Booklet titled "History of Animals and Leading Curiosities of the Greatest Combined Shows on Earth," featuring a giraffe and an ostrich on the cover. The booklet was published for the 1881 season, when P. T. Barnum was in partnership with James A. Bailey and J. L. Hutchinson, and their show represented four entities: Barnum's Greatest Show; Great London Circus; Sanger's Royal British Menagerie; and Grand International Allied Show. This 31-page souvenir booklet would have been sold to circus-goers. The cover illustration, tinted in rose, yellow-gold, green, and light blue, features a giraffe on the left hand side and an ostrich on the right, set against jungle foliage. The giraffe consumes most of the cover space, creating a bold and appealing design. The content highlights the various animals in the show, and includes listings along with brief informative paragraphs for the following animals: giraffe, ostrich, cassowary, tiger, badger, abyssinian warthog, hippopotamus, camel, cheetah, eland, yak, quadrumana, zebra, boa constrictor, snakes, horned horse, tapir, wolf, polar bear, sea lion, birds, rodentia, capybara, kangaroo, buffalo, dwarf sacred bull, ox, elk, llama, platypus, echidna, jackal, bears, kinkajou, beaver, raccoon, wolverine, bats, antelope, black buck, deer family, hedgehog, civet cat, ichneumon, elephant, horse, sloth, lion, monkey family, armadillo, panther, ant eaters, lemuridae, whale tribe, alligator, spotted hyena, american monkey, marmosets, howling monkeys, and dolphin family. Illustrated are a giraffe and ostrich (page 3), tiger (page 5), camel (page 7), zebra and boa constrictor (page 11), polar bear and sea lion (page 13), buffalo (page 15), bears (page 17), antelope (page 19), elephant (page 21), lion (page 23), panther (page 25), alligator and hyena (page 27), and "The Happy Family" of prey and predators all in the same cage (page 29.) Starting on page 30, the book lists new features in the show including, on page 31, the one season-only inclusion of Charles S. Stratton - better known as General Tom Thumb - and his wife, M. Lavinia Warren, both of them little people who had become international celebrities. The back cover features a full-length illustration of a female circus performer and advertises that she will "be shot 100 feet through space in the air from an ancient catapult." Barnum is best known for his involvement with the circus that bore his name, but his circus ventures came about when he was in his 60s. The first show was called P.T. Barnum’s Grand Traveling Museum, Menagerie, Caravan and Circus. Railroads propelled the circus to success, making it easier to reach a number of locations, and the intake was significant. Barnum then opened the New York Hippodrome with similar acts. In the 1880s, he encountered competition from other circuses. A merger between Barnum’s show the Great London Show of Cooper, Bailey, and Hutchinson formed the Barnum and London Circus. Negotiations in 1887 formed the Barnum and Bailey circus. The name remained until 1919 when it became the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey circus.
