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Notes
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After the success of the Suez Canal, the engineer Ferdinand de Lesseps turned his attention to building a canal through the isthmus of Panama. In 1879 a company was formed for this purpose, the Compagnie universelle du canal interocéanique de Panama, in which De Lesseps, his son Charles, and Gustave Eiffel were involved. The company raised a large amount of capital mainly from small investors, their prospects having been exaggerated by the press, parliamentarians, government ministers, and the banks, all of whom were later alleged to have been receiving bribes from the company's financiers, especially Baron de Reinach and Cornelius Herz. In 1889 the company collapsed and many of the shareholders were ruined. After a period of government cover-up, the scandal was revealed in 1892, an enquiry was instituted and those involved were prosecuted.
Title
The Panama Canal: Baron de Reinach, One of the Promoters of the Canal, Is Forced to Swallow Poison
Date
1897 (?)
Medium
pencil & watercolour on paper (?)
Measurements
H 14.7 x W 10.5 cm
Accession number
532775i
Acquisition method
purchased by the Wellcome Library from Chin Fine Art, 2001
Work type
Drawing & watercolour
Wellcome Collection
183 Euston Road, London, Greater London NW1 2BE England
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The Panama Canal: Dr Cornelius Herz, Having Fled France to Escape the Results of His Mismanagement of the Canal's Financing, Lies in Bed as a Physician Takes His Pulse to Determine whether He Is Seriously Ill Wellcome Collection -
The Panama Canal: for an Enquiry into Its Financing, a Policeman Guards a Prison Cell in Which Some of the Principals Are Remanded Wellcome Collection -
The Panama Canal: Baron de Reinach, One of the Promoters of the Canal, Is Forced to Swallow Poison Wellcome Collection -
The Panama Canal: The French Ministry of Justice Opens an Enquiry into Its Financing Wellcome Collection -
The Panama Canal: Dr Cornelius Herz, One of Those Responsible for Its Financing, Gets on a Train to Flee France after the Collapse of the Company Wellcome Collection -
The Panama Canal: The French Ministry of Justice Discovers That the Bank Account of the Company Formed to Build the Canal Is Empty Wellcome Collection -
The Panama Canal: Having Fled France to Escape the Results of His Mismanagement of the Canal's Financing, Dr Cornelius Herz Escapes Extradition on the Grounds That He Has a Terminal Illness, and Lives Happily in Bournemouth for Fifteen Years Wellcome Collection - 4 more