Booklet: "History of Animals and Leading Curiosities . . ." with Barnum on cover
1873 (Date manufactured/created)
9" H
X
6" W
Booklet titled "History of Animals and Leading Curiosities contained in P.T. Barnum's World's Fair and Colosseum of Natural History & Art." The booklet dates to 1873, and was written by William C. Crum. Selling for twenty-five cents, it was the type of souvenir that could be purchased at circus performances. Printed with red and gold inks on white paper, the cover features an elaborate border around the title and a portrait of Barnum. The date of publication, 1873, represents Barnum's early involvement with circus enterprises. Each year the History of Animals booklet was updated and changed to reflect new acts and attractions, but from year to year the booklets remain largely the same. Later versions include more color illustrations and bolder cover designs.
The illustrations include a giraffe, elephants, lions, a rhino, bears, a tiger, a leopard, a jaguar, a puma, a camel, a zebra, an African eland, a yak, a warthog, a kangaroo, a hippopotamus, a tapir, a crocodile, opossums, monkeys, apes, baboons, a sea-lion, and museum exhibits that include humans.
Barnum is best known today for the Barnum & Bailey Greatest Show on Earth, but his circus ventures did not come about until he was in his early 60s. His first circus, in the early 1870s, was called P. T. Barnum’s Grand Traveling Museum, Menagerie, Caravan and Circus. Barnum subsequently opened the New York Hippodrome with similar acts. In the 1880s, competition from other circuses increased. A merger between Barnum’s show and the Great London Show of Cooper, Bailey, and Hutchinson formed the circus called Barnum and London. Barnum's partnership with James A. Bailey in 1887 formed Barnum & Bailey, which continued to be managed by Bailey after Barnum's death in 1891. After Bailey's death in 1906, the Ringling brothers bought Barnum & Bailey but operated it separately from their own circus. In 1919 the two were combined to form Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Greatest Show on Earth. That circus gave its final performance on May 21, 2017.
The illustrations include a giraffe, elephants, lions, a rhino, bears, a tiger, a leopard, a jaguar, a puma, a camel, a zebra, an African eland, a yak, a warthog, a kangaroo, a hippopotamus, a tapir, a crocodile, opossums, monkeys, apes, baboons, a sea-lion, and museum exhibits that include humans.
Barnum is best known today for the Barnum & Bailey Greatest Show on Earth, but his circus ventures did not come about until he was in his early 60s. His first circus, in the early 1870s, was called P. T. Barnum’s Grand Traveling Museum, Menagerie, Caravan and Circus. Barnum subsequently opened the New York Hippodrome with similar acts. In the 1880s, competition from other circuses increased. A merger between Barnum’s show and the Great London Show of Cooper, Bailey, and Hutchinson formed the circus called Barnum and London. Barnum's partnership with James A. Bailey in 1887 formed Barnum & Bailey, which continued to be managed by Bailey after Barnum's death in 1891. After Bailey's death in 1906, the Ringling brothers bought Barnum & Bailey but operated it separately from their own circus. In 1919 the two were combined to form Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Greatest Show on Earth. That circus gave its final performance on May 21, 2017.
A Gift of the Discovery Museum, Bridgeport, Connecticut
2003.009.019