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For more than fifty years, Phineas T. Barnum embodied all that was grand and fraudulent in American mass culture. Over the course of a life that spanned the nineteenth century (1810-91), he inflicted himself upon a surprisingly willing public in a variety of guises, from newspaper... Read Full Overview

"I believe hugely in advertising and blowing my own trumpet, beating the gongs, drums, to attract attention to a show," Phineas Taylor Barnum wrote to a publisher in 1860. "I don't believe in 'duping the public, ' but I believe in first attracting and then pleasing... Read Full Overview

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Meet the greatest entertainer of the 19th Century...

In 1834, desperate to create a better life for his family, small-time Connecticut businessman P. T... Read Full Overview

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it.

This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely... Read Full Overview

Autobiography of the showman. Stylized page-for-page to match the 1855 print edition.

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it.

This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely... Read Full Overview

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it.

This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely... Read Full Overview

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it.

This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely... Read Full Overview

Phineas Taylor Barnum (July 5, 1810 - April 7, 1891) was an American showman, politician, and businessman remembered for promoting celebrated hoaxes and for founding the Barnum & Bailey Circus (1871-2017).Although Barnum was also an author, publisher, philanthropist, and for... Read Full Overview

This book, "The Life of P.T. Barnum Written by Himself", by Phineas Taylor Barnum, is a replication of a book originally published before 1855. It has been restored by human beings, page by page, so that you may enjoy it in a form as close to the original as possible.

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it.

This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely... Read Full Overview

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it.

This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely... Read Full Overview