What exists, how far it has been checked, and what is still open
In one line: three complete machine drafts of the whole treatise (reading, modern Italian, faithful English), made by AI under the author's direction and control, not yet proofread by a person, with the known doubts listed.
Where the work stands (13 October 2026)
The reading and translation work began on 9 October 2026. This page says plainly what exists, how far it has been checked and what is still open. All three layers below are machine drafts made by AI models under the author's direction and control. None has been proofread by a person, and they contain errors.
What exists
Layer
Version
Made by
Where
The 1494 print read in its original 15th-century form, abbreviation signs kept
Draft 7
Five machine passes (four models, three companies), a second blind opinion on the doubtful places, then checks against Gitti and the 1523 reprint
All three cover the whole treatise: 25 pages, 1,436 labelled lines, so every line of the English and Italian can be traced to a printed line of the 1494 text.
Whose words are these?
The Immutable Ledger. The argument, and the worked example of three merchants in Flanders, are Anthony Mellor's own: a story he has used for many years to explain double entry to students. The passages that quote Pacioli are kept in line with the project's current translation each time it changes, by AI under his direction, and he checks them.
The reading of the 1494 print, and the English and Italian versions. Made by machines under his direction and control.
Notes marked as Anthony Mellor's readings (for example on ditta, creditore el banco and dilimistri). His own judgement as an accountant, with the wording tidied.
KISS. Written by Anthony Mellor, at first without any AI and now developed with AI help.
How far they have been checked
The doubtful readings from the early review were reread, blind, from correctly cut page images by two machines. Of those 69 listed readings, 20 were confirmed, 4 were changed, 1 had been decided earlier and 44 were left open. That list is from the early review, so the current total of open doubts has not been established. The details are on the Textual Apparatus page.
The reading was compared with Gitti (1878), the 1523 reprint, Geijsbeek (1914), Crivelli (1924) and Sangster and Santini's translation of Chapter 1. See the method, Gitti and 1523 pages.
The Italian and English were checked against the current reading where it changed. They have not been checked line by line by a person.
What is still open
Mark-level doubts about abbreviation signs: 44 were left open by the recheck, and others may exist.
Questions of meaning that scholars have not settled, listed with the evidence on the Textual Apparatus page: ditta, dilimistri, coculegni, creditore el banco, V. D. S. Magnanimo D. and i cãpo.
Other translations we looked for and could not obtain: Brown and Johnston, Cripps, von Gebsattel with Yamey, Antinori, Hernández Esteve's Spanish and others. They are named on the method page.
What has not been done
A line-by-line read by a person, and a read by an expert in the period.
A comparison with every other translation.
A fresh reading from better scans. Requests for better images have no recorded reply. If they arrive, the reading will be rerun and the differences recorded.
What happens next
The author reads the English and marks where he hesitates; each mark becomes a query on the original.
Open readings are rechecked if better scans or other translations become available.
Corrections are made in the drafts, with the change and its reason recorded.