An exceedingly rare early portrait of the celebrated African American musical savant, based on an 1865 photographic portrait by the Bendann Brothers of Baltimore and apparently published in connection with a series of concerts given by Blind Tom in Philadelphia in 1865. The image depicts a young Tom Wiggins.....
A spectacular Mardi Gras poster for the Krewe of Proteus floats for 1896, depicting a wide variety of animals—here dubbed “Dumb Society,”—in imaginative situations. Represented here are twenty floats with titles such as “Presidential Sport,” “At Home…Dancing,” “In the Surf,” and “A Royal Banquet.” One marvelous float entitled “Five.....
A captivating poster featuring the Krewe of Rex’s “Heavenly Bodies” floats for the 1896 Mardi Gras. One of the oldest participants in Mardi Gras and the source of many of its storied traditions, the Krewe of Rex was founded in 1872 on the occasion of the visit to New.....
A lovely Mardi Gras poster for the Phunny Phorty Phellows and its numerous extravagant and intricate floats, whose theme for 1896 was “Popular Phads and Phancies.” The Phunny Phorty Phellows krewe first came onto the Mardi Gras scene in 1878. Known for their satirical costumes reflecting contemporary issues, the.....
A delightful poster depicting the Krewe of Proteus floats for the 1898 Mardi Gras. The Krewe’s theme for the parade was “A Trip to Wonderland,” a broad subject that inspired a marvelous variety of twenty imaginative floats with titles such as “A New Heaven,” “An Arctic Symposium,” “Tiger-Lilies In.....
A rare and wonderfully vivid poster depicting Edith Clifford’s remarkable sword-swallowing act. In his Learned Pigs and Fireproof Women, Ricky Jay offers perhaps the best and most extensive account of Clifford’s act, making reference to this poster, which is illustrated in color: Houdini states that Mlle. Clifford was.....
![Miss Fanny Kemble, as Julia in The Hunchback]. Thomas Sully, after](/pictures/thumb/3541_1.jpg?v=1560463334)
A scarce and very fine lithographic portrait of Fanny Kemble as Julia in James Sheridan Knowles’ play The Hunchback, after a painting by Thomas Sully. Kemble and her father toured the United States in 1832–1833, immediately following her much acclaimed performance as Julia in London. Both Sully’s painting and this.....