A newly discovered Animal! The Bonassus from the Apalachian [sic] Mountains of America, is seventeen months old, five feet ten inches high, and particularly interesting to the Naturalist, the Man of Science, the Philospher, and the Historian...: This Animal is Male, and when full grown is supposed to weigh TWO TONS, and stand upwards of seven feet.

AMERICAN BUFFALO HOAX

JAMES, J[oseph] E[arl], Proprietor of the Bonassus. A newly discovered Animal! The Bonassus from the Apalachian [sic] Mountains of America, is seventeen months old, five feet ten inches high, and particularly interesting to the Naturalist, the Man of Science, the Philosopher, and the Historian...has excited the unqualified admiration of Her Majesty Queen Caroline, His Serene Highness the Prince of Saxe Cobourg, His Royal Highness the Duke of Glo'ster, Duchesses of Clarence & Kent, Princess Feodore, Prince Ernest, and His Grace the Duke of Wellington, who with a numerous retinue, honoured the Exhibition, with their presence. The Duchess of Portland and Her Family, His Grace The Duke of Devonshire, Prince Castelcicala, the Foreign Ambassadors, and numerous distinguished Officers in His Majesty's Naval and Military Service, the Bishops of London, Oxford & Carlisle have also honoured him with their Approbation. And Ladies, the most exalted circle of Rank and Fashion...with their families to witness the Exhibition of the Greatest Wonder in Natural History that ever crossed the Atlantic Ocean...This Animal is Male, and when full grown is supposed to weigh TWO TONS, and stand upwards of seven feet...To be seen at 287, Strand...all kinds of foreign birds and beasts bought. Tall, thin folio, 20 1/2 x 7". [London:] G. Merle, Printer, 89, Stand [1821]. $2500.00

Rare. At the head of the title under Garter motto head piece: "Patronised by the Royal Family." Joseph Earl James, a Birmingham draper turned menagerist, packed this advertisement with over 700 words of text, not counting a two-column, 56-line poem about the animal in 14 four-line stanzas, all part of a hoax at the Royal British Grand Menagerie, 287, Strand. In addition, "The proprietor has collected together several rare animals (that never were in England before) which may give delight to juvenile minds. A beautiful White Ass, without a cross, and a pair of beautiful silver coloured Zebus for sale." "The Bonassus, according to contemporary handbills, had been captured as a six-week-old cub deep in the interior of America. It survived the long journey to the East Coast, the longer sea voyage to England, and the final excursion to central London after its debarkation in Liverpool. It was presented to a populace eager for amusement and edification, whose appetite for curiosities, both animal and human, was insatiable. Advertisements for the unusual attraction greeted Londoners in March 1821: A Newly Discovered Animal...Using every conceivable method of prevarication, the playbills of the day unabashedly concealed the true identity of this 'newly discovered' Bonassus, this 'new genus' of the animal kingdom never before seen in England. He was none other than the American buffalo. As for ne'er seeing 'his like again,' in 1821 the buffalo 'was the most numerous hoofed-quadruped on the face of the earth."-Ricky Jay, The Bonassus: Verbal Deception Deciphered, in Ricky Jay's Journal of Anomalies, pp. 17-23. James issued a 20-page pamphlet about his "Bonassus," written by an entirely fictitious Capt. Alfred Spooner, which although not at all common, is held by several institutions, and is nowhere near as rare as this broadside. There is a similar broadside by "Hewitt, printer, No. 1, Princess street, Drury-Lane." in the Wellcome Collection which has a few minor variations, their copy having the text set a little differently, slightly moved around, with the most notable difference being that their copy doesn't list the name of the Duke of Wellington as one of the admirers of the animal; priority unknown. Minor wrinkling, once folded horizontally, otherwise an excellent copy. No copy of our broadside has appeared at auction, and the last copy we note of the pamphlet was offered by Maggs in 1938. Not in OCLC, but it should be as Harvard Theater Collection has two variant examples. Not in COPAC.