Kenneth Wiggins Porter's two-volume work, The Jacksons and the Lees: Two Generations of Massachusetts Merchants, 1765–1844, is the first of two studies in the history of business to be presented to the members of the Business Historical Society during the present year. The presentation of the first study is made possible by the courtesy and liberality of Mr. Henry Lee Shattuck. This work by Dr. Porter, who will be remembered as the author of John Jacob Astor: Business Man, is in the nature of a composite business biography of a group of merchants throughout the long period from 1765 to 1844.

The institutions and techniques for aiding the flow of capital and credit have had a long history. But it is a history which is not well known, especially in its earlier stages. In America the business of dealing in credit was at first chiefly in the hands of merchants, and, immediately after independence was established, chartered commercial banks took up the work. Some of the larger banks served as financial wholesalers, mobilizing credit and loaning it to small banks which were essentially retailers.