Biographical Sketch of I.A. Van Amburgh (Circus Program from Van Amburg's Mammoth Menagerie and Great Moral Exhibition)

by Fros, H[yatt]

Price: $700.00
Shipping rates & speeds | 30 Day Return Guarantee Ask bookseller a question | E-mail to a friend

Book desription: New York: S. Booth, 1864 Full Title: "Biographical Sketch of I. A. Van Amburgh and an Illustrative and Descriptive History of the Animals Contained in his Mammoth Menagerie and Great Moral Exhibition." Very nice and very scarce early American circus program for Van Amburgh's Mammoth Menagerie and Great Moral Exhibition that toured the country in the until the mid-1860s when it was purchased by P.T. Barnum and co-located with his new museum in New York. (Almost the enitre menagerie was destroyed in 1868 when Barnum's museum burned to the ground. An article in the New York Times about the fire estimated that half the US population had seen the animals during its nationwide tours.) Van Amburgh is most famous as the first lion and tiger trainer/tamer, and his big cat performance was alway the highlight of the show. 79 pages. Includes illustrations of the big top tent, the Colossal Golden Chariot (a giant circus wagon pulled by 12 horses), the animals, Van Amburgh in costume with his big cats, and the other performers (Black Diamond - a trained horse, Pony Prince and Monkey Jocko, Maltese Jack, and Tippoo Saib - a performing elephant and his trainer Dr. Nash). Tight binding. Clean pages with some toning. No rips or tears, but the tips of some leaf corners are bumped and about 1/4" of the lower margin of the frontispiece and title page is trimmed. Paper cover has some minor soiling but is firmly attached; most of the spine covering is missing and there is a small chip at lower left front coner. Owner's name with 1864 date is on the reverse of the frontispiece.. Printed Wrapper. Very Good/No Jacket. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall.

Bookseller Terms of Sale

Checks and money orders payable in US dollars are accepted. Charge cards are accepted through PayPal. Sales tax of 5% required for books shipped to addresses in Virginia. Normal USPS media mail shipping charge of $3.50 for first book within the USA; $1.75 for each additional book. Priority shipment is available. Additional fees may be required for exceptionally heavy or oversize books. International shipments will usually cost more. For international shipments, insurance is optional and often only available if sent by registered mail. Any loss or damage to international shipments that are uninsured or insured at below the retail value is entirely at the buyer's risk. Returns accepted for any reason for full refund (less shipping and insurance fees) if I receive the return within 10 days of my shipment or 5 days of buyer's receipt (whichever is documentably later) and they are received in the same condition as sent. Please order biblio links or email message.