Summary
The Kunhardts combine a narrative of P. T. Barnum’s life with photographs, engravings and color lithographs drawn from the Meserve Collection and other archives. The illustrated biography examines his promotion, commercial ambition and public life, presenting a showman with complicated motives whose reputation was shaped by both entertainment and controversy.
Why read it Our view
Read it to examine how a public image is built through words and pictures. The book gives founders questions about the promise made by promotion and the gap between a person’s public reputation and the motives behind it.
Written about
- P.T. BarnumBiography subjectThe Kunhardts’ illustrated biography presents Barnum’s life, promotion and public reputation through narrative and archival images.Source