Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Xmas Maximus Posters

A great 19th century British circus bill most likely from 1884. This 15x21" bill advertised the Great National Xmas Fair at the New Cross Public Hall in South London with a host of savory and not-so-savory gigantic attractions. Below is an 1881 circus bill for a Christmas Eve opening performance at the Royal Agricultural Hall. It measures 15x20". Both of these chromolithographed bills are from the British Library's Evanion Catalogue. 

More from the British Library's Evanion Collection: The Royal Agricultural Hall in Islington saw much circus maximus in its day. The 2 posters immediately above and below are for the same event of the 1879 Boxing Day Grand Christmas Fète avec Monstre Christmas Tree. Accommodation for 80,000 people wet or dry! The poster bill above measures 15x21 inches. The poster below measures approximately 20x30 inches. The beautiful woodcut engraving below is an interpretation of the same lithographed illustration just above.


An undated circus bill with wood type headlines for The Royal Circus Company opening on Boxing Day, December 26th. The circus bill below for the Grand Christmas Ball is dated 1858. Both are from Leeds Playbills. A reprint of the poster image above is available here.


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