This engraving is from the important account of one the most infamous financial meltdowns in history, known as the Mississippi Bubble incident. In the foreground a merman in a boat with the arms of the seven cities of the Noorderkwartier is pulled by mermaids with the city of Enkhuizen in the distance. Enkhuizen, a harbor-town of the VOC, aspired to be the most important harbor city in the Netherlands. However the harbor had silting problems that formed a large sandbank, called Pampus. Its city fathers devised a plan, financed in part by stock speculation, to change the sandbank into a sea channel. The whole scheme went bankrupt during the financial turmoil that swept Europe in 1720. There are columns of verses in Dutch below the scene.

John Law, a Scottish financier, established the Banque Generale (central bank) in France. He was then granted control of Louisiana and founded the Compagnie de la Louisiane d'Occident, in 1717. Law developed an elaborate plan to exploit the fabulous resources of the region, which quickly gained popularity and people rushed to invest, not just in France, but throughout Europe. This resulted in the development of several other overseas companies, such as the English South Sea Company and a number of smaller companies in the Dutch Republic. The share prices rose dramatically in a frenzy of speculation. In 1720 the bubble burst; speculators cashed in, caused a run on the shares, and the company went bankrupt. As a consequence of the failure, confidence in other similar companies failed, and thousands of individual investors across Europe were ruined.

References:

Condition: A

A dark impression on a bright sheet with a fleur-de-lis watermark, marginal soiling, and an archivally repaired centerfold separation at left.