Cover: The Life of P.T. Barnum, Written by Himself, 1st Edition by Stephen Mihm

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

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First  Edition©2018  Stephen Mihm

ISBN:9781319098407

ISBN:9781457692062

About

P.T. Barnum knew how to attract an audience. His methods make him a likely candidate as the father of modern-day advertising, PR, and marketing. His life and career were fascinating and unique, and are shared in his own words through the Life of P.T. Barnum. With exceprts from his memoir and additional, supportive documents, this text positions Barnum’s contributions within the larger framework of the world during his lifetime, including the distressing issues of race, slavery, and abolition.

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Table of Contents

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
 
 

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.