JESSAMY JOHN

by Phil Stong ‧ RELEASE DATE: N/A

Better than his last attempt at romantic biographical fiction -- but still not up to the master in the field, Thomas Costain, who manages to make a minutiae of history absorbingly interesting. Here- as in The Moneyman -- is a more than half forgotten figure in French history of finance, John Law. Jessamy John was a beau, with all that entailed in the 17th century,-rich, romantic, a gambler, a duelist, an adventurer, and a Scot. When he came into his inheritance he went to London, there to establish his reputation- and to escape with his life from jail, where he was condemned for killing a man in a duel. Then to Holland- but the Hollanders feared he'd break the bank and exiled him; and then to France, where a checkered career finally gave him his place in history, founder of the Banque Nationale, where paper currency first was issued against gold, and later promoter of the Mississippi Scheme, in which French speculators lost heavily- and Louisiana gained- and Jessamy John fled again for his life. Lots of color and adventure, but endless details of his gambling and his mathematical genius which at times buries the story of his adventures and his romance.

Pub Date: N/A

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Doubleday

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1947

Categories: FICTION