Among modern scholars and students there is an increasing distance between the fundamenta l thoughts of early management writers and contemporary , often secondary , accounts of how these pioneers develope d their ideas. This shortcomin g can be remedied by seeking original sources from when a pioneer's ideas were being formulated and from the context within which this occurred. We examine examples of how others have furthered our understandin g of management history by the discovery and translation of pioneerin g writings and present a rare, out-of-prin t translation and a previousl y untranslate d and unpublishe d presentatio n from the French pioneer, Henri Fayol. These presentation s to his colleague s in the mineral industr y reveal Fayol's early reflection s as they would later evolve into his classica l book, Administratio n Industriell e et Ge Âne Ârale.