Potter & Potter Auctions
Live Auction

Step Right Up: Circus and Sideshow Memorabilia

Thu, Sep 3, 2026 11:00AM EDT
  2026-09-03 11:00:00 2026-09-03 11:00:00 America/New_York Potter & Potter Auctions Potter & Potter Auctions : Step Right Up: Circus and Sideshow Memorabilia https://auction.potterauctions.com/auctions/potter-potter/step-right-up-circus-and-sideshow-memorabilia-23625
Featuring the collection of lifelong circus collector John Diesso, this auction includes heralds, couriers, and posters advertising the "greatest shows" of yesteryear. Photographs, route books, scrapbooks, and circus costumes will be also be offered, spanning the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. A wide array of early European circus posters will be sold, along with a large library of circus books of several thousand volumes.
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Lot 434

Barnum's Great Museum, Menagerie, Hippodrome and Traveling World's Fair courier.

Estimate: $250 - $350
Starting Bid
$125

Bid Increments

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$0 $5
$30 $10
$100 $25
$500 $50
$1,000 $100
$2,000 $200
$5,000 $500
$10,000 $1,000
$20,000 $2,000
$50,000 $5,000
$100,000 $10,000

Barnum's Great Museum, Menagerie, Hippodrome and Traveling World's Fair courier. New York, (1873). Program or courier for Barnum's Great Show, illustrated with a portrait and vignette of "Barnum's Magic City" at top. The program includes a Grand Oriental Pageant, curiosities including Fiji Cannibals, Admiral Dot, Armless Boy, Zip the Wild Boy, Mlle. Angela the Female Samson, and more. [4] pages. 

14 3/4 x 10 1/4".

Condition

Short tears with clear tape repair, slight nicks and creases; offsetting. 

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