The Childrens Dream of Fairy-Land (1893) . . . Living Statues on Horseback (1890s) . . . Real Roman Hippodrome; Five Continent Menagerie (1890s) . . . Uno; Queen Supreme of the Serpent Kingdom (1894) . . . Dancing Girls; Mounted Guards and Truly Lavish Displays (1903) . . . "Twisting Double Somersault;" A Feat Never Before Attempted by the Most Intrepid Aerialists (1904) . . . Desperados Terrible Leap for Life; A Terrific Descent of 80 Feet Through Space Landing Upon His Chest on a Skid (1909) . . . The Imperial Chinese Circus Stars (1914) . . . An Army of Clowns (1920s) . . . Pallenbergs Wonder Bears (1920s) . . . Gargantua the Great (1938).Originally put in store windows and posted on sheds; barns; buildings; walls and fences; these 18 extremely rare posters; most not previously reproduced; are collected together for the first time. The quality of reproduction is superb: reproduced in full color directly from the originals; these posters have been printed in an extra large format and on coated stock so that every detail is clear. They are an exciting visual history; capturing the pageantry and color that the circus was and is. They are also extremely fine examples of almost 50 years of poster art and American advertising. There are acrobats; elephants; tigers; lions; parades; tents; trains; and many specialized acts: May Wirth; the Riding Rooneys; the Astounding Clarkonians; etc. The posters date from the 1890s to the 1940s; and include one by Norman Bel Geddes. They feature many American circuses: Ringling Bros.; Barnum Bailey; Sells; Sparks; Hagenbeck-Wallace. The historical introduction and captions are by Charles Philip Fox; Director of Research and Development with the Ringling Bros. and Barnum Bailey Circus.
#2107364 in eBooks 2012-09-21 2012-08-24File Name: B00A73B0AY
Review
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Nice memoir of building a private writers spaceBy paterfamiliaPollan drives nails. Nice memoir of building a private writers space.I do like his skewering of the modern and pos-modern architects. As he seems to have some especial scorn for Philip Johnson; I recall reading elsewhere that Johnson was notorious for never designing a window that didnt leak.And irony of ironies; Pollan found himself confronted with inadequate construction drawings of the windows; and an architect with no real idea of how to design an inward-opening awning window that didnt inherently leak. One thing that does stand out; from a perspective of years after the project was completed was that Mr. Pollan and his architect put a higher value on the visual and aural aesthetics of an uninsulated shingle roof than on the winter habitability of the workspace.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Hes also not afraid to poke fun at himself when he messes things up. Its like talking to a friend.By Gene BowkerReally enjoyed the story of how be built a small writers cottage on his property mostly by hand and with some help.Im jealous because Id love a retreat like that to write and read in.Pollans writing style is easy to read. Hes also not afraid to poke fun at himself when he messes things up. Its like talking to a friend.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Really enjoyed itBy 1.5 Trick PonyI remember in high school hearing about the eccentricities of Walden and rolling my eyes. This book has helped me see why that book has held such a strong place in the zeitgeist... and yes; makes me want to build my own little place in the woods.I really appreciated how Pollan went into some of the architectural history and theory - although at one point I just wanted to shout at him to just get up off of his duff and DO something rather than reading about doing something! And then only a few paragraphs later; he made fun of himself for that very thing; and went and actually started with the doing. Pretty handy; that! Wish it always worked that way for me; the things I could do...The book really has 3 main characters - his architect friend/mentor; his contractor/mentor; and Pollan. The book spends an awful lot of time on the struggle between architects and contractors; and Pollans place stuck between the two of them... and his gradual acquisition of knowledge and confidence; which allows him to make decisions outside of the blueprints.I read this book on audiobook; so it was solidly built out of imagination. I imagine that the book itself has drawings or illustrations - and see; even just looking at the cover shows me what the finished product looks like; and darn that little hut looks cute and snug! - which would help give it shape mentally... but actually that may have helped me a bit. I rewound and relistened in some parts to try to figure out what he meant when describing building details; and I dont know that I would have thought so hard about it if it had been diagrammed.That said; is this the Omnivores Dilemma? Nope; not by a long shot. But if I had never read OD; Id have given it 5 stars; so thats what Im doing here. (maybe OD should get an imaginary 6th star; to make it fair to every other book?)This was just a really enjoyable book; and its subtly altered how I look at buildings around me. Worth the reading; definitely.