At spes non fracta : Hope & Co. 1770-1815 : merchant bankers and diplomats at work

The setting for this study is reflected in the sub-title 'Merchant bankers and diplomats at work. ' The aim is to follow the partners in their many and diverse activities: in their relationship towards each other, in their contacts with other houses and in their attitudes towards government of­ ficials. Moreover, the author has attempted to show the motives for their commercial and financial actions, where these were discernible. A point of departure such as this implies that the surviving correspondence consti­ tutes the principal source of information. Quantitative data are included, but within this framework their role is subsidiary. Because this book is intended for various categories of readers, it has been divided into three parts. The introductory chapter, which contains an abridged history of Hope & Co. up to 1815, is intended for those whose interest in the subject is of a more general nature. In the same chapter, a number of main themes such as the growth of foreign loans in the Nether­ lands and the technique per se of issuing loans are discussed, and at­ tention is devoted to some of the problems of trade and to the question whether Hope & Co. should be viewed as merchants or as bankers. In conclusion, an impression is given of the part played by Amsterdam as a financial centre during the Napoleonic era and of the very exceptional po­ sition which Hope & Co. occupied at that time. Front Matter....Pages I-VIII Front Matter....Pages 1-1 The Family and the Firm Some Observations on Commerce and Banking in the Late 18th Century....Pages 3-69 Front Matter....Pages 71-71 Swedish Prelude....Pages 73-92 Money for the Turkish War....Pages 93-110 Polish Interlude....Pages 111-121 A Dutch Broker at the Russian Court....Pages 123-154 The Great Conversion....Pages 155-185 ‘Les Traites du Nord’ and Operation R.M.....Pages 187-226 Per Aspera ad Astra From the Suspension of Payments to the Arrangement of 1815....Pages 227-274 Front Matter....Pages 275-275 Early Loans to Spain....Pages 279-294 The Franco-Spanish Financial Crisis....Pages 295-309 Account ‘X’....Pages 311-331 Between Satellites and Napoleonites....Pages 333-356 The Spanish Morass....Pages 357-380 The Portuguese Diamond Loan....Pages 383-427 Cochineal in the Patriotic Era A Speculation which Went Awry....Pages 431-451 Back Matter....Pages 453-716