Bankers, Financiers, and Statesmen

60 Karl Fugger: view image; Engraving by Wolfgang Kilian (1581–1662). [Augsburg, ca. 1620].

15 x 11 cmF g2

A member of the powerful German family of merchant princes descended from Hans Fugger, a fourteenth century weaver. The Fugger dynasty acquired its fortune through trade and banking, becoming the wealthiest family in Europe in the sixteenth century. Its decline paralleled that of the Hapsburg monarchy, whose wars they financed. (Plate 128 from Custos, Domenik. Contrafehe der Herrn Fugger . . . 2nd ed., 1620.)

61 Georg Fussel (b. 1601): view image; Engraving by Andreas Kohl (1624–57), after Georg Strauch (1613–75). [Nürnberg, ca. 1654].

18.5 x 13.5 cmF g5

The Bancho Publico in Nürnberg was one of the oldest banks in Germany, founded in 1621, and in operation until 1827. Fussel was its banker from 1654 to 1674.

62 Sir Thomas Gresham (1519?–79): view image; Engraving and aquatint by unknown artist. London, Published by N. Smith, June 10, 1793.

22.5 x 17.5 cmF gb4 x

Gresham is known as the founder of the Royal Exchange and of Gresham College, London. As the royal financial agent in Antwerp, he was shrewd in discharging the debts of the crown, and negotiating new loans from the wealthy families of Europe. He also amassed a great personal fortune as a banker, merchant, and mercer.

63 Philippe Du Four: view image; Designed and engraved by Johann Hainzelman (1641–93). [Paris], 1682.

23.5 x 18 cmF f1 x

Du Four was Counselor and Secretary to the king, Treasurer General of France, and President of the Bureau des Finances in Paris.

64 John Law (1671–1729): view image; Engraving by Leonard Schenk (fl. 1715–46). Pieter Schenk (b. 1660), "exc." Amsterdam, [ca. 1719].

27.5 x 18 cmF f30 x

A Scottish financier who became Controller General of Finances of France, Law is mainly remembered as the founder of the ill-fated Mississippi Company. He merged this huge stock company with the royal bank and took over the public debt and administration of revenue. In 1720, a rash of speculation in land swept France, setting off frenzied selling at high profits. When the bubble burst, thousands of investors went bankrupt, and Law fled the country in disgrace.

65 James Edouard de Rothschild (1844–81): view image; Engraving and drypoint by Daniel Charles Mordant (1853–1914). [Paris], Impr. Ch. Chardon, [187–?].

31.5 x 25 cm, imageF f41 xxx

He was the son of Nathaniel (Paris branch), and the grandson of Nathan Meyer Rothschild, who founded the famed London branch of the family.