The Wall Street Curmudgeon has been collecting investment books for over 30 years. The collection spans three centuries and includes the most prominent and noteworthy rare and scarce documents and important first and early editions on risk and speculation, bubbles, panics and crashes, market timing systems and methods of operating, stock swindles, and related histories and biographies published both in America and on the Continent. 

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1. (Anonymous) THE ART OF INVESTING. By A New York Broker. New York: D. Appleton, 1888. 8vo, 198, tables, (10 publisher’s ads) pp. Green linen lettered in gilt, very good.
>>First Edition of an investment manual with chapters on government and municipal bonds, railroad and mining stocks, and speculation on the New York, Philadelphia, Boston and Baltimore exchanges. Authored by a broker who "prefers to avoid the suspicion of using this publication as an advertisement of his business." 

2. (Anonymous) "BARD." AHEAD OF THE TICKER. New York: Serial Book Company, 1901. 8vo. 5 l pp. Grey paper wrappers printed in brown with illustration tipped onto front cover. Very Good.
>>"Bard," a financial writer who published market predictions, here tells an amusing trading anecdote replete with many lessons.

3. (Anonymous) "IMA LAMB." IS JESSE JAMES THE FATHER OF WALL STREET? Or mentally Chloroformed and Legally Robbed in Wailing Wall Street. San Francisco: Ima Lamb Book Co., 9 [n.d. 1929] 8vo, 18pp. Orange pictorial paper wrappers printed in red and black. Very good.
>>Cynical treatise takes Wall Street to task for the recent downdraft in prices. Includes a satirical dictionary of stock market terminology.

4. (Anonymous) TEN MINUTES ADVICE TO DIRECTORS OF JOINT STOCK COMPANIES. London: Reprinted from "The Globe," 6th September, 1858. 8vo, 8pp. Tan paper wrappers. Fine.
>>A lawyer makes the case for corporate honesty and fairness with respect to the interests of shareholders.

5. BAGEHOT, Walter. LOMBARD STREET; A Description of the Money Market. New York: Scribner’s, 1899. 8vo, viii, 359pp. Diced brown cloth ruled and lettered in black and gilt, inscription on front pastedown, otherwise fine.
>>First published in 1873, the work "describes the institutional structure of the English money market in early 1870’s and the operation of the money market. A classic that is valuable in the study of the American money market of the post-Civil War period" (Larson 1567). 

6. BENNER, Samuel. BENNER’S PROPHECIES OF FUTURE UPS AND DOWNS IN PRICES. What Years to Make Money on Pig-Iron, Hogs, Corn, and Provisions. Cincinnati: Robert Clarke, 1884. Small 8vo, ix, 169pp, charts, tables. Brown pictorial cloth decorated and lettered in gilt. A fine copy.
>>Third Edition Revised, (the first published in 1875). "Benner was probably the earliest significant effort at business forecasting in the United States which was based on the examination of specific factors over a period of time in the past… chiefly 1840’s to 1870’s -- pig-iron, hog, corn, and cotton price cycles; a consideration of their length -- corn and hogs, 11 years; pig-iron 27; general business conditions, 54 -- and regularity, the cause of which may be found in the solar system; and a section on panics and the relation of ‘panic cycles’ to ‘pig-iron cycles.’ This early, crude attempt at forecasting attracted much attention and circulated widely among businessmen. The author was an Ohio farmer" (Larson 4013).

7. BENNER, Samuel. BENNER'S PROPHECIES OF FUTURE UPS AND DOWNS IN PRICES. Cincinnati: Robert Clarke, 1899. Small 8vo, ix, 233pp, charts, tables. Green pictorial cloth decorated and lettered in gilt, lacking free front endpaper, otherwise very good. >>Twelfth Edition Revised. (See above)

8. BIDWELL, Austin. FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE VIA THE PRIMROSE WAY. Hartford: Bidwell Publishing, 1895. 8vo, xvi, (2), 538pp, illustrated. Blue cloth, decorated in blind and lettered in gilt., ownership signature on free front endpaper, otherwise a fine copy. >>First Edition with 30 full-page illustrations, wherein the author recounts his criminal exploits which included a £1 million forgery on the Bank of England. For his brother's side of the story, see George Bidwell's Forging His Chains below.

9. BIDWELL, George. FORGING HIS CHAINS. Hartford: S.S. Scranton, 1888. 8vo, (2), 560pp, illustrated. Maroon cloth, decorated in blind and gilt. A fine copy. >>First Edition wherein the author recounts his criminal exploits which included a one million pound forgery on the Bank of England. For his brother's side of the story, see Austin Bidwell's Wall Street to Newgate via the Primrose Way above.

10. BlGOT, Gustave. QUELQUES MOTS SUR LA BOURSE ET LES OPERATIONS FINANCIERES. Le Mans: Typographie Edmond Monnoyer, 1881. 8vo, (2), 57, (l)pp. Original wrappers, small tear on back cover, otherwise very good. >>Obly Edition, inscribed by the author. A lecture by Bigot, a banker from Le Mans, on the subject of stock market exchanges, and profitable financial operations, with many examples.

11. BOESKY, Ivan. MERGER MANIA. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston,1985.
>>First Edition. Just a few days after publication, the publisher recalled all copies and destroyed them as the author was indicted and soon after convicted of the greatest violations of insider trading laws in history.

12. BRACE, Harrison. THE VALUE OF ORGANIZED SPECULATION. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1913. 8vo, 290 pp. Diced maroon cloth, spine lettered in gilt.

13. BRADY, Cyrus Townsend. THE CORNER IN COFFEE. New York: G.W. Dillingham, 1904. 8vo, 298pp, illustrated. Green pictorial cloth decorated in red, white and gilt. Very good.
>>First Edition fiction, revolving around a corner in the pits engineered to run in the shorts. 

14. CLARK, J.F.  The Society in Search of Truth; or, Stock Gambling in San Francisco. Oakland: Published by the Author, 1878. 8vo, viii, 326pp. Green linen decorated and lettered in blind and gilt, a fine copy.
>>First Edition of a scarce novel. Cowan, Biblio. of Calif., p.127. Wright III, 1068. 

15. CLEWS, Henry. FIFTY YEARS IN WALL STREET. New York: Irving Publishing Co., 1908. Thick 8vo,1, 1063, (6 publisher's ads) pp., illustrated. Diced green cloth lettered and decorated in gilt with Clew's coat of arms featuring a bull & bear. Inscription on front flyleaf, otherwise a fine copy. >>First Edition thus, a massive revision and enlargement of the earlier work, Twenty-Eight Years in Wall Street, and now including many photographs. "An interesting collection, from personal observation, reading, and hearsay, of fact and judgment about men and methods in corporation finance, investment banking, speculation, panics, and political events, by the founder of a prominent private banking firm. Book deals with a period in American history when ethical codes were at their lowest point. While this book is a valuable contemporary source of information about Wall Street and important figures in American business, it is also illuminating evidence of the ideas and reactions of a banker who was perhaps better informed and more judicious in his judgment of business than most contemporary writers" (Larson 1625).

16. CLEWS, Henry. TWENTY-EIGHT YEARS IN WALL STREET. New York: Irving Publishing Co., 1888. 8vo, xxiv, 717, (21 ads) pp., illustrated. Dark green cloth lettered and decorated in gilt with Clew's coat of arms featuring a bull & bear, beveled boards, covers slightly worn, hinges starting, water stain at lower outside extremity not affecting text. Still, a very good copy. >>First Edition. "An interesting collection, from personal observation, reading, and hearsay, of fact and judgment about men and methods in corporation finance, investment banking, speculation, panics, and political events, by the founder of a prominent private banking firm. Book deals with a period in American history when ethical codes were at their lowest point. While this book is a valuable contemporary source of information about Wall Street and important figures in American business, it is also illuminating evidence of the ideas and reactions of a banker who was perhaps better informed and more judicious in his judgment of business than most contemporary writers. Later revised and enlarged as Fifty Years in Wall Street (Larson 1625).

17. CLEWS, Henry. TWENTY-EIGHT YEARS IN WALL STREET. Revised and Enlarged By A Resume Of The Past Fifteen Years, Making A Record Of Forty-Three Years In Wall Street... New York: J.S. Ogilvie Publishing Co, 1903. Thick 8vo, xxiv, 724, (6 publisher's ads) pp., illustrated. Dark green cloth lettered and decorated in gilt with Clew's coat of arms featuring a bull and bear, small tear at top of spine, otherwise fine. >>Second Edition, revised and enlarged.

18. CLEWS, Henry. THE WALL STREET POINT OF VIEW. New York: Silver, Burdett, 1900. 8vo, xiv, (1), 290pp. Black pictorial cloth, spine lettered in gilt, covers a little spotted, otherwise fine. >>First Edition, Presentation Copy, inscribed by the author to General Lloyd Brice. Clews (1834-1923) made a fortune as a financier and private banker during the Civil War selling government bonds. He published a weekly circular and was currency adviser to the Government of Japan.

19. COLE, Arthur H. THE GREAT MIRROR OF FOLLY: An Economic-Bibliographical Study. Boston: Harvard 1949. 8vo, 41pp. Terra-cotta paper covers. label tipped to front cover. Fine.
>>Out-of-print treatise on the stout and extravagant Dutch folio published in 1720, which was made up largely of satirical plates, reprints of comedies and satires, and descriptions of bubble playing-cards. Complete with a detailed bibliography of the work. 

20. CRUMP, Arthur. THE THEORY OF STOCK EXCHANGE SPECULATION. London: Longmans, Green, Reader & Dyer, 1874. 8vo, (1 ad) vii, 153pp. Embossed maroon cloth lettered in gilt, beveled boards. Very good.
>>Third Edition includes chapters on recurring causes that influence the markets, the right temperament for professional speculators, "tips" and other pitfalls, and explanations of technical terms including "puts and calls." (Mottram, A History of Financial Speculation, p.308) 

21. DERICQUEHEM.  GUIDE des SPECULATEURS a la BOURSE… Paris: Delaunay, 1815. 8vo, (4), xxiv, 202pp, tables. Modern red paste-paper boards, black calf spine label lettered in gilt. A fine copy.
>>First Edition of a very early investment guide includes annuity and interest tables, gold, currency and calendar conversions, and tables of dividends paid by the Banque de France. 

22. DIES, Edward Jerome.  THE PLUNGER, A Tale of the Wheat Pit. New York: Covici-Friede, 1929. 8vo, 249pp, illustrated. Wheat buckram covers, back cover slightly soiled, otherwise very good.
>>First Edition, the true story of "Old Hutch" (Benjamin Hutchinson), the King of the Wheat Pit in the 1860s. 

23. DILLON, John J.  HIND-SIGHTS: Looking Backward at Swindles. 1911.

24. EDWARDS, Robert D. and MAGEE, John, Jr. TECHNICAL ANALYSIS OF STOCK TRENDS. Springfield, MA: Stock Trend Service, 1948. 8vo, blue cloth. Fine in a slightly chipped dust jacket.
>>First Edition of the renowned bible of technical analysis.

25. EMERY, Henry Crosby. SPECULATION ON THE STOCK AND PRODUCE EXCHANGES OF THE UNITED STATES. New York: Columbia University, 1896. 8vo, vi, 230, (4ads)pp., tables. Brown cloth, spine lettered in gilt. Very good.
>>First Edition. "Recognizing the growing importance of speculation in business and the growing criticism of it, the author wrote this book to present accurately the organization of stock and produce exchanges, the methods of doing business on the exchanges, and the economic function of speculation on the exchanges. Recognizes evils of speculation and discusses some of legislation to curb it, but holds that adequate understanding of evils would require historical study of deals and manipulations in the speculative market and a wide experience in business" (Larson 1590). "Still stands as one of the greatest books on speculation written in the English language. Very scarce" (James L. Fraser, P.S. What Do You Think of the Market?). 

26. EVANS, D. Morier. (1819-1874) FACTS, FAILURES, AND FRAUDS: Revelations, Financial, Mercantile, Criminal. London: Groombridge, 1859. Thick 8vo, viii, 727pp. Original embossed red cloth, covers professionally rebacked, spine lettered in gilt, bookplate. Very good.
>>First Edition of a scarce work intended by the author, a financial journalist, "to bring together a complete record of the astounding frauds and forgeries, with other attendant circumstances, which have of late so frequently startled the commercial community from their propriety."

28. FORTUNE Magazine. Volume 1, Number 1: February, 1930.

29. FOWLER, Wm. Worthington. TEN YEARS IN WALL STREET; or Revelations of Inside Life and Experience on ’Change. Worthington, Dustin, 1870. Thick 8vo, xx, 536, (1 ad)pp, illustrated. Green cloth decorated and lettered in gilt, covers and first and last few leaves slightly water damaged not affecting the text pages, otherwise internally fine.
>>First Edition, illustrated by Arthur Lumley. "Including the histories, mysteries, and men of the ‘street’; the Stock Exchange, the gold room, the speculations in stocks, gold, governments, pork, petroleum, grain, etc.; sketches from the life of the noted speculators and money kings, with anecdotes and incidents of their careers; the women who speculate; the great rises and panics, and how they are produced; the personal experiences of the author; the famous pools, rings, cliques, and corners, and how and by whom they were formed; a description of the battles of the giants, and of the great gold ring of 1869…‘all of which I saw, and part of which I was,’ since 1857." (From the title page). The author was a grandson of Noah Webster and a member of the Connecticut Legislature. "The book is full of interest. Its descriptions of the tremendous games of speculation, the rise and fall of fortune, the reckless regard and desperate adventure which shocked and disturbed the world are exceedingly graphic and spirited" (John G. Whittier). "Emphasis on the dark side of speculation and Wall Street; an early expression of the evils appearing in our then rapidly changing and expanding business system and the popular shock over these evils. Strong ethical slant" (Larson 1626).

30. FOWLER, William Worthington. TWENTY YEARS OF INSIDE LIFE IN WALL STREET, Or Revelations Of The Personal Experience Of A Speculator, Including Sketches Of The Leading Operators and Money Kings, The Great Rises and Panics, The Mysteries of the Rings, Pools, and Corners, And How Fortunes Are Made And Lost On 'Change. New York: Orange Judd, 1880. 8vo, xvii, 576pp, illustrated. Green cloth decorated in blind and lettered in gilt. Very good. >>Second Edition, revised and updated, first issued in 1870 as Ten Years in Wall Street. (See above) Larson 1626.

31. FRANCIS, John. (1810-1886) CHRONICLES AND CHARACTERS OF THE STOCK EXCHANGE. London: Willoughby, 1849. 8vo, (4), vi, 386, (10 publisher’s ad) pp. Tan polished half calf, marbled boards, spine elaborately decorated and lettered in gilt, t.e.g., front hinge weak, otherwise a fine copy in a contemporary binding.
>>First Edition, Presentation Copy, inscribed by the author, who entered the Bank of England in 1833 and became chief accountant in 1870. His Chronicles and Characters of the Stock Exchange form an interesting anecdotal analysis of the economic "anatomy" of the middle of the 19th century in which he outlines financial history and speculation and describes the establishment and growth of the royal and stock exchanges. Goldsmiths 36339; Masui, p. 123; Mottram, p. 308.

33. GIBBONS, J.S. THE BANKS OF NEW YORK, THEIR DEALERS, THE CLEARING HOUSE, AND THE PANIC OF 1857. New York: D. Appleton, 1872. 8vo, xii, 399, (4 publisher’s ads) pp, illustrated, charts. Green cloth decorated and lettered in blind and gilt. A fine copy.
>>First Edition of one of the first books published on the American banking system, "…a valuable book, which is our best over-all description of bank operation at the middle of the (19th) century, and which, published in many subsequent editions, was long a recognized authority on American bank administration" (Larson 1736).

34. GIBSON, George Rutledge. THE STOCK EXCHANGES OF LONDON, PARIS, AND NEW YORK. New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1889. 8vo, (8), 125, illustrated. Red cloth, spine lettered in gilt. Fine.
>>First Edition, includes chapters on the history and operating methods of each of the exchanges, technical terms, speculation, and "the so-called bucket-shops."

35. GOWIN, Enoch Burton. TECHNICAL CONDITION OF THE MARKET.  New York: American Securities Service, 1925. 8vo, (4), 50, (4) pp., charts. Brown paper wrappers printed in gold. Very good.
>>A basic technical treatise by a security market analyst on forecasting price trends, analyzing the technical condition of markets, short selling, and manipulation, including a quiz with answers inside uncut pages. 

36. GRAHAM, Benjamin & DODD, David L. SECURITY ANALYSIS. New York: Whittlesey House, 1934. 8vo, xi, 725pp. Black cloth ruled in blind, spine ruled and lettered in gilt. Fine. A remarkably clean, bright copy.
>>First Edition, second printing. "A critical work dealing with ‘concepts, methods, standards, principles, and, above all, with logical reasoning.’ Contains considerable reference to past experience. A good introduction to the subject" (Larson 1944). Considered the Bible of fundamental analysis.

37. GREGORY, George. HINTS TO SPECULATORS & INVESTORS IN STOCKS AND SHARES. London: George Gregory & Co., 1889. 8vo, 136pp, illustrated, tables. Pictorial green cloth covers embossed in blind and gilt. Very good.
>>Fifth Edition, revised of a guide issued gratis "to afford our many clients and the public full knowledge of every method, operation, and term in use amongst jobbers and dealers…." Includes chapters on the stock exchanges of London, Paris, Berlin, Vienna, and New York, as well as sections covering mining stocks, options, and tables showing bank rates, share prices and dividends for many years.

38. HARPER, Henry Howard. The PSYCHOLOGY OF SPECULATION: The Human Element in Stock Market Transactions. Boston: Privately Printed, 1926. 8vo, 106pp., illustrated. Light green paper backed boards, spine paper label printed in red, t.e.g. A fine copy.
>>First Edition, illustrated by Haydon Jones. "…A rare dissertation on the difficulties of speculation…the sum of Harper’s comments serve to put the speculative ventures of man in their proper perspective. He lays the blame for failure where it belongs--with the speculator. The trader can get no sympathy from the author when he tries to shift the blame for his mistakes onto either his broker or the stock exchange. The enlightened speculator must enter the game with full knowledge that he brings with him the source of his own destruction. Financial suicide is almost impossible to avoid because of the psychological handicaps of man’s own nature" Zerden, p. 50, The Best Books on the Stock Market).

39. HILL, John, Jr. GOLD BRICKS OF SPECULATION: A Study of Speculation and Its Counterfeits, and an Expose of the Methods of the Bucketshop and "Get-Rich-Quick" Swindles. Chicago: Lincoln Book Concern, 1904. 8vo, xviii, 498pp., illustrated, tables. Embossed green cloth lettered in green, spine lettered in gilt, t.e.g., presentation copy inscribed by the author. Fine.
>>First Edition. "Author was a member of the Chicago Board of Trade. Includes specific cases. Concerns bucketshops, swindlers, tipsters, and fake brokers, ‘pools,’ stock promotions, ‘playing the races,’ and fake trade journals, bankers, mercantile agencies, stock exchanges, etc.; also chapters on Chicago’s growth as a grain market, function of speculation, market quotations, position of exchanges on regulation. Interesting and valuable exposition of tricky and fraudulent operation in stock and produce markets" (Larson 1593).

40. HUDSON, William Cadwalader. J. P. DUNBAR. A Story of Wall Street. New York: B. W. Dodge, 1906. 8vo, iv, 441pp. Embossed grey pictorial cloth decorated in white and gilt. Fine.
>>First Edition, rare stock market fiction in a handsome pictorial cover depicting a bull and bear battling over a ticker tape machine.

41. HYDE, H. Montgomery.  JOHN LAW. The History of an Honest Adventurer. [Amsterdam]: Home & Van Thal, 1948. 8vo, frontis., 204pp. Orange cloth, near fine.

42. [JACKSON, Frederick]. A WEEK IN WALL STREET By One Who Knows. New York: Published for the Booksellers, 1841. 8vo, x, (2), 152pp. Contemporary boards, linen backed spine with worn paper label, first two leaves foxed, otherwise fine.
>>First Edition of "a rambling account, using fictitious names, of how and by whom business was carried on in Wall Street, written by one who obviously knew the Street from the inside but had ‘flunked.’ While the author wrote to expose the evils of the stock market and of banking, the book, if used critically, has great value as an early and rare picture" (Larson 1627). Kress C.5511. Wright I, 1466.

43. JACKSON, Franklin Paul. SELECTING THE RIGHT STOCK. Los Angeles: Chartistics Library, 1946. 4to, 44pp. Paper wrappers.
>>Inscribed by the author.

44. JUGLAR, Clement. A BRIEF HISTORY OF PANICS AND THEIR PERIODICAL OCCURRENCE IN THE UNITED STATES. New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1893. 8vo, (4), 150pp, tables (1 folding). Brown cloth lettered in black and gilt. Ownership signatures on front paste-down endpaper and on dedication page, otherwise fine.
>>First Edition in English, translated from the French and edited by DeCourcy W. Thom, and including his essay setting forth the indications of approaching panic. "…Chiefly an historical and statistical treatment. Considers periodicity, phases and their characteristics, causes, remedies…W.C. Mitchell called Juglar ‘the most distinguished pioneer’ in exact observation and description of crises and depressions" (Larson 4569-70). 

45. KING, Moses. VIEWS OF THE NEW YORK STOCK EXCHANGE 1897-98. New York: Moses King,1898. Large 4to, 98pp, illustrated. Green pictorial cloth elaborately decorated and gilt stamped. Over l 000 photographs of the Exchange and surrounding buildings and environs, as well as photographic portraits of the Exchange members and other prominent Wall Street financiers of the day.

46. [LATHAM, pub.] COTTON MOVEMENT AND FLUCTUATION 1898 TO 1903. New York: Latham, Alexander, 1903.8vo, 156, (1 ad), (9)pp, illustrated. Green pictorial cloth elaborately decorated and lettered in black, white and gilt, a.e.g. A fine copy.
>>Thirtieth Annual Edition including an article reviewing the cotton trade throughout the world for the prior year, tables of receipts, consumption, stocks, exports and fluctuations, and the annual crop report. "It is one of the handsomest of trade publications altogether the book is an elegant example of modern business typography" (Boston Herald).

47. LAUCK, W. Jett. CAUSES OF THE PANIC OF 1893. Boston: Houghton, Mifflin, 1907. 8vo, xiii, 122pp. Diced red cloth, spine lettered in gilt. Fine.
>>First Edition, printed at the Riverside Press. "Causes of panics of 1890 and 1893, with examination of financial, 1872-93, and industrial, 1884-93, movements at home and abroad. Based on commercial periodicals, business reports, government publications, and secondary works…" (Larson 4520).

48. LE BON, Gustave. THE CROWD: A Study of the Popular Mind. London: T. Fisher Unwin, 1913. 8vo, 239pp. Red cloth lettered in gilt, bookplates. Small tears at top and bottom of spine, otherwise fine.
>>Early English printing of this classic on crowd psychology.

49. LEFEVRE, Edwin. REMINISCENCES OF A STOCK OPERATOR. New York: George H. Doran, 1923. 8vo, 299pp. Tan cloth, spine stamped in green, decorative blind title on front cover, slightly soiled, internally fine.
>>First Edition of the most-widely acclaimed stock market classic of all time.

50. Lefevre, Edwin. The Making of a Stockbroker. New York: George H. Doran, 1925. 8vo, 341 pp. Maroon cloth lettered in gilt. Dust jacket chipped at top of spine. Publisher's advert for Reminiscences of a Stock Operator laid in.
>>First Edition. 

51. Lefevre, Edwin. Wall Street Stories.  New York: Harper & Brothers, 1916. 8v0, 224 pp. Olive cloth lettered in gilt. 

52. Lefevre, Edwin. Sampson Rock of Wall Street.  New York: Harper & Brothers, 1907.  8vo, 394 pp., illus.  Pictorial grey cloth decorated in black and gold.

53. Lefevre, Edwin. The Golden Flood. New York: McClure, Phillips & Co., 1905. 8vo, 199 pp, illustrated. Red pictorial cloth decorated in gold. 

54. Lefevre, Edwin. Simonetta. New York: George H. Doran, 1919. 8vo, 223 pp. Blue cloth, paper label front cover, spine lettered in gilt. 

55. MacKAY, Charles. MEMOIRS OF EXTRAORDINARY POPULAR DELUSIONS AND THE MADNESS OF CROWDS. London: Richard Bentley, 1841. 3 vols, 8vo, vi, (2), 400; (8), 406; (8), 404pp, illustrated. Half red morocco, marbled boards, spines elaborately decorated and lettered in gilt, raised bands, t.e.g., small monogram book label. A nearly fine set in contemporary bindings.
>>First Edition of the classic study of crowd psychology, a compilation of human folly throughout the ages. "The memoirs of the South Sea madness and the Mississippi delusion are more complete and copious than are to be found elsewhere; and the same may be said of the Witch Mania…" (preface). The book "remains to this day a vital source book of man’s folly and his inhumanity to man…It will remain forever as man’s island of understanding in a sea of unrestrained desire and confusion" Zerden, Best Books on the Stock Market, p.78.

56. MacKAY, Charles. MEMOIRS OF EXTRAORDINARY POPULAR DELUSIONS AND THE MADNESS OF CROWDS. London: Office of the National Illustrated Library, 1852. 2 vols, 8vo, viii, 303; vi, 322pp, extra-illustrated. Full red morocco, covers and spines richly decorated and lettered in gilt, raised bands, all edges gilt. A fine set.
>>Second Edition in the publishers presentation binding, profusely illustrated with portraits and engravings.

57. MacKay, Charles. MEMOIRS OF EXTRAORDINARY POPULAR DELUSIONS AND THE MADNESS OF CROWDS. London: George Routledge, 1869. 8vo, viii, 322pp, illustrated. Green cloth decorated in blind, spine lettered in gilt. Very good.
>>Third Edition, extra-illustrated with numerous portraits and engravings.

58. THE MAGAZINE OF WALL STREET. [WYCKOFF, Richard] fOURTEEN METHODS OF OPERATING IN THE STOCK MARKET. 1916. Small 4th, 170 pp. Maroon calf cover titled in gilt.
>>First Edition. 

59. MARTIN, Joseph G. TWENTY-ONE YEARS IN THE BOSTON STOCK MARKET, or Fluctuations Therein…with the Semi-Annual Dividends Paid from Commencement of the Boston Banks, Insurance, Rail-Road and Manufacturing Companies; Savings Banks; State, City and Miscellaneous Stocks; Consols and Bank of England Stock from 1730, with Dividends Since 1694, and Rates of Interest, Quotations of Exchange on England the Past Thirty-Four Years, The Bank of France, Etc., With Copious Notes. Boston: Redding, 1856. 8vo, 80pp, tables. Contemporary cloth over marbled boards, bookplate of Pope John Paul II, boards worn at edges, otherwise a fine copy.
>>"First Edition contains tables of securities prices and dividends for 1835-56…This work is a mine of information on the Boston money and investment market. Besides information indicated in the title, gives date of establishment of corporations, sketches the Boston Clearing House, Stock Exchange, etc., and contains informational advertisements. Business annals gives miscellaneous information" (Larson 1639).

60. MEDBERY, James K. MEN AND MYSTERIES OF WALL STREET.  Boston: Fields, Osgood, 1870. 8vo, iv, (2), 344pp, illustrated, tables. Green cloth handsomely decorated and lettered in gilt, beveled boards, light library stamp, otherwise a fine copy.
>>First Edition of "a valuable book on the machinery, methods, and language of the stock and gold markets and on bankers and brokers on Wall Street about 1870. Much on individual firms and men, and on types of investors and speculators. Also on panics, 1837-60. Gives an excellent picture of one aspect of individual capitalism. One of the better works on Wall Street, written by an insider" (Larson 1628). "In a remarkably well written book, Medbery captures the mood of the market and the speculative flavor and excitement of the era…" (Zerden, Best Books on the Stock Market, pp. 78-79).

61. [Mississippi Bubble]. Het Groote Tafereel der Waasheid….[THE GREAT MIRROR OF FOLLY, SHOWING THE RISE, PROGRESS, AND DOWNFALL OF THE BUBBLE IN STOCKS AND WINDY SPECULATION, ESPECIALLY IN FRANCE, ENGLAND, AND THE NETHERLANDS IN THE YEAR 1720, Being a collection of all the terms and proposals of the incorporated companies for insurance, navigation, trade, &c. in the Netherlands…With prints, comedies, and poems published by various amateurs, scoffing at this terrible and deceitful trade, by which various families and persons of high and low condition were ruined in this year, and possessions lost, and honest trade stopped, not only in France and England but in the Netherlands]. [Amsterdam: D. Onder de Linden], 1720. Folio, 25, [1], [1], 76 engraved plates, 52, 31, [1], [8], 10pp. Modern quarter morocco and cloth. Tear in one plate professionally repaired, minor scattered stains confined chiefly to the terminal text leaves (and not affecting the image areas of any of the plates). Small perforated library blind stamp, otherwise a fine copy of this fascinating book.
>>The very scarce First Edition of one of the great satirical plate books of the eighteenth century, directing its invective against the scheme of John Law and the Mississippi Company (the Mississippi Bubble), and its imitation in the Netherlands, where over 350 million guilders were collected for the establishment of economic colonies in Louisiana and Canada by the "Compagnie d’Occident." The Great Mirror of Folly has always been a bibliographically perplexing book; no two copies collate the same, and Sabin states that the complement of plates ranges from 60 to 74. However, this copy is of special note in that it includes 76 engraved plates, two of which are not called for on the engraved register of plates. The plates themselves are examples of excellent artistry, printed from copperplates on varying sizes and weights of paper, with the majority of them folding. Each of the plates incorporates some form of explanatory text, often in the form of satirical verse. "…An exceedingly curious collection of emblematic plates and caricatures…which illustrate the rise and fall of the great speculation…full of humor; many of them are exceedingly ludicrous, and some very obscene" (Sabin 28932). "Rarely does a single volume combine in itself so much economic interest and so many bibliographical puzzles. Of the volume’s real significance in economic literature there can be no doubt…There is scarcely another item just like it" (Cole, The Great Mirror of Folly, Kress Library). Both the British Museum and the Kress Library have variant issues of this volume.

62. MORTIMER, Thomas. EVERY MAN HIS OWN BROKER: Or, A Guide to the stock-Exchange. In Which The Nature of the several Funds, vulgarly called the Stocks, is clearly explained, and accurate computations are formed of the Average Value of East India Stock for several years, from the current year. The Mystery and Iniquity of Stock Jobbing is laid before the Public, in a New and Impartial Light. The Method of Transferring Stock, and of Buying and Selling; the several Government Securities, without the Assistance of a Broker, is made intelligible to all Persons concerned; and an Account is given of the Laws in Force relative to Brokers, Clerks of the Bank, &c. With Directions how to avoid the Losses that are frequently sustained by the Destruction of Bank Notes, India Bonds, &c. by Fire, and other Accidents. also, An Historical Account of the Origin, Progress, and present State of Public Credit, of the National Debt, both Principal and Interest, of Banking, and of the Sinking Fund; with Advice to Adventurers in the State-Lotteries. To which is added, A SUPPLEMENT, CONTAINING RULES for forming a Judgment of the real Causes of the Rise or Fall of the Stocks; new Observations on the Payment of Dividends; the Equation, and other useful Tables. London: G. G. J. and J. Robinson, 1791. 8vo, xxiv, 263pp, folding table. Full brown calf, red calf spine label lettered in gilt, edges sprinkled red. Title-page ownership signature and Table of Contents written in an elegant hand and dated 18 May 1794, inside free front endpaper. A fine copy.
>>"The Eleventh Edition, Considerably Improved." First published anonymously in 1761, each new edition was considerably altered and supplemented. An rare, early investment manual. Kress B.2162.

63. MUNSEY,  Frank A.  THE BOY BROKER: or Among the Kings of Wall Street. New York, 1888. 8vo, 243, (2 publisher's ads)  pp, illustrated. Pictorial green cloth decorated in black and gilt. Lower corner of back cover scuffed, otherwise very good.
>>First Edition, fictional account of a youth's coming of age in Wall Street.

64. NORRIS, Frank. THE PIT. The Epic of Wheat; A Story of Chicago. New York: Doubleday, Page, 1903. 8vo, 421pp. Embossed red cloth, decorated and lettered in gilt. Fine.
>>First Edition in book form, "A novel about speculation in wheat on the Chicago Board of Trade of the muckraker ‘school’ of literature concerned with business" (Larson 4858.) "Curtis Jadwin makes his way from the provinces to the city, but is snatched up by the Giant Despair and cast into the Valley of the Shadow of Death. His journey turns into a nightmarish fall from innocence and a frightening descent into the pit" (Westbrook, Wall Street and the American Novel, p.20).

65. PROUDHON, P.J. MANUEL du SPECULATEUR a La BOURSE. Paris: Librairie de Garnier Freres, 1857. 8vo, xii, 511, (8 ads) pp. Yellow paper wrappers, some light foxing throughout, otherwise very good.
>>Third edition of an early and thorough manual for trading on the Paris Bourse.

66. PUGH, Burton H. A BETTER WAY TO MAKE MONEY.  New York: Ronald Press, 1939. 8vo, xi, 303pp, charts. Blue-grey cloth, spine ruled and lettered in gilt. Fine.
>>First Edition. The author’s Triple Zone System for identifying low risk stock and commodity trades is detailed. Pugh authored a daily market service for fifteen years before publishing this work.

67. RHEA, Robert. THE DOW THEORY: An Explanation of its Development and An Attempt to Define its Usefulness as An Aid To Speculation. New York: Barron’s, 1932. 8vo, xi, 252pp. Black cloth, spine lettered in red, small tear at crown of spine, otherwise fine. A 12-page brochure laid-in.
>>First Edition, by "the third member of the triumvirate which professed the validity of the Dow Theory, Rhea followed Charles Dow and William P. Hamilton who both developed their theories at the Wall Street Journal. Rhea was confined to bed as an invalid for ten years. He made exhaustive studies of the Dow’s action and became firmly convinced that it was the only sure method of forecasting stock market movements. A good part of this book is devoted to the published wisdom of Hamilton, both from his Wall Street Journal editorials and The Stock Market Barometer" (Zerden, p.10, Best Books on the Stock Market). A 12-page brochure describing the author’s market letter, Dow Theory Comment, is laid in.

68. RICE, George Graham. MY ADVENTURES WITH YOUR MONEY. Boston: Richard G. Badger, 1913. 8vo, 363pp. Green buckram, slightly stained spine. Very good.
>>The author relates his experiences behind the scenes and exposes the work of stock promoters and manipulators. Rare.

69. RICHARDSON, Thomas D. WALL STREET BY THE BACK DOOR. New York: Wall Street Library, 1901. 8vo, 129pp, illustrated. Salmon cloth lettered in gilt. Fine.
>>First Edition, an expose of great speculators and their methods, with caricatures of Jay Gould, J.P. Morgan, Daniel Drew and others drawn by Homer C. Davenport.

70. ROLLINS, Montgomery. STOCKS AND THEIR MARKETPLACES. Boston: Financial Publishing Co., 1920. 16mc, 212 pp.

71. RUSSELL, William Ingraham. The Romance And Tragedy of a Widely Known Businessman of New york. By Himself. Baltimore: William I. Russell, 1913. 8vo, 271, (2 ads)pp, illustrated. Brown cloth lettered in gilt. Very good.
>>Third Edition, (first published in an autographed edition limited to 1000 copies in 1905), the story of the author’s rise from broker’s boy to recognized leadership in the trade with an income reaching far into the thousands; how his prosperity through the agency of the trusts and the market is changed into poverty and how a very few of those who were near to him in affluence befriended him in adversity. A heroic story in which the identity of his characters is not wholly concealed.

72. SAMSON, William E. THE MYSTERIES OF WALL STREET. A Complete Guide to Speculation in Stocks. Schenectady: S.G. Ford, 1884. 8vo, 196, (1 errata) pp. Embossed green cloth, gilt cover design of a bull charging a bear, cover lettered in gilt, near fine.
>>First Edition of an excellent early investment manual with chapters on speculative mania, bucket shops, margins and shorting, market corners, stops, options, straddles and spreads, and an extensive "Vocabulary of Terms."

73. SCHABACKER, R(ichard) W. Stock Market Theory and Practice. New York: B.C. Forbes, 1930. Thick 8vo, xxix, 875 pp., illustrated, folding maps and charts, bibliography. Blue cloth decorated in blind, spine lettered in gilt. A fine copy in the original dust jacket.
>>First Edition, sixth printing, "a comprehensive survey of current mechanism, practice, and theory by the financial editor of Forbes Magazine" (Larson 1598).

74. Schabacker, R(ichard) W. Stock Market Profits. New York: B.C. Forbes, 1934. 8vo, xxvii, 342pp., illustrated. Dark blue cloth decorated in blind, spine lettered in gilt. Fine, in the original dust jacket.
>>First Edition by the financial editor of Forbes Magazine and author of Stock Market Theory and Practice.

75. Securities and Exchange Commission. First Annual Report. Washington: US Government Printing Office, 1935. 8vo, vi, 91 pp., tables. Green paper wrappers. Near fine..
>>First annual report to Congress of the SEC.

76. Sherrod, Julian. Scapegoats. New York: Brewer, Warren & Putnam, 1931. 8v0, 127 pp.

77. SHULTZ, Burl E. THE SECURITIES MARKET And How It Works. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1942 8vo, ix, 433, illustrated, folding plates, tables. Blue cloth, spine lettered in gilt, inscribed by the author. Very good in a slightly worn dust jacket.
>>First Edition, signed, this textbook surveys the fundamental and technical aspects of the securities business, including the mechanics of exchange trading and brokerage office procedures. 

78. SMITH, Matthew Hale. Twenty Years Among the Bulls and Bears OF WALL STREET. Hartford: J.B. Burr, 1870. Thick 8vo, xxii, 557, (2 publisher’s ads)pp, illustrated. Green cloth decorated in blind and lettered in gilt, spine worn at top and bottom, otherwise a very good. Howes S639.
>>First Edition "deals with the work of Wall Street, language of the stock market, famous stock operators, brokers, bankers, and banks, and the ethics of the market. Interesting chapter on financial journalism. Draws suggestive contrasts between business leadership and finance under mercantile capitalism and in the change to industrial capitalism. As a contemporary work it is especially valuable in its anecdotes and its judgments of men and methods…" (Larson 1632).

79. SMITH, Matthew Hale. SUNSHINE AND SHADOW IN NEW YORK. Hartford: J.B. Burr, 1879. 8vo, xxiv, 912pp, illustrated. Brown cloth elaborately decorated and lettered in black and gilt. Very good.
>>First Edition includes chapters on the history of Wall Street, history of the banks, New York gambling houses, financial crime, Jay Gould, Commodore Vanderbilt, James Fiske Jr., Aaron Burr, and P.T. Barnum among others. A comprehensive survey of life, people and events in New York City. According to the author, "My purpose in this book has been to draw the Great Metropolis with its lights and shades, in a series of  graphic papers; to sketch New York as I have seen it. From original and reliable sources I have drawn my information and material for these sketches. I have selected representative men, and have attempted fairly to present their characteristics, ...." 

80. SMYTHE, Roland M. VALUABLE EXTINCT SECURITIES; The Secret of the Obsolete Securities Business. New York: R.M. Smythe, 1929. 8vo, v, 398pp. Embossed green cloth lettered in gilt. Fine.
>>First Edition. "Unclaimed money and how to collect it, with a list of over 1,500 extinct securities of good value from the records of the four principal dealers in the United States for forty years and other useful information never published before" (From the title page). Still the standard work on the subject.

 South Sea Company South Sea Company Pamphlets -- 1704-1724

81. REASONS HUMBLY OFFERED, For Increasing the Number of BROKERS. [1704]. Kress 2554. Hanson 425.

82. CONSIDERATIONS Against Repealing that part of an Act of Parliament, which restrains the Number of Exchange-Brokers to One Hundred. [1704-5?] Kress S 2276. Hanson 566.

83. An Act...for Erecting a Corporation to Carry on a Trade to the South-Seas. 1711. 42 pgs. Kress 4113.

84. An Act...to Enable the Governor and Company of the Bank of England, and others, to Lend Money upon South Sea Stock. 10 pgs. 1714.

85. An Act for continuing Trade to the South-Seas....6pgs. 1716.

86. THE SPEECH Of the Right Honorable JOHN AISLABIE, Esq; Upon his DEFENSE made in the House of Lords, Against the BILL for Raising Money Upon Estates of the South-Seas Directors, On Wednesday the 19th of July 1721. Kress 3353. Sperling 260.

87. THE REPORT FROM THE TRUSTEES OF THE SOUTH SEA COMPANY To the Honourable House of Commons; Presented January 25, 1722. Golds 6307. Hanson 3313. Kress 3565. Sperling 454. 

88. SPERLING, John G. THE SOUTH SEA COMPANY: An Historical Essay and Bibliographical Finding List. Boston: Harvard, 1962. 8vo, xi, 92pp. Blue paper wrappers, label tipped to front cover. Fine.
>>Number 17 in the Kress Library Series of Titles, includes a description of the history of the South Seas Company, its origins, trade, public finance, etc.; followed by a comprehensive chronological bibliography of related materials primarily focused on the years 1711-1740.

89. STODDARD, William O. Men of Business. New York: Scribner’s, 1893. 8vo, 317pp, illustrated. Red cloth, spine lettered in gilt. Fine.
>>First Edition, "characteristic of the then popular type of collective biographies--made up of material of an anecdotal and traditional character with much distortion of fact and imaginative dressing--which had as a object the teaching of valuable lessons (value of thrift, hard work, honesty, etc.). Industrial capitalists have a prominence in this volume not given them in similar earlier collections" (Larson 601). Includes Astor, Vanderbilt, Morgan, Armour, Pullman, Field and Stanford among others.

90. THIERS, Adolphe. The Mississippi Bubble: A Memoir of John Law. To which are added, authentic accounts of the Darien expedition, and the south sea scheme. New York: W.A. Townsend, 1859. 8vo, xii, (2), 338, (19 publishers ads) pp. Embossed green cloth, spine lettered in gilt. Spine slightly faded, otherwise very good.
>>First Edition in English, translated and edited by Frank S. Fiske. A scarce, account of the life of John Law and the South Sea Bubble, which "remained until 1845 the greatest example in British history of the infatuation of the people for commercial gambling." (p.332)

91. TRAIN, George Francis. Young America in Wall Street. New York: Derby & Jackson, 1857. 8vo, xv, 386, appendix, (8 ads) pp. Embossed black cloth, spine lettered in gilt, head of spine slightly worn, otherwise fine.
>>First Edition, "effort of a young foreign merchant and promoter to explain the forces and factors behind the panic of 1857" (Larson 4550).

92. de la VEGA, Joseph. CONFUSION DE CONFUSIONES. Boston: Harvard, 1988. 8vo, xxi, 42pp. Ivory paper covers. Fine. >>First reprint of the 1957 Kress Library title long out of print. Written in 1688, "this portrayal of the Amsterdam Stock Exchange still has relevance for the modern reader, despite translation and the passage of three centuries. The mechanism for trading in shares may have developed from hand written receipts to electronic data, but the human psychology motivating the rise and fall of the market has changed little. Thanks to the arrival of Joseph de la Vega's seventeenth century treatise, we are permitted a window on the past that appears remarkably contemporary." (Ruth R. Rogers, Curator, Kress Library.)

93. VIDAL, E(mmanuel). History and Methods of the Paris Bourse. Washington: National Monetary Commission, 1910. 8vo, (2), 276pp. Half red calf, spine lettered in gilt, marbled edges. Fine.
>>First Edition details trading operations for stocks, currency, futures, metals, etc., and includes treatises on the monopoly of stockbrokers, and the history of the Paris exchange spanning two centuries. Larson 1642.

94. WARSHOW, Robert Irving. WALL STREET, HISTOIRE DE LA BOURSE DE NEW YORK DES ORGINES A 1930. Preface de Winston S. Churchill. Paris: Payot, 1930. 8vo, viii, 234, (2), large folding chart, (4 publisher’s ads) pp, illustrated. Yellow and brown paper boards, small chips at head and foot of spine, otherwise fine.
>>First Edition in French, recounts the history, from the late 18th century, of outstanding leaders and developments in the American securities market, with details of startling successes and dramatic failures. Illustrated with charts and pictures of Wall Street barons. Larson 1633.

95. WEBSTER, Henry Kitchell. THE BANKER AND THE BEAR. New York: MacMillan, 1900. 8vo, 351 (2 publisher's ads) pp. Embossed red pictorial cloth, a handsome design of a ticker tape machine and spirals of tape, in black, white and gilt. Fine.
>>An elaborate fiction in the commodity pits.

96. WHITE, Bouck. THE WIZARD OF WALL STREET and his Wealth. The Life and Deeds of Jay Gould. [1892]. 8vo, 312pp, illustrated. Gold pictorial cloth decorated in black and gilt. Very good.
>>First Edition of an early biography of Jay Gould.

97. WYCKOFF, Richard. Wall Street Ventures and Adventures Through Forty Years. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1930. 8vo, xiv, 313pp., illustrated. Embossed purple cloth, cover and spine ruled and lettered in gilt, spine slightly faded, ownership signature on front free endpaper. Near fine in pictorial dust jacket.
>>First Edition by the founder and editor of The Magazine of Wall Street, the book offers a graphic picture of the inner workings of the stock market with close-up stories of Morgan, Livermore, Harriman, Keene, Gates and others, many of whom Wyckoff knew well. A Wall Street classic, illustrated with many photographs and a folding facsimile financial page. "…Wyckoff’s Wall Street career was truly an adventure. It comes alive in its retelling. The reader is treated to a nostalgic trip through history as the author relives his past" (Zerden, p.107, Best Books on the Stock Market).

98. WYCKOFF, Richard. THE KEY TO SUCCESS IN THE STOCK MARKET. Forecasting the Trend of the Stock Market by Its Own Action. [New York]: 1926. 8vo, 32pp., illustrated. Original gray paper wrappers lettered in gilt, ownership signature at top of front cover. Very good.
>>Second Edition of a pocket manual describing Wyckoff’s method of operating in stocks by determination of the technical position of the market and of individual issues.

99. WYCKOFF, Richard. TAKING MONEY OUT OF WALL STREET. [New York]: 1927. 8vo, 23pp. Original ivory paper wrappers ruled in blue and lettered in black, ownership signature at top of front cover. Very good.
>>First Edition of a treatise on investment advice, leading to a pitch for the author’s investment advisory service.

100. WYCKOFF, Richard D. JESSE LIVERMORE’S METHODS OF TRADING IN STOCKS. Brightwaters, NY: Windsor Books, 1975. 8vo, 32pp. Blue paper wrappers. Fine.
>>Distillations of Wyckoff interviews with Livermore first published as a series of articles in the Magazine of Wall Street.