I think Freakonomics basically debunked the whole tulips thing. The real Tulip mania was much smaller but stories of it got exadgerated as they passed around the world. Actual business records of the claims in contemporary newspapers don't exist.
Expecting others to enter a bubble and trading accordingly can be a perfectly rational calculation following observations of behaviors in a given market context.
[1] https://theconversation.com/tulip-mania-the-classic-story-of...
It could have been rational to spend a lot on a good one as you could then cultivate it a grow lots of that type.