Gross: Neptune & the South Sea Bubble
English Astrologers, Graham Bates and Jane Chrzanowska Bowles10 note that a modern UK company has legal existence for the whole day of its incorporation beginning at midnight at the start of the day. This does not necessarily apply to Royal Chartered companies of the early 18th century, but a midnight time on South Sea’s date of incorporation was found to be a fruitful assumption for astrological purposes. The Ship of Fools
o
Chart 3:
South Sea Company Incorporation
0:00 AM LMT, 10th September 1711 OS London: 51N30, 0W10
q/w = 22º 36’ x Our South-Sea Ships have golden Shrouds, They bring us Wealth, 'tis granted, But lodge their Treasure in the Clouds, To hide it 'till its wanted. O Britain! bless thy present State, Thou only happy Nation, So oddly Rich, so madly Great, Since Bubbles came in Fashion:11 10
Sea Maritime Trade Slavery Credit, belief, faith The intangible Bubble Dream Fraud Scandal
Graham Bates and Jane Chrzanowska Bowles. Money and the Markets, An Astrological Guide. London: 1994, p. 150. 11 From: Edward Ward. A South-Sea Ballad: or Merry Remarks upon ExchangeAlley Bubbles. Stanford University Libraries English Poetry Database: http://www-sul.stanford.edu/depts/hasrg/hdis/
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