Human curiosity prints, playbills, broadsides and other printed material
Overview
Collection of printed material concerning human curiosities, chiefly people exhibited in and around London and the United States.
Dates
- Creation: 1695-1937
Language of Materials
Collection materials are in English and French.
Conditions Governing Access
There are no restrictions on physical access to this material.
Extent
1.5 linear feet (3 boxes)The collection consists of images, chiefly intaglio prints, but also some photographs; broadsides and playbills of shows; and other materials concerning human curiosities. Most of the human curiosities are medical anomalies, giants, dwarfs, etc., such as Józef Borusławski and Patrick Cotter, but collection also contains images of people known for unusual activities or feats, such as Captain Robert Barclay, who walked 1000 miles in 1000 days; André Garnerin, inventor of the frameless parachute; and Laura Dewey Bridgman, an educated deaf-blind woman.
Biographical / Historical
Persons with something unusual about their appearance or behavior were often referred to as "freaks". A "freak show" is an exhibition of such persons. Changes in popular culture and entertainment led to the decline of the freak show as a form of entertainment.
Arrangement
Arranged into the following series:
- I. Prints and images
- II. Playbills and broadsides
- III. Other material
Physical Location
b
Immediate Source of Acquisition
No accession number. Source and date unknown unless noted at item level.
Processing Information
Processed by: Susan Wyssen
Processing Information
This finding aid was revised in May 2024 to address outdated and harmful descriptive language. During that revision, contextualizing processing notes were added to the description of one item. For more information on reparative archival description at Harvard, see Harvard Library’s Statement on Harmful Language in Archival Description.
- Title
- Human curiosity prints, playbills, broadsides and other printed material, 1695-1937 (MS Thr 736): Guide.
- Author
- Houghton Library, Harvard College Library
- Description rules
- dacs
- Language of description
- eng
- EAD ID
- hou02245
Repository Details
Part of the Houghton Library Repository
Houghton Library is Harvard College's principal repository for rare books and manuscripts, archives, and more. Houghton Library's collections represent the scope of human experience from ancient Egypt to twenty-first century Cambridge. With strengths primarily in North American and European history, literature, and culture, collections range in media from printed books and handwritten manuscripts to maps, drawings and paintings, prints, posters, photographs, film and audio recordings, and digital media, as well as costumes, theater props, and a wide range of other objects. Houghton Library has historically focused on collecting the written record of European and Eurocentric North American culture, yet it holds a large and diverse number of primary sources valuable for research on the languages, culture and history of indigenous peoples of the Americas, Africa, Asia and Oceania.
Houghton Library’s Reading Room is free and open to all who wish to use the library’s collections.
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