Subjects
The History of Corporate Governance:
The Importance of Stakeholder Activism
General Editor: Robert E Wright
Volume Editors: Wray Barber, Matthew Crafton and Anand Jain
978 1 85196 769 8: 234x156mm: £595.00/$995.00
This edition offers a unique perspective on a fascinating historical topic, which has a new contemporary resonance after the recent collapses of major corporations such as Enron. The company archives of England and America are rich repositories of original texts on the subject of governance but it is not always easy to gain access to the documents, particularly because so few of them have ever been re-published.
Corporate governance is an interdisciplinary subject of interest to scholars of history, economics, business history and law. This edition fits into the library collection of any institution concerned with history or finance.
- Substantial general introduction, index
- Texts reproduced in digitally enhanced facsimile
Contents
Volume 1
Company of White-Paper-Makers, The Case of the Company of White-Paper-Makers (1689); Company of White-Paper-Makers, The Proposals of the Company of White-Paper-Makers (1690); East India Company, An Essay Towards a Scheme or Model for Erecting a National East-India Joynt Stock (1691); Companies, Companies in Joynt-Stock Unnecessary and Inconvenient (1691); John Holland, A Short Discourse on the Present Temper of the Nation (1696); Bank of England, Rules, Orders, and By-Laws (1697); Company of Proprietors of the Lancaster Canal Navigation, Report of the Committee at the General Meeting of Proprietors (1799); Company of Proprietors of the Lancaster Canal Navigation, At an Adjourned General Meeting of the Company of Proprietors of the Lancaster Canal Navigation (1799); Company of Proprietors of the Lancaster Canal Navigation, At a General Meeting of the Company of Proprietors of the Lancaster Canal Navigation (1800); Samuel Hanson, To All Whom They May Concern, Stockholders as Well as Others (1801); North American Land Company, Meeting of the Stockholders of the North American Land Company (1803); Newport Bank, For the Information of the Stockholders of the Newport Bank (1803); Washington Tontine, As Many of the Stockholders Have Expressed a Wish (1805); Schuylkill Permanent Bridge Company, To the Stockholders of the Schuylkill Permanent Bridge Company (1807); Washington Mutual Assurance Company of the City of New York, The Washington Mutual Assurance Company of the City of New York: Charter, Bye-Laws, and Rates of Insurance (1809); United States Department of the Treasury, Report of the Secretary of the Treasury (1809); Louisiana Planters’ Bank, Copartnership Among the Stockholders of the Louisiana Planters’ Bank (1810); Bank of the United States, Proceedings of the Stockholders of the Bank of the United States (1811); Pennsylvania, Laws of the Bank of Pennsylvania (1811); Pennsylvania Union Canal Company, The Union Canal Company of Pennsylvania: Bye-Law Rules, Orders and Regulations (1811); Massachusetts, An Act to Incorporate the President, Directors, and Company of the State Bank (1811); Charleston Fire-Insurance Company, Address of the Directors of the Charleston Fire-Insurance Company to The Stockholders (1812); Lancaster and Schuylkill Bridge Company, Report of the Managers of the Lancaster and Schuylkill Bridge Company (1814); Massachusetts, An Act to Incorporate the President, Directors, and Company of the Dedham Bank (1815)
Volume 2
Alexandria Library Company, A Catalogue of the Books Belonging to the Alexandria Library Company (1815); South Carolina Canal and Railroad Company, By-Laws of the South Carolina Canal and Rail Road Company (1828); George Taylor, Effect of Incorporated Coal Companies Upon the Anthracite Coal Trade (1833); Evan Poultney, A Brief Exposition of Matters Relating to the Bank of Maryland (1834); Reverdy Johnson, Reply to a Pamphlet Entitled ‘A Brief Exposition of Matters Relating to the Bank of Maryland’ (1834); Franklin Manufacturing Company, By-Laws of the Franklin Manufacturing Company of Richmond (1834); State of New York, Origin, Provisions and Effect of the Safety Fund Law of the State of New York (1834); Bank of Virginia, An Act for Incorporating the Bank of Virginia (1836); The Northanptonshire Banking Company, An Exposition of the Principles of Joint Stock Banking (1836); Union Bank of Manchester, Deed of Settlement of the Union Bank of Manchester (1836); Departments of State and Official Bodies. Bank of England, Letters on the Bank of England (1836)
Volume 3
Shropshire Banking Company, The Shropshire Banking Company (1836); J Swanwick, ‘Why have you Left the Bank of Manchester?’ (1837); Charles Sigourney, To the Stockholders of the Phoenix Bank (1837); Preventing Abuses in Life Assurance Offices and Joint Stock Banks (1837); West Virginia Iron Mining and Manufacturing Company, Prospectus of the West Virginia Iron Mining and Manufacturing Company (1837); Halifax Gas-Light and Water Company, Report of the Committee Appointed by the Stockholders of the Gas-Light and Water Company (1840); New Hampshire, Several Acts of Incorporation and By-Laws of the Great Falls Manufacturing Company (1841); John Reid, Manual of the Scottish Stocks and British Funds (1842); Philadelphia and Reading Rail Road Company (1846)
Volume 4
Packer Collegiate Institute, Act of Incorporation and Articles of Association of the Brooklyn Female Academy (1847); Phoenix Mining and Manufacturing Company, Documents Relating to the Phoenix Mining and Manufacturing Company (1847); Citizens’ Bank of Louisiana Committee, Minority Report to the Stockholders of the Citizens’ Bank of Louisiana (1847); Virginian, A Letter, Addressed to those Capitalists of Boston (1847); North-West Mining Company, Report to the Trustees and Stockholders (1847); Montreal Mining Company, By-Laws, Rules and Regulations, for the Management of the Affairs of the Montreal Mining Company (1847); Mutual Fire Insurance Company of Loudoun County, Virginia, The Act of Incorporation, Constitution, and By-Laws, of the Mutual Fire Insurance Company of Loudoun County ([1849] 1899); Kanawha County, Memorial of Citizens of Kanawha County (1849); New York and Boston Railroad Company, Address of the Board of Directors of the New York and Boston Railroad Company (1850); Manasses Gap Rail Road Company, Proceedings of the First Meeting of the Stockholders of the Manasses Gap R. R. Company (1850); Enterprise Mining and Manufacturing Company, The Enterprise Mining and Manufacturing Company, Chartered by the State of Virginia (1850); Virginia Fire and Marine Insurance Company, Charter and By-Laws of the Virginia Fire and Marine Insurance Company (1850); Shepherd Knapp, Letter to the Stockholders of the Mechanics’ Bank (1855); Nathan Appleton, Introduction of the Power Loom and Origin of Lowell (1858); Robert Arthur Ward, Notes on Joint-Stock Companies (1865); Minnesota Electoral Reform Association, Minority Representation in Stock Companies (1874); New York Cheap Transportation Association, Arguments of the New York Cheap Transportation Association (1874); William Ravenel, Reply of William Ravenel, President of the Stono Phosphate Company of Charleston (1878); Arthur M Huger, To the Stockholders of the Stono Phosphate Company (1878)
Volume 5
Franklin B Gowen, Mr Gowen’s Defence. Speeches of Mr Franklin B Gowen and Others Concerning the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad Company (1881); Luther S Kauffman, Kauffman’s Manual for Stock Companies (1882); Henry Wood, The Long-Suffering Shareholder (1889)
Volume 6
William Frederick Hamilton, A Manual of Company Law for the Use of Directors And Promoters (1891)
Reviews
'This is a fascinating selection of primary sources of which the publishers and the editors may feel proud and which will be of topical interest to financial and business historians.'
– Robin Pearson, Financial History Review