De inbeelding heersseres van't rookverkopers-gild, maald Mississippi hier 't geen Vrankryks schat verspild.

Decorative print published in : Het groote tafereel der dwaasheid : vertoonende de opkomst, voortgang en ondergang der actie, bubbel en windnegotie, in Vrankryk, Engeland, en de Nederlanden, gepleegt in den jaare MDCCXX.
Title in English : "Fancy, the ruler of the guild of smoke-sellers, paints here Mississippi, which wastes France's treasures. "
A caricature in prose and verse satirizing the first truly international speculative crisis in the history of financial capitalism, the "Mississippi scheme" (1718-1720) of the French Compagnie d'Occident and the speculations it's stock that led to the complete ruin of many of its over-eager French, Dutch and English shareholders.
John Law (1671-1729), the son of an Edinburgh banker and successful financier who established the "Banque Générale" in France in 1715, founded the Compagnie de l'Occident for the exploitation of the resources of French Louisiana after Antoine Crozat had surrendered his charter in 1717. Law's reputation caused the stock to sell readily. The organization soon enlarged the scope of its activities by absorbing other commercial companies, its name then being changed to the 'Company of the Indies.' Enormous profits were anticipated, and the increasing demand for its stock led to wild speculation.
The anticipated immense and immediate profits were not realized, and soon the scheme revealed itself as a purely speculative venture.
In 1720, the company failed, the 'bubble' bust, and the stockholders lost their entire investment, many being completely ruined.
You may read more about "Het Groote Tafereel der Dwaasheid," or "The Great Mirror of Folly" or view several of the seventy-four plates from this book.