There is evidence that the Swedish ‘Stora Kopparberg’ (Great Copper Mountain) company had issued shares in 1288, but the first charted joint stock company is usual seen as the English ‘Muscovy Company’ in 1555. (It was originally founded four years earlier, as the deliciously named ‘Mystery and Company of Merchant Adventurers for the Discovery of Regions, Dominions, Islands and Places Unknown’.)
Daniel Defoe and the Bank of England: The Dark Arts of Projectors, Valerie Hamilton and Martin Parker (UK) (US)