THE MISSISSIPPI BUBBLE: How the Star of Good Fortune Rose and Set and Rose Again, by a Woman's Grace, for one John Law of Louriston. by Hough, Emerson (1857-1923.) - (1902.)

Indianapolis:: Bowen-Merrill,, (1902.). Hardcover first edition -. Very good - minor wear to the edges of the boards. - a straight and tight copy, with bright gilt and white illustration. Small gilt bookstore sticker inside rear cover.. First printing, binding B. Historical novel based on the story of John Law, a Scottish adventurer and economic theorist, who, in 1716, established the Banque GŽnŽrale in France (with the authority to issue paper money); a year later he set up the Compagnie d'Occident (ÒCompany of the WestÓ) which had the exclusive right to develop the French territories in the Mississippi River valley of North America and which soon came to control the French tobacco and African slave trades - that is, Law dominated both the country's foreign trade and its finances. Demand for shares in his company triggered wild speculation, eventually ending in a spectacular crash in 1720. This novel, one of the 10 bestselling works of fiction of 1902, was the first major popular success for Hough, who is known primarily for his writing on the West, and as a conservationist who was influential in the preservation of the buffalo in Yellowstone Park. Illustrated with a frontispiece with a tissue guard and 5 interior plates by Henry Hutt. Binding B in dark gray-green cloth decorated in silver, full name of Emerson Hough on the spine. 452 pp plus 20 pp of publisher's advertisements.