An anonymous and undated pamphlet rebutting one published at Amsterdam in 1687 by the Amsterdam solicitor ("advocaat") Mr. Nicolaas Muys van Holy (1644-ca.1710), a descendant of a well-known family of Regents from Dordrecht. Muys van Holys pamphlet, Middelen en motiven om het kopen en verkopen van Oost- en West-Indische actien, ... te beswaren met een impost, opposes the rampant abuses in the trade in shares ("actiënhandel") of the Dutch East and West India Companies, and he proposes an impost tax on these usually not very transparent and often fraudulent transactions by the "actionisten" (traders in shares) at the Amsterdam stock market, detrimental to the Republic in general and to the individual well-meaning shareholders. A host of pamphlets followed in the years 1687-1688.
The author of our pamphlet, probably a merchant from Rotterdam, also strongly opposes the abuses - he gives striking and shocking examples, mirroring the rise of early capitalism in the 17th century in general and the procedures, speculations and abuses at the stock exchange in particular. He is also, however, a fierce opponent of taxation, and says it would profit Amsterdam at the expense of nearly all other cities.
Edges and spine frayed, but otherwise in very good condition. Knuttel, 12622a; STCN (6 copies); Tiele, 54863; Joseph de la Vega (transl. By G.J. Geerts), Confusion de confusions (1939), pp. 23-25; Mary Lindemans, The merchant republics (2015), p. 242.