TULIPOMANIA - Definition

Products Dictionary

	Definition:	Tulipomania This chronicle of the yearlong tulip frenzy that overwhelmed Holland in the early 17th century explores one of history`s most astonishing events, when the value of tulip bulbs increased to astronomical heights and then, nearly as rapidly, fell, leading to a crash in which thousands of speculators faced financial ruin. Dash`s book takes a penetrating look at Dutch society during that crazed year, when a single tulip bulb was equal in price to four oxen, an oak bed, or a small ship. It also provides a fascinating history of the tulip before and after its period of disastrous popularity. more details ...

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Webster's 1913 Dictionary

	Definition:	\Tu`lipoma"ni*a\, n. [Tulip + mania.] A violent passion for the acquisition or cultivation of tulips; -- a word said by Beckman to have been coined by Menage. Note: In Holland, in the first half of the 17th century, the cultivation of tulips became a mania. It began about the year 1634, and, like a violent epidemic, seized upon all classes of the community, leading to disasters and misery such as the records of commerce or of bankruptcies can scarcely parallel. In 1636, tulip marts had been established in Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Haarlem, Leyden, and various other towns, where tulip bulbs were sold and resold in the same manner as stocks are on the Stock Exchange of London. --Baird.