the world of private banking
the world of private banking
the world of private banking
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34<br />
THE WORLD OF PRIVAtE BANKING<br />
two complications however is <strong>the</strong> particular problem <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> handwriting <strong>of</strong> each<br />
<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> bro<strong>the</strong>rs, each highly individualistic and unrelenting in its individuality.<br />
Amschel, in particular, in Frankfurt, had devised a way <strong>of</strong> joining up separated<br />
Hebrew characters which is almost unique to himself. Once this barrier is passed,<br />
<strong>the</strong>re remain <strong>the</strong> problems <strong>of</strong> a fairly idiosyncratic German – <strong>of</strong>ten ungrammatical<br />
and ambiguous, with a sprinkling <strong>of</strong> Hebrew words within <strong>the</strong> text. Finally – and<br />
ironically, perhaps, least impenetrable <strong>of</strong> all – <strong>the</strong>re remain <strong>the</strong> use <strong>of</strong> code words<br />
for key places, players and commodities in <strong>the</strong>ir transactions – Jerusalem for<br />
London, Pheasants for Gold, etc.<br />
The complications which have hi<strong>the</strong>rto kept historians away from this material<br />
were sufficiently clear to <strong>the</strong> bro<strong>the</strong>rs <strong>the</strong>mselves in writing <strong>the</strong> letters for <strong>the</strong>m<br />
to feel confident <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> medium as a safe haven from prying external eyes. The<br />
letters are <strong>the</strong>refore extremely frank, open, uncompromising, and <strong>of</strong>ten earthy in<br />
<strong>the</strong>ir comments on contemporary personalities and situations. From <strong>the</strong> campaign<br />
to fund Wellington, through <strong>the</strong> years <strong>of</strong> revolution, 1830 and 1848, and beyond, a<br />
succession <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> major financial, economic and political events <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> nineteenth<br />
century are described from <strong>the</strong> extremely well-informed perspective <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
Rothschild bro<strong>the</strong>rs, by <strong>the</strong>n major players on <strong>the</strong> <strong>world</strong> financial scene. All this<br />
alongside <strong>the</strong> humdrum and <strong>the</strong> everyday. Alongside <strong>the</strong> haute politique, you will<br />
find <strong>the</strong> news <strong>of</strong> a child’s health or a request to send some small, favourite item<br />
<strong>of</strong> confectionery or a fashionable piece <strong>of</strong> clothing, for example. There can be no<br />
doubt that <strong>the</strong>se letters, in <strong>the</strong>ir own right, constitute <strong>the</strong> core <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> richness <strong>of</strong><br />
The Rothschild Archive.<br />
The only disappointment is that we have only a handful <strong>of</strong> Nathan’s own letters.<br />
Given <strong>the</strong>ir essentially <strong>private</strong> nature, copies <strong>of</strong> his letters were not systematically<br />
kept or stored by him in <strong>the</strong> Bank and sadly, among <strong>the</strong> French bank’s archives<br />
– <strong>the</strong> only o<strong>the</strong>r <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> banks to have a substantial series <strong>of</strong> records from <strong>the</strong> time<br />
– <strong>the</strong> <strong>private</strong> correspondence between <strong>the</strong> bro<strong>the</strong>rs was not retained. We can only<br />
guess, <strong>the</strong>refore, from <strong>the</strong> bro<strong>the</strong>rs’ responses and <strong>the</strong> few items that survive, at <strong>the</strong><br />
tone he adopted in his letters, and imagine <strong>the</strong> dyspeptic outbursts which produced<br />
squeals <strong>of</strong> outrage and hurt from <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>rs.<br />
Around and beyond this series are letters from <strong>the</strong> Rothschilds’ correspondents<br />
and agents around <strong>the</strong> <strong>world</strong>. As with o<strong>the</strong>r merchant banks <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> period, it<br />
was upon this increasingly developed body <strong>of</strong> informants that <strong>the</strong> Rothschilds<br />
depended for up-to-date information. The network stretched from Manchester<br />
to Macao, from St Petersburg to Valparaíso. Among <strong>the</strong> letters arriving at New<br />
Court are, for example, items from Benjamin Davidson in San Francisco giving<br />
a graphic description <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> town in <strong>the</strong> gold-rush years <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> 1840s or from J.B.<br />
Montefiore describing Australia in its own first flush <strong>of</strong> gold fever. These letters,<br />
<strong>of</strong> which <strong>the</strong>re are not tens but hundreds <strong>of</strong> thousands (not all <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>m, <strong>of</strong> course,<br />
equally riveting), remain largely unexplored, though it is clear that an increasing<br />
body <strong>of</strong> scholars are becoming aware <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>m and <strong>the</strong>re are promising signs <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>the</strong>ir developing use. In recent years, <strong>the</strong> value to national economic and financial<br />
history <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> detailed accounts <strong>of</strong> conditions, supplied by local agents, has been