A thorough description of the New York stock market along with its brokers, operators, slang, and erratic swings, originally published in 1870.
Larson calls Medbery’s work ‘A valuable book on the machinery, methods and language of the stock and gold markets and on bankers and brokers of Wall Street about 1870. Much on individual firms and men, and on types and speculators. Also on panics, 1837-60 … One of the better works on Wall Street written by an insider.’
‘Medbery’s work, incidentally, is the first to use the phrase ‘animal spirits’, later made famous by Keynes, to describe the excitable behaviour of speculators’ (Dennistoun).
Dennistoun, Booms, Bubbles and Busts, 81 (first edition); Larson, Guide to Business History.
