The Life of P.T. Barnum, Written by Himself

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Product Overview

The modern entertainment industry -- never mind the culture of celebrity with which it is intertwined -- owes a profound debt to Barnum’s innovations a century and a half ago. He understood, far better than his contemporaries, how to attract an audience, and no less important, how to keep it. In fact, the professions of advertising, public relations, marketing, and all the other means and methods used to persuade twenty-first century consumers what to buy, where to eat, what to watch, and how to live arguably trace their origins to Barnum. Stephen Mihm’s new book situates Barnum’s contributions within the larger issues of his lifetime, including the vexed issue of race, slavery, and abolition. The particular version of his memoirs used in this volume is drawn from the original 1855 edition. Unlike subsequent versions, where Barnum banished some of the more disquieting stories and events of his life, the original edition offers the most unvarnished account of Barnums career up until that time. In addition to Barnum’s life story, this edition reprints fourteen additional documents to bring Barnum’s entire career to life. These documents include reviews of the autobiography in the popular press; selections from Barnums other writings; and a handful of other items selected to illuminate parts of his life not captured by the autobiography itself. Following the documents there is a chronology, questions for consideration, and a selected bibliography to encourage further analysis and research.

Content Material

Authors

Stephen Mihm

Stephen Mihm (Ph.D., New York University) is an Associate Professor at the University of Georgia who specializes in the history of American business and technology. He is the author of A Nation of Counterfeiters: Capitalists, Con Men, and the Making of the United States and the co-editor, with Katherine Ott and David Serlin, of Artificial Parts, Practical Lives: Modern Histories of Prosthetics, along with numerous peer reviewed articles and book chapters. In addition to his academic duties, Mihm is a frequent contributor to the New York Times, Boston Globe, Bloomberg, and other media outlets, and he appears regularly in historical documentaries, radio and television programs. He lives with his family on a historic farm in Georgia.

Foreword
Preface
List of Maps and Illustrations

PART ONE:
INTRODUCTION: P. T. Barnum and the Business of Entertainment
A Connecticut Yankee
The Showman and Slavery
Barnum the Businessman
Barnum’s Legacy

PART TWO: Life of P.T. Barnum
P. T. Barnum, Life of P. T. Barnum, 1854

PART THREE: Related Documents
1. “The Lesson of Barnum’s Life,” New York Daily Times, December 16, 1854
2. Book review of Life of P. T. Barnum, The Christian Review, January 1, 1855
3. View of the exterior of Barnum’s American Museum, New York City, circa 1853
4. Iranistan, the Residence of Mr. Barnum, 1851
5. P. T. Barnum and Tom Thumb, circa 1850
6. William Schaus, Panorama of Humbug, 1850
7. Currier and Ives, What Is It? _ Or, ‘Man Monkey, circa 1860
8. An Heir to the Throne: Or the Next Republican Candidate, circa 1860
9. What Is It?, circa 1860
10. New York Herald, Barnum and the Miniature Marriage, February 9, 1863
11. Matthew Brady, Tom Thumb and Lavinia Warren, circa 1863
12. P .T. Barnum, Humbugs of the World: An Account of Humbugs, Delusions, Impositions, Quackeries, Deceits, and Deceivers Generally, in All Ages, 1866
13. Harper’s Weekly, A Colossal Enterprise, March 27, 1875
14. New York Times, Obituary of P. T. Barnum, April 8, 1891

Appendices
A Chronology of P.T. Barnum’s Life
Questions for Consideration
Selected Bibliography

Index