1. DuBois, The English Business Company, p. 4.
2. Holdsworth, A History of English Law, vol. 8, p. 220.
3. Holdsworth, A History of English Law, vol. 8, p. 215.
4. During the seventeenth century the extent to which liability was truly limited for an incorporated, profit-making venture was at best uncertain. Shareholders typically invested in corporations “on subscription”, with initial payments equal to as little as I percent of the nominal value of a share. Their subscription purchase obligated them to provide the balance upon the corporation's call and thus could be attached by creditors of the firm. This meant that the identity of other shareholders was important even for limited liability companies. While it seems curious that companies did not simply limit their liability by setting nominal value equal to their initial payment, such a strategy could be costly. If the company subsequently decided to increase capitalization, a new charter would be required. Hence the distinction between limited and unlimited liability in the seventeenth century was not the crisp one associated with modern companies.