Merchant Princes and Charlatans or Makers of Money?: Decoding Icons of Nineteenth Century British and International Finance

Description

This book provides a critical analysis of visual images of British and international finance during the nineteenth century. Its focus is on the financiers themselves, contrasting the depiction of the respectable Merchant Princes with the less than perfect charlatans (white-collar criminals) who defrauded investors of millions. The breakdown of trust between financiers and investors that evolved during this period is represented visually in depictions of the emotional response of investors to the uncertain financial climate. Throughout the book a PEARL methodology has been used to critique the images reflecting the impact of any Publisher’s political bias, the Editorial and Artistic techniques used to convey the messages in the images, and the Legal context (especially a concern in countries such as France and Germany where censorship was strict). The book concludes that white-collar criminals were invariably secretly admired in Britain, and rarely severely satirised. Similarly, Merchant Princes were depicted favourably in Britain as members of the ruling elite during the latter half of the century. This is contrasted with the more extreme anti-monopolistic images in the US and the extreme anti-Semitic treatment of Jewish financiers in France and Germany. Acknowledgements Key Books/Articles Per Chapter Key Words Contents About the Author Abbreviations List of Figures List of Tables 1 Introduction 2 Financial Context 2.1 Introduction 2.2 Financial Crises and Their Causes 2.3 Gambling and Speculation 2.4 The Impact of Government Laissez-Faire Business Policies 2.5 Banking and Corporate Law Regulation 2.6 Emerging Role of the Bank of England 2.7 The Role of the Press 2.8 Business Morality 2.9 Gentlemanly Capitalists 2.10 The Financial Events to Be Covered 2.11 Conclusion 3 Visual Context 3.1 Introduction 3.2 Image Analysis 3.2.1 PEARL Template 3.2.2 Publisher/Political Bias 3.2.3 Editorial Input 3.2.4 Artistic Style Overlap Between Cartoonists and Painters Stylistic Devices Photographs/Portraits 3.2.5 Readership 3.2.6 Legal 3.3 Image Theory 3.3.1 Use as Historical Evidence 3.3.2 Cartoonists’ Armoury 3.3.3 Memory—Repetition 3.4 The International Dimension 3.4.1 British Caricature 3.4.2 French Caricature 3.4.3 German Caricature 3.4.4 US Caricature 3.5 Financial Iconography 3.5.1 Research into Pre Nineteenth-Century Examples 3.5.2 Research into Nineteenth-Century Examples 3.6 Literature and Finance 3.7 Conclusion 4 The Merchant Princes and the Makers of Money 4.1 Introduction 4.2 Pre-Victorian Era 4.2.1 Background on Representations of Financial Figures During the Pre-Victorian Period 4.2.2 Nathan Rothschild 4.2.3 Harriot Coutts 4.3 Victorian Era 4.3.1 The Caricatures in Vanity Fair 4.3.2 The Rothschilds Lionel Nathan Rothschild 4.3.3 The Barings Lord Revelstoke Mr Liddderdale 4.3.4 Other Bankers and Financiers Sir Ernest Cassel The Retail Bankers The Private Bankers The Prime Ministers Other Chancellors of the Exchequer The Stockbrokers The Gamblers 4.4 Conclusion 5 The Charlatans 5.1 Introduction 5.2 Pre-Victorian Figures 5.2.1 Lord Cochrane 5.3 Victorian Figures 5.3.1 George Hudson 5.3.2 Leopold Redpath 5.3.3 Albert Grant 5.3.4 Harry Benson 5.3.5 CGB Directors 5.3.6 Harry Marks 5.3.7 Jabez Balfour 5.3.8 Ernest Hooley 5.4 Conclusion 6 Financial Iconography 6.1 Introduction 6.2 The Iconography 6.2.1 Balloons/puffs 6.2.2 Frenzy 6.2.3 Financial Institutions 6.2.4 Stock Exchange Terminology 6.2.5 Victims/villains 6.3 Conclusion 7 Women 7.1 Introduction 7.1.1 The Role of Women Bankers, Philanthropists Goddesses of Justice The Old Lady of Threadneedle Street Investors Marriage 7.2 Bankers, Philanthropists 7.2.1 Harriot Coutts 7.2.2 Angela Burdett-Coutts 7.3 Goddesses 7.4 The Old Lady of Threadneedle Street 7.5 Investors 7.6 Marriage 7.7 Conclusion 8 The Other 8.1 Introduction 8.2 Pre-Victorian 8.2.1 The Jews Matchstick Figures Crude Caricature 8.3 Victorian 8.3.1 The Rothschilds 8.3.2 Other Jewish Financiers Baron Hirsch Lionel Louis Cohen Disraeli 8.4 European 8.4.1 Anti-Semitism 8.4.2 Germany 8.4.3 France 8.4.4 USA 8.5 Jews and Money 8.6 The Scots 8.7 The Irish 8.8 Conclusion 9 The Law 9.1 Introduction 9.2 Depiction of the Emotional Response 9.2.1 The Image of the Stocks 9.2.2 The Image of the Goddess of Justice 9.3 Depiction of the Legal Process 9.3.1 Leopold Redpath 9.3.2 The Trial of the Scotland Yard Detectives (the Harry Benson Case) 9.3.3 The CGB Failure 9.3.4 Jabez Balfour 9.3.5 Ernest Hooley 9.4 Cross-Over Between Realism and Comedy 9.4.1 Frith 9.4.2 Sullivan 9.5 Conclusion 10 Conclusion 10.1 Themes 10.1.1 The Charlatans and Merchant Princes 10.1.2 Iconography 10.1.3 International 10.1.4 Women 10.1.5 The Other 10.1.6 The Law 10.2 Pearl 10.2.1 Publishers’ Political Bias 10.2.2 Editorial Techniques 10.2.3 Artistic Techniques 10.2.4 Readers’ Response 10.2.5 Legal 10.3 Future Areas of Research Appendix 1: Analysis of Moon-Rise and Sun-Set Stages in Review Description of Print The Title(s) Publisher Artist Date Size Reader Major Themes Historical Context Artistic Devices Juxtaposition (Paper v Gold/Sun vs Moon) Moon-Shine John Bull Geographical Turn Conclusion Appendix 2: List of Victorian Periodicals Appendix 3: Analysis of Vanity Fair Caricatures