ABSTRACT
An anonymous and unattributed farce (a comedy with extravagant and unlikely situations) on the South Sea Bubble, the major stock market speculation that occurred in 1720 centered on the coffee-houses of Exchange Alley, especially Jonathans and Garraway’s. Stock in all kinds of joint-stock companies, and especially the South Sea Company, rose rapidly during the speculative mania of 1720, reaching a peak in July before deflating, slowly at first, and then with increasing rapidity. The market in stocks and shares had been based within these coffee-houses since the 1690s at least, but during the bubble, Exchange Alley was crowded daily with speculators, investors, brokers, jobbers and spectators. Jonathans Coffee House (Lillywhite 656) was founded c. 1680 by Jonathan Miles, who encouraged the use of the coffee-room for auctions. By the early 1690s Jonathans was particularly associated with the activities of stock-jobbers, while the more respectable stock brokers operated on the floor of the Royal Exchange (see John Carswell, The South Sea Bubble (London, The Cresset Press, 1960)).
