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This engraving, titled "De Actie Wereld op Haar Einde" (The end of the stock world), comes from a series called "Het Groote Tafereel der Dwaasheid" (often referred to as The Mirror of Folly). It is a satire on the financial crisis of 1720 and a reworking of an earlier print. The scene features an investor, dressed in sixteenth-century attire with a flask at his feet, being bullied and mocked by grotesque figures. These figures include a man with a lantern suspended from his cod-piece, an old peasant woman, a disabled beggar, and four countrymen, one with a long nose and another threatening the investor with a pitchfork.
An inscription at the investor's feet reads, "Na dat ik alles heb verloren, Moet ik het bitter schempen horen Van dit Canaille, dat ontzind, Hun blijdschap in mijn droefheid vind..." (After I have lost everything, I have to listen to abuse from those who find pleasure in my sorrow). The title appears in a banderole above, with verses accompanying the figures and sixteen lines of verse etched below, dating the engraving to 1720. This artwork serves as a commentary on the financial turmoil of the time and the harsh reactions people faced due to their involvement in the stock market.
The central figure may originally have represented a doctor or quack, according to the British Museum.
![(The Father of Modern Geology) Charles Lyell Esq.r F.R.S. F.G.S. [with facsimile signature]](https://storage.googleapis.com/raremaps/img/small/86594.jpg)
