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.
Author(s): Henry Sless
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Year: 2021
Language: English
Pages: 371
City: Cham
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
