Stock Trading in 18th and 19th Century, from Peter Grieve
I've been reading "The Villainy of Stock Jobbers Detected" (1701) by Daniel Defoe with much amusement. Also "Chronicles and Characters of the Stock Exchange" (1850) by John Francis.
Francis says that "Now they stand ready, as occasion offers, and profit presents, to stock-job the nation, cozen the Parliament, ruffle the Bank, run up and down stocks, and put the dice upon the whole town. " The Marxist attacks were never so charming.
Jeff Watson adds:
I assembled a whole collection of around 30 of those old market related books and put them on my blog on a separate page on the sidebar. They are complete downloads and will provide much insight to the markets. For those who were too busy during college by spending their time at the track I also have another page of classical literature books that are of benefit to all, plus several books by Nock. Jeff