Potter & Potter Auctions
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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 344

WATKINS, Harvey L. Four Years in Europe. The Barnum & Bailey Greatest Show on Earth in the Old World.

Estimate: $300 - $500
Starting Bid
$150

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

WATKINS, Harvey L. Four Years in Europe. The Barnum & Bailey Greatest Show on Earth in the Old World. Paris: Author, [1901]. Original blue-grey cloth stamped in gilt. With four folding route maps. Numerous illustrations, from photographs, of circus and sideshow performers, including Frank and Annie Howard (tattooed couple), Annie Jones (bearded lady), Charles Tripp, James Morris (elastic skin man), Jo-Jo; equestrians and aerialists, circus managers and agents, and others. Tall 8vo (10 ½ x 7 ¼”). 

 

 

 

Condition

Covers rubbed and spotted at edges; slightly shaken.

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