Frenzied Finance.

£1,750 · Offered by Shapero Rare Books

[economics] extraordinary attack on the 'money kings' A signed copy of Thomas Lawson's (1857-1925) extraordinary exposé of greed and corruption in American finance at the turn of the century, dedicated to 'penitence and punishment'. 'One of the most influential texts ever written about the workings of the corporate world. Briefly stated, the book is a narrative account of 'the deviltry' and 'unpenalized crimes' of high finance that became standard practice for the Standard Oil Trust at the turn of last century' (Hess Collection). Lawson was one of his generation's most brilliant and eccentric stockbrokers. At the age of twelve, he left school to work as an office boy with a brokerage firm in Boston, and early in his career he began speculating in stocks. 'He made a considerable "killing" in railroad shares when he was only seventeen but lost his profits a few days later in another deal... He is said to have accumulated a million dollars by the time he was thirty... Despite his lack of formal education, he acquired by his own efforts an excellent command of English and a considerable degree of literary culture' (DAB). By 1897 he had become connected with the promotion of Amalgamated Copper, the name under which Standard Oil capitalists reorganised the great Anaconda mine and allied properties. On this stock they now made a handsome profit, with Lawson acting as their chief broker. The stock thereafter rapidly declined in price and many holders of it suffered heavy losses. In 1

• Binding: Hardcover

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