STRUGGLES AND TRIUMPHS; OR, SIXTY YEARS' RECOLLECTIONS OF P. T. BARNUM, INCLUDING HIS GOLDEN RULES FOR MONEY-MAKING. ILLUSTRATED AND BROUGHT UP TO 1889
Buffalo: Courier Company, 1889. Early Edition. Hardcover. One of several editions of one of the most famous American autobiographies by one of the world's most sensational entrepreneurs. This is a special copy in a full black morocco leather publisher's presentation binding with gilt decorations on the spine and Barnum's gilt signature on the front cover, gilt dentelles, marbled endpapers, all edges gilt; 360 pages. Illustrated with 43 engravings. This copy is INSCRIBED and SIGNED by the author on the front blank: "To/Miss Jeanie Smith/with author's good wishes/P. T. Barnum" and dated London 1 February 1890. We are not sure who Jeanie Smith was, but alas, the inscription is too early to have been "the Half Girl" who married Al Tomaini, the 8' 8" giant. Some foxing to preliminaries, including the inscribed page but the writing is dark and clear. About Fine. Item #018959
Price: $1,250.00