Paul Jacob Marperger was born on June 27, 1656 in Nuremberg. At the age of ten, he enrolled in the theology department of the University in Altdorf. He never attended the university; instead he began a business apprenticeship at a trading house in Lyon, France, where he became acquainted with the advanced methods of French commerce. He then journeyed to many places in Europe, including Geneva, Hamburg, Lübeck, Copenhagen, Moscow, St. Petersburg, Stockholm, and Vienna. Marperger recorded the experiences from his education and travels in his manifold writings. He was the first German writer in the areas of mercantilism, national economy, and fiscal accounting. Marperger aroused much attention from economic and scientific circles with his observations, and in 1708, he was inducted into the Prussian Society of the Sciences. In 1724, Marperger was appointed to the Royal Court and Commerce Council of Poland and the Electorate of Saxony and went to Dresden to fill his position. He subsequently published a small number of various writings in his own publishing house. Paul Jacob Marperger died on October 27, 1730.