A STOCK PANIC IN 1857! WALL STREET IN ACTION

hw-stock-mkt-mh.jpg“The immense majority of the operations of the New York Stock Exchange are gambling devices.”

Harper’s Weekly, New York
September 12, 1857

Here is a large front page illustration, “THE NEW YORK STOCK BOARD IN SESSION,” shows bidding for stocks during a panic when major stocks fell 8-10% in a day, “and fortunes were made and lost between ten o’clock in the morning, and four of the afternoon.” Apparently, the biggest problem was speculation in stocks, and it is said that a great many merchants do so regularly hoping to make a quick killing (has anything really changed?). Here are some of the gems from the mesmerizing article on the Stock Exchange and Panic: “There are perhaps a hundred and fifty members altogether. Each pays $500 entrance fee, and is balloted for.” “The normal business of the Board is to effect the sales and purchases of stocks required by the outside public.”

Inside we find amazing sketches of Central Africa, so much of it just then being explored, and also plenty of discussion on the slavery question.

16 pages, complete, and in superb condition. A rare Volume I issue of Harper’s. This would make a GREAT gift for a broker! Frameable, too.

$275

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Posted by mmitchell | Filed Under All Historic Newspapers, American Expansion