De VOC en de beurs / The VOC and the exchange / druk 1

In 1602, the VOC (Dutch East India Company) was granted sole rights to trade with Asia. This company was the largest trading firm in the world during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and its activities in goods such as spices, silk, porcelain, and tea led to an era of unprecedented prosperity in The Netherlands.

The VOC had a permanent impact on navigation, language, science and the arts, and on daily life. The company introduced Europe to products such as pepper, nutmeg, cloves, porcelain, and, of course, tea and coffee. What is less well known is that the VOC was the world's first publically traded company and helped create the basis for another part of many people's daily lives: investing on the stock exchange.

Published to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the VOC, this work tells the story of how the company invented permanent share capital and laid the foundations for the Amsterdam stock exchange. It describes the VOC's share issue, the first shareholders and the way shares were traded on the exchange, and reveals a surprising number of elements familiar to modern-day investors. It also explains how share trading spread from Amsterdam to the rest of the world. This accessible book contains charming anecdotes and many fascinating illustrations.