Letter: Business wives who remain true to type

Sir: One of the most influential books on accounting (Edwards and Bell, The Theory and Measurement of Business Income, 1961) has a preface which concludes with the sentence:

Finally, but only because it is customary, we wish to express appreciation to our wives, who have held their breath, if not their tongues, while grudgingly typing draft after draft.

Yours faithfully,

R. H. PARKER

Professor of Accountancy

Department of Economics

University of Exeter

Exeter

29 June