London, news was
brought to the Governor of the News Staple, who classified it as
authentic, apocryphal, barber's news, tailor's news, etc. and
stamped it. Books were also censored for matter against the state
church. This was carried out through the Stationers' Company. This
company was now, by charter, the official authority over the
entire book trade, with almost sole rights of printing (e.g.
excluding schools). It could burn other books and imprison their
printers.
There were language schools teaching French, Italian, and Spanish
to the aspiring merchant and to gentlemen's sons and daughters.
Italian business techniques were set forth in textbooks for
merchants, using Italian terms of business: debit (debito), credit
(credito), inventory (inventorio), journal (giornal), and cash
(cassa). The arithmetic of accounting operations, including
multiplication, was described in "An Introduction for to Lerne to
Reckonwith the Penne or Counters" in 1537. Accounting advice was
extended to farmers as well as merchants in the 1569 "The Pathway
to Perfectness in the Accomptes of Debitor and Creditor" by James
Peele, a salter of London.
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