designed to appear as scattered papers on a desk are depictions of traders crowding streets and coffee houses. There is also a playing card, a poem entitled: Bubble Poem and a copy of the London Gazette

The Bubblers Medley

Men in three cornered hats and suits of the time period clamor in a square, throwing stock shares while a large ledger stands in the center announcing prices

The Wind-Buyers, Who for Wind, Lose Money and Goods, and Ruin Their Wives and Children

Anonymous

1720

Etching and engraving

This popular print marks one of the first images of the stock exchange as a site of emotional turmoil. In a colonnaded court evocative of the Amsterdam Bourse, traders react to the fluctuating prices of insurance ventures, coffee, and other commodities advertised on the banner. The individuals at right, including one who tears out his hair, complain of sickness, sleeplessness, and bankruptcy. Conversely, the grinning man at left delights in his windfall. The presence of a distant woman behind him suggests the threat to the traditional patriarchal order posed by marketplace opportunity. From the overhead niches, Fortuna and a goddess of plenty disseminate “youth,” “beauty,” “long life,” and other promises that prove just as ephemeral as the commerce in wind.

Holding Division: The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints, and Photographs

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The New York Public Library believes that this item is in the public domain under the laws of the United States, but did not make a determination as to its copyright status under the copyright laws of other countries. This item may not be in the public domain under the laws of other countries.