Amsterdam as the cradle of modern futures and options trading ...

82 The forward contract: BT 112/c2 (26 August 1611); The future contract: BT 112/c2 (10 December 1610).
Besides, Thijs’ papers contain several written and printed transfer deeds of shares issued by the VOC. The oldest
transfer deeds are three printed forms for the transfer of VOC shares in the VOC chamber of Enkhuizen, dated
August 27, 1604 (twice), and July 11, 1616. There are also two written transfer deeds from the same chamber,
dated February 22, and August 19th, 1611. Finally there is a printed transfer deed, from the Amsterdam chamber
of the company, for a share bought by Thijs on December 9, 1610 (BT 112, c2)
83 See for a similar sale of a forward contract, completed before an Amsterdam notary: ACA NA 707/908, 01-
11-1630.
84 The exact wording was: “t’oorconde der waerheyt syn hier affgemaeckt, twee alleensluydende contracten,
wtten anderen gesneden door A B C D ende by parthyen respective onderteeckent, daervan elcx eeen heeft...”
(BT 112/c2, nr. 5).
85 ACA NA 196/480, 05-05-1610; Cf. also Van Dillen, ‘Isaac le Maire’, 92-93.
86 On the transfer of notarized and private contracts: Van Dillen, ‘Isaac le Maire’, 78-83, 89-91, 92-93, 100.
87 Smith, Tijdaffaires 57-59/ The contracts are held in the Amsterdam town record office. One of them may be
seen at http://gemeentearchief.amsterdam.nl/schatkamer/index.nl.html. It was published in facsimile by Van
Dillen, ‘Isaac le Maire’ (between pp. 12 and 13).
88 A.E. Sayous, ‘La liquidation des marchés à terme sur marchandise en Hollande entre 1675 et 1725’, Nouvelle
Revue d’histoire du Droit 25 (1901), 767-773; The oldest reference to clearing (rescontreren) in Amsterdam’s
local customs dates from 1635 (Smith, Tijd-affaires, 6n)
89 For example, in February 1611 Hans Thijs had bought a share of 9,000 guilders from Jan Brouwer, part of
which he immediately resold to a third party. Brouwer agreed to deduct a payment promised by this third party
from his claim on Hans Thijs, “as if it had already been paid to him” (BT 112/c2).
90 Van Dillen, ‘Isaac le Maire’, 20, 22
91 J.I. Israel, Dutch primacy in world trade (Oxford UP: Oxford 1989), 74.
92 The Amsterdam notarial records hold many deeds in which brokers testify about share prices; the earliest
known is ACA NA 336/15, 11 July 1613.
93 On the obligation of brokers to keep records of their transactions: Noordkerk, Handvesten, 1060-1074. When
the Amsterdam Exchange opened its doors in 1611, it had rooms for meetings of merchants and brokers. In 1632
the brokers’ guild built a new guild house which had meeting room at the first floor. Th. Stuart, De Amsterdamse
makelaardij: bijdrage tot de geschiedenis onzer handelswetgeving (Amsterdam 1879), 52-53. “Es gab Makler,
welche “rescontrantes” hießen, weil sie es übernahmen, die Partien nach Möglichkeit gegeneinander
auszugleichen, die Differenzen (surpluses) einzukassieren und auszuzahlen.” (Ehrenberg, ‘Amsterdamer’, 819).
The 1739 agreement about settling options published by Smith, Tijdaffaires 126-129.
94 ACA NA 335/130, 10-09-1612; ACA NA 197/512v, 15-03-1613; DNA 1.04.02 Inv. Nr. 7066, fol. 203, 208,
305, 325, 330; Cf. also Van Dillen, ‘Isaac le Maire’, 90, 95, 100; At various occasions brokers appeared before a
notary to describe current market conditions. See for example: ACA NA 336/15; 11-07-1613; ACA NA 694b/
omslag 60, 21-02-1634; ACA NA 1059/13, 19-12-1640
95 Ehrenberg ‘Amsterdamer’, 825 ; Smith, Tijd-affaires, 47. The deed ACA NA 336/15, 11 July 1613
specifically refers to the witnesses appearing as stock brokers.
96 Isaac Florianus, admitted 27 Januari 1612 (ACA 366/1071, fol. 71; Also: NA 197/512v); Jacques (van) de
Geer, admitted 27 Januari 1612 (ACA 366/1071, fol. 71; Also NA 335/130); Pieter van Haren, 06-02-1612
(ACA 366/1071, fol. 133; Also: NA 336/15); Reijnier Lems, the former bookkeeper of Lemaire’s syndicate, was
admitted 27 July 1613 (ACA 366/1071, fol. 147; Also: Van Dillen, ‘Isaac le Maire’, passim)
97 Statement by Isaac Florianus, 26-08-1611 (BT 112/c2)
98 Lane and Mueller, Venetian Money Market, 571
99 De Groot, Zeeassurantie, 133.
100 Gelderblom, ‘Governance’, passim.
101 The most recent overall description is Dash, Tulipomania; Cf. also Krelage, Bloemenspeculatie, and idem,
‘Manuscript’; Posthumus, ‘Speculatie’.
102 The workings of the trading clubs is explained by Posthumus, ‘Speculatie’, I 12-17.
103 Cf. for instance Posthumus, ‘Speculatie’, I, 11-15; Dash, Tulipomania, chapter 10; Krelage,
Bloemenspeculatie 70-72.
104 We will focus our analysis on the trading techniques in the market for tulips. There is also a case for the
normality of the tulip prices. Peter Garber has argued convincingly that the price rises in the tulip market were a
normal phenomenon given that a host of new varieties of tulips appeared on the market: P.M. Garber
‘Tulipmania’, The Journal of Political Economy, 97:3 (1989), 535-580. Marina Bianchi recently argued that
prices remained high for the pleasure people derived from the never ending appearance of new variations: M.
Bianchi, “In the name of the tulip. Why Speculation?”, in: M. Berg and H. Clifford, Consumers and luxury.
Consumer culture in Europe 1650-1850 (Manchester University Press: Manchester 1999), 88-102
24