The Life of P.T. Barnum
P.T. Barnum
HarperCollins is proud to present its incredible range of best-loved, essential classics.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. Barnum moved to New York City. With true entrepreneurial spirit and against all odds, he wowed audiences with his ensemble of musical spectacles, attractions and variety shows – often exploiting the vulnerable for entertainment value. A master showman, his crowning achievement was the world-famous circus, Barnum & Bailey’s Greatest Show on Earth.In this account of his life and work, written by the man himself and first published in 1855, P. T. Barnum creates an aura of excitement about himself and his enduring fame, confirming his reputation as the greatest impresario of all time and revealing the controversial decisions that helped him to his fortune.
THE LIFE OF P. T. BARNUM
Written by Himself
Copyright (#ulink_4193c81f-d0cc-5124-b34e-650f59a7bbc5)
William Collins
An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers
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London SE1 9GF
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This eBook edition published by William Collins in 2017
Classic Literature: Words and Phrases adapted from Collins English Dictionary
Cover by e-Digital Design
Cover image © Getty Images/Owen Franken
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
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Source ISBN: 9780008284749
Ebook Edition © December 2017 ISBN: 9780008277024
Version: 2017-11-20
Contents
Cover (#u450e9202-9eaa-5629-bac0-11bc41870d11)
Title Page (#uf2d6ea05-52a5-563b-9943-6a7a803994e6)
Copyright (#u2a770e98-d023-5889-831e-2e5aaa87bc97)
History of William Collins (#u58046d00-e085-5276-9700-07aa3c3675b9)
Introductory (#u458da39c-6dc3-597e-806c-ff5b0bc86d1b)
Chapter I. My Early History (#uc7c971ec-10e2-5094-83f7-de145986dcdf)
Chapter II. Clerk in a Store – Anecdotes (#u2b07c18a-4881-50ba-9bbc-8976377a243a)
Chapter III. Sunday School – Old Meeting-House (#ua5d6ab06-64de-5b56-a29b-cbd4b9e93359)
Chapter IV. Anecdotes with an Episode (#u0bca9432-c097-5a10-babe-99344574e496)
Chapter V. A Batch of Incidents (#uaf740f30-21ae-5dbb-86a2-9a095e732626)
Chapter VI. Incidents and Various Schemes (#ud6f11e80-3e05-5da2-bf92-7c08882d1807)
Chapter VII. Struggling – Joice Heth – Vivalla (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter VIII. The Travelling Circus (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter IX. The American Museum (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter X. European Tour – Tom Thumb (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter XI. The Jenny Lind Enterprise (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter XII. “Side Shows” – Buffalo Hunt, Etc. (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter XIII. Temperance and Agriculture (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter XIV. Sundry Business Enterprises (#litres_trial_promo)
Footnotes (#litres_trial_promo)
Classic Literature: Words and Phrases (#litres_trial_promo)
About the Publisher (#litres_trial_promo)
History of William Collins (#ulink_f747b956-1fa1-52ce-ba8e-1487fd05d875)
In 1819, millworker William Collins from Glasgow, Scotland, set up a company for printing and publishing pamphlets, sermons, hymn books, and prayer books. That company was Collins and was to mark the birth of HarperCollins Publishers as we know it today. The long tradition of Collins dictionary publishing can be traced back to the first dictionary William co-published in 1825, Greek and English Lexicon. Indeed, from 1840 onwards, he began to produce illustrated dictionaries and even obtained a licence to print and publish the Bible.
Soon after, William published the first Collins novel; however, it was the time of the Long Depression, where harvests were poor, prices were high, potato crops had failed, and violence was erupting in Europe. As a result, many factories across the country were forced to close down and William chose to retire in 1846, partly due to the hardships he was facing.
Aged 30, William’s son, William II, took over the business. A keen humanitarian with a warm heart and a generous spirit, William II was truly ‘Victorian’ in his outlook. He introduced new, up-to-date steam presses and published affordable editions of Shakespeare’s works and ThePilgrim’s Progress, making them available to the masses for the first time.
A new demand for educational books meant that success came with the publication of travel books, scientific books, encyclopedias, and dictionaries. This demand to be educated led to the later publication of atlases, and Collins also held the monopoly on scripture writing at the time.
In the 1860s Collins began to expand and diversify and the idea of ‘books for the millions’ was developed, although the phrase wasn’t coined until 1907. Affordable editions of classical literature were published, and in 1903 Collins introduced 10 titles in their Collins Handy Illustrated Pocket Novels. These proved so popular that a few years later this had increased to an output of 50 volumes, selling nearly half a million in their year of publication. In the same year, The Everyman’s Library was also instituted, with the idea of publishing an affordable library of the most important classical works, biographies, religious and philosophical treatments, plays, poems, travel, and adventure. This series eclipsed all competition at the time, and the introduction of paperback books in the 1950s helped to open that market and marked a high point in the industry.
HarperCollins is and has always been a champion of the classics, and the current Collins Classics series follows in this tradition – publishing classical literature that is affordable and available to all. Beautifully packaged, highly collectible, and intended to be reread and enjoyed at every opportunity.
INTRODUCTORY (#ulink_25f73916-5c82-5abf-95b4-c42c259eb4dc)