Provincially printed circus broadside
Hengler’s colossal Hippodrome and Grand Cirque Variety. The Star Company of Great Britain. Under the distinguished patronage of her Majesty the Queen, Prince Albert, and the Royal Family, at Windsor, in February, 1848, and 1849...
N.p., n.d. [Hesket-Newmarket ? ca. 1855]. Tall folio circus broadside approx. 33" x 7¼" (85 cm x 19 cm), printed in blue and black, wood-engraved royal arms at the top, wood-engraved illustration of a female performer on horseback; previous folds, but generally in fine condition, and an unusual survival. The present broadside concerns a one-day performance at Hesket-New-Market on July 28th, 1855 where "the renowned company and Noble Stud of Sixty Horses !! and ponies will make their Grand Entree..." Also appearing are "the Sultan's team of snow-white Turkish horses ... Mynheer Frowde, the great clown and contortionist, will pour forth his Budget of Mirth, assisted by Eugene & Ferdinand, the inimitable grotesques [and] Herr Hengler the great classical rider and rope-dancer..." Frederick Charles Hengler (1820-1887), known as Charles, was a popular horseman and circus owner. He was the second son of Henry, a famous tight-rope dancer from an established family of circus performers. Too tall to follow the family tradition of acrobatics he became a horseman with a variety of circus troupes before starting his own circus, Hengler’s Cirque, in 1847. "In 1841 Frederick Charles was a violin and trumpet player in Mrs. James Wild's theatre at Bradford. He afterwards attended to the business department of Price and Powell's travelling circus; but when they became embarrassed, they sold their circus to him and his brother Edward, who for some years carried on the business with varied success. About 1856 Edward retired, and with his brother John kept a riding school at Liverpool, where he died on 8 Jan. 1865, aged 45. Frederick Charles, now sole proprietor, on 15 March 1857 established a circus in Liverpool, and erected buildings at Glasgow and Dublin in 1863, at Hull in 1866, at Bristol in 1867, and at Birmingham in 1868" (DNB). Hengler’s success was considerable; he died in 1887 having made a fortune of over £60,000 from his circuses. Heskett Newmarket is a small town in Cumbria, near the Scottish border. Not located bibliographically. Item #58081
Price: $750.00
