ADOLPH FRIEDLÄNDER 1903 POSTER FOR "PERNELET UND SEINE KROKODILE" APPEARING WITH "CIRCUS BUSCH."
Item Description
Frame opening contains 27x36" poster plus narrow margins of linen. Founded in 1891, Circus Busch was among the leading European circuses. By the turn of the 20th Century, they had permanent buildings in Berlin, Vienna, and Hamburg. Harry Houdini first appeared w/Circus Busch in 1908, performing his Straight Jacket and Milk Can escapes. In 1912, Houdini debuted his original invention "The Water Torture Cell" w/Circus Busch. This 1903 poster is one of some 9,000 designs produced between 1872 and 1935 predominantly for artists, magicians, circus and vaudeville performers by the Hamburg lithographer and publisher firm founded by Adolph Friedländer. The company's printer's mark, a heart-shaped leaf w/serrated edges, appears in the lower left corner along w/the design number of 2570. Poster is accompanied by a thick, hardcover volume containing issues of "The Windsor Magazine: An Illustrated Monthly For Men And Women" Vol. XVI (June-Nov. 1902), published in London. Includes relevant, four pages article w/four photos, entitled "The Taming Of Crocodiles: M. Pernelet And His Strange Hobby." One photo, similar, but less exaggerated than the poster graphics, features Pernelet in a low-walled tank filled w/water and crocodiles; Pernelet, fully clothed, seated in a corner "Dispensing Dainties" of meat from a board resting on his lap. The poster design repeats this scene in a naturalistic setting w/Pernelet seated on the back of a floating crocodile at the center while 25 additional huge crocodiles encircle him, anxious for the slabs of red meat he dispenses. The poster has minimal age traces. Along the top edge, extending vertically down, are three old original fold lines, widely spaced, and each only about 2-3" long. The one on the far right, through the "H" of "Busch" has white hairline break of the paper surface about 1.5" long. Rare and NM. From the Hake Collection. Comes with Hake's COA.
