American Circus Posters

TheChildren'sDreamofFairy-Land(1893)...LivingStatuesonHorseback(1890s)...RealRomanHippodrome,FiveContinentMenagerie(1890s)...Uno,QueenSupremeoftheSerpentKingdom(1894)...DancingGirls,MountedGuardsandTrulyLavishDisplays(1903)..."TwistingDoubleSomersault,"AFeatNeverBeforeAttemptedbytheMostIntrepidAerialists(1904)...Desperado'sTerribleLeapforLife,ATerrificDescentof80FeetThroughSpaceLandingUponHisChestonaSkid(1909)...TheImperialChineseCircusStars(1914)...AnArmyofClowns(1920s)...Pallenberg'sWonderBears(1920s)...GargantuatheGreat(1938).
Originallyputinstorewindowsandpostedonsheds,barns,buildings,wallsandfences,these18extremelyrareposters,mostnotpreviouslyreproduced,arecollectedtogetherforthefirsttime.Thequalityofreproductionissuperb:reproducedinfullcolordirectlyfromtheoriginals,thesepostershavebeenprintedinanextralargeformatandoncoatedstocksothateverydetailisclear.Theyareanexcitingvisualhistory,capturingthepageantryandcolorthatthecircuswasandis.Theyarealsoextremelyfineexamplesofalmost50yearsofposterartandAmericanadvertising.Thereareacrobats,elephants,tigers,lions,parades,tents,trains,andmanyspecializedacts:MayWirth,theRidingRooneys,theAstoundingClarkonians,etc.Thepostersdatefromthe1890stothe1940s,andincludeonebyNormanBelGeddes.TheyfeaturemanyAmericancircuses:RinglingBros.,Barnum&Bailey,Sells,Sparks,Hagenbeck-Wallace.ThehistoricalintroductionandcaptionsarebyCharlesPhilipFox,DirectorofResearchandDevelopmentwiththeRinglingBros.andBarnum&BaileyCircus.