on the suppliers and customers of the company, exported goods, imported goods,
and the shareholders can be related to the larger framework of the balance and
profit and loss accounts, attributing relative value to different transactions. Apart
from its involvement in the Atlantic slave trade, the MCC provided loans to the
VOC, and borrowed money exclusively from its shareholders. This suggests that
the MCC may have played a significant role as a local financial institution in Mid
delburg.
As a final remark, the explicit explanations on the bookkeeping structures and
conventions may seem redundant to older readers familiar with financial admin
istration. However, with the advent of digital information systems, some of this
general knowledge may soon be lost. A new generation of economic and social
historians, less familiar with bookkeeping, not to mention analogue bookkeeping,
may find the explanations provided in this paper useful in future studies of the
MCC and the Transatlantic slave trade.
Primary Sources
Zeeuws Archief (ZA), 20 Middelburgse Commercie Compagnie (MCC), 1720-1889, inv. nr.
51. Register van instructiën en eedsformulieren, 18e eeuw. 1 deel
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70. Ingekomen brieven van correspondenten, Rotterdam, 70.7. 1750-1754.
Zeeuws Archief (ZA), 20 Middelburgse Commercie Compagnie (MCC), 1720-1889, inv. nr.
948. 'Scheepsboek', rekeningen van één voorgenomen reis en één reis over 1748-1752, afge
hoord 1748-1752. 1 deel.
Zeeuws Archief (ZA), 20 Middelburgse Commercie Compagnie (MCC), 1720-1889, inv.
nr. 956. Diverse stukken betreffende deze equipage. 1 verbroken lias, 956.1 Equipage.
Zeeuws Archief (ZA), 20 Middelburgse Commercie Compagnie (MCC), 1720-1889, inv.
nr. 956. Diverse stukken betreffende deze equipage. 1 verbroken lias, 956.2 Cargazoenen.
Zeeuws Archief (ZA), 20 Middelburgse Commercie Compagnie (MCC), 1720-1889, inv.
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Koen van der Blij
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