Book Review
The circus has entertained, transfixed and socialised audiences since the mid-1800s. The Circus, brings to life the glamour and grit of the circus phenomenon.
From the mid-1800s and into the mid-1900s, the largest show-biz industry in the world was the circus and Circus Day became the biggest event of the year. They captured imaginations with marvelous minstrel shows, crazy clowns and audacious acrobats.
The circus created a space for outsiders to be the superheroes of their day, women could showcase their physical strength in socially acceptable ways and audiences experienced cultures from around the world.
The traveling American circuses performed for audiences of up to 14,000 per show and traveled on 20,000 miles of railroad in one season alone.
Theatre, minstrel shows and comedy was outshone by the death-defying daredevils and strapping super-heroes who captured the American imagination. The circus also offered many young Americans the opportunity of reinvention, adventure, excitement and glamour.
The railroad made it possible for circuses to entertain even the smallest cities by 1870. This turned the shows into the dominant form of mass entertainment. Then 80 years later, a new diversion arrived in the form of television. The circuses gradually shrunk in prestige and audience, losing its culture and becoming more cult. Glancing through the book, one can’t help feeling that’s a terrible shame.
The images in this book capture the entrepreneurial audacity for which the circus became famous, and also the remarkable personalities and energy of its performers.” ~ Book Editor, Noah Daniel.
Daniel was a gallery director and a Fulbright scholar before she was a book editor. The book’s title is very simply, ‘The Circus’ and its subtitle is equally plain, ‘1870-1950’. However, open the cover and all pretense of humble objectivity subsides.
Daniel combed private collections and archives for handbills, posters, and behind-the-scenes photos of the American circus in its prime, and the results are outstanding.
Daniel turned to expert collaborators — Dominique Jando the former associate artistic director of the Big Apple Circus and Fred Dahlinger Jr. the circus historian, to lend a helping hand and remained very much involved – she’s a ringmaster with a megaphone.
Alongside all the amazing images are fascinating micro-essays that surround the illustrations and photos, exploring everything from the ancient origins to how the circus paved the way for television and film.
“The circus was the Super Bowl, the Olympics and the Hollywood blockbuster all in one, brought right to your backyard, a yearly coast-to-coast circuit of bombast and flair.” Says Daniel in her foreword.
The Circus, explores the circus as a way of life and a living organism, from its sociology and history to its discipline and glamour. You can enjoy the 650 stunning images, selected from a collection of 30,000 and spanning 40 different sources.
It includes many of the earliest photographs ever taken of the circus, as well as rare images by Ray Eames and Stanley Kubrick Charles. More than 80% of these images have never been published, and many have never been seen before.
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