Letter: To Doctor Talmage from P.T. Barnum, September 9, 1889

Letter to Doctor Talmage from P.T. Barnum, September 9, 1889 This letter is likely to De Witt Talmage, the clergyman. In it Barnum writes about "a prospect of his lecturing here this fall or winter. If not, please lecture for our Sunday School Library. F. A. M. E. is the fee, Fifty And My Expenses. We are to have 5 lectures in a small check. I know that is but a tenth of $500 which you sometimes get. Gives him a date. I will be delighted, if not, no harm done." P.T. Barnum wrote a large number of letters in his time, and as a public figure, received many in return. These manuscripts offer insight into his personal life via correspondence with friends and family, his business interests including the American Museum and the circus, and his personality. The various correspondents demonstrate how vast his social circle was, and the space he occupied as a public figure during his own lifetime.