Stock Bubbles (2 results)

A satirical print published in the aftermath of the collapse of the Mississippi and South Sea Bubbles, illustrating the inflation of bubbles with false promises and excessive confidence. Titled "the wholesale wind peddler's fair", a figure - possibly John Law - sits on an air bag filled with inflated stock shares, with a cash box in the foreground overrun by rats. The flimsy commercial prospects are buoyed up by various sources of wind. Wind was an often-used allegory of the time to refer to the pumping up of a company's stock by speculators and salesmen, and for speculative mania more broadly. The print was published in the collection Het Groote Tafereel der Dwaasheid, the "Great Mirror of Folly", in 1720. Folio engraving, 367 x 229 mm. Old mount remnant along inner edge, a few peripheral nicks. A very good copy.

One of the best known satirical engravings published in the aftermath of the collapse of the South Sea Bubble, depicting various other prints and papers lying in confusion, all illustrating financial mania and the resultant economic collapse. "This and many other prints were occasioned by the South Sea scheme and the various mad speculations which inflamed the people at that time; a large proportion of the nation became stock-jobbers and projectors; persons of the highest rank were deeply engaged; and there are no expressions so strong, nor representations so gross, in these prints, as to surpass the actual transactions and scenes which occurred during the existence of this mania" (Catalogue of Prints and Drawings in the British Museum). Scenes include Quincampoix Street, the scene of the great bubble operations of John Law at Paris, a depiction of speculators buying stock in front of the London Stock Exchange, and the publication of stock-jobbing cards. Parties of rogues and their victims are seated at tables, with labels attached to individuals indicating their acts and characters. The print was first issued with the imprint of Thomas Bowles, altered to his nephew and successor Carington Bowles (1724-1793) for this subsequent issue later in the century. The address in the imprint is 69 St Paul's Churchyard where Charles operated from around 1766. Catalogue of Prints and Drawings in the British Museum: Division I. Political and Personal Satires, 1610. Engraved print (386 x 312 mm sheet size, platemark 333 x 251 mm). Sometime folded, now mounted. Short horizontal tear neatly repaired, sheet edges a little creased and chipped (not affecting image); overall very good.