Beschreibung:

Lot of four, including: Double-sided and amply illustrated printed broadside, 9.75 x 28.9 in., advertising the "Van Amburgh! Menagerie, Coliseum, 8 Nation Show and Museum!" Both sides are covered in illustrations of various features from the show, including a man-eating crocodile, a large giraffe, a gazelle, several creatures that appear to be combinations of two or more animals, prehistoric people, fat ladies, and much more. Broadside is stamped, "West Chester June 28" at bottom center. Double-sided printed broadside, 4.75 x 23.75 in., advertising the "Levees of the Little Fairy, Miss Dollie Dutton," at Horticultural Hall in West Chester, Pennsylvania. Philadelphia: U. S. Book and Job Printing Office. Below main heading, broadside boasts Dollie's unique physicality: "9 Years Old, 26 Inches High. / And Weighing only 13 Pounds! / She is Smaller than Gen. Tom Thumb!" Center of broadside features an illustration of Dollie and her father, captioned, "Dollie Dutton. / The Little Fairy, / standing on her father's hand." Surrounding the illustration are descriptions and endorsements of the act from notable figures including Phineas Stowe, Dr. J. H. Warren, and the Reverend Richard W. Humphries, along with a poem inspired by the act. Other side of broadside features another illustration featuring Dollie sitting on a tiny chair atop a table, with more descriptions and endorsements of the act from local newspapers including Philadelphia's National Merchant, Saturday Evening Post, and others. Printed broadside, 6.1 x 17.9 in., promoting the "Extensive Curiosities" on display at the Baltimore Museum of Anatomy, Science, and Art. Baltimore: Sherwood & Co., Printers. Broadside lists features including, "Infant Venus," "Aztec Children," "A Lady's Foot Resembling a Human Face," "Negro Children with Two Heads," "The Washington Twins," "The Hermaphrodites," "The World-Renowned 'Gertu,'" and many others. Below, text asserts, "After a visit, no intellect, however profound, can fail to be enlightened and elevated ; and no mind, be it ever so meagre and limited, can go away without realizing that 'We are Fearfully and Wonderfully Made.'" Printed broadside, 4.1 x 11 in., Gen. Tom Thumb's Programme of Entertainment. Broadside lists "the Performances of the General," with other musical acts and performances to be interspersed. Some of the listed "performances" by the general include, "Oxonian Dress—Expresses his ideas relative to Matrimony," "Contrast with a little Miss, in which the General appears still more diminutive. Polite attentions to the ladies, and estimate of the number he has killed during his lifetime," "Appearance in his Elegant Highland Costume," and many others. Broadside also presents lyrics to songs, "For the Union We'll Die," and "The Little Gray Fat Man." Condition: Broadsides in varying conditions, Dollie Dutton broadside with a large horizontal rip near bottom, all with brittleness at edges, minor tears including paper loss at edges, some creasing throughout, and generally fragile.