BARNUM, Phineas Taylor. Autograph Letter Signed, to Bertrand Smith. Bridgeport, CT: Jan. 31, 1888. On a sheet of engraved Barnum & London Shows letterhead (11 ? x 9?), enhanced in gilt, to Smith, a student at Ashville College (Harrowgate, Yorkshire, England), warmly remembering Smith as a young boy, ?anxious to go with me and see ?The Greatest Show on Earth,? even before I had given it that fancy title.? Contemplatively, Barnum writes that now he is ?so old and overworked that the doctors advised me not to write nor think to [sic] much?? and remarks that he ?can hardly realize that you are a student in college!? But so the world rushes on?? Signed, ?Your ancient friend/Phineas T Barnum.? With original mailing cover, which signed ?P.T. Barnum? for the return recipient. Barnum rarely signed with his full first name.