INSCRIBED BY P.T. BARNUM: STRUGGLES AND TRIUMPHS, IN LOVELY PUBLISHER'S PRESENTATION FULL MOROCCO-GILT

BARNUM, P.T. Struggles and Triumphs; or, Sixty Years' Recollections of P.T. Barnum. Including his Golden Rules for Money-Making. Buffalo: The Courier Company, 1889. Octavo, publisher's presentation full black pebbled morocco, elaborately gilt-decorated spine, raised bands, marbled endpapers, all edges gilt. $3000.

Later edition, revised and enlarged, of P.T. Barnum's illustrated autobiography, with 43 full-page wood engravings, inscribed by Barnum on the front flyleaf less than a year before his death: "To my friend & neighbor, George Mallory, Esq. With kind regards to all his tribe, P.T. Barnum. July 5th, 1890."

In addition to being the world's greatest showman and the biggest name in circuses, Barnum was also a master of self-promotion. Used to selling exotic animals, death-defying feats, and any spectacle he could pay someone to do, Barnum realized that the next logical step was to turn himself into an attraction. Hence: Struggles and Triumphs, Barnum's memoirs (perhaps more entertaining than truthful). "At the circus grounds Barnum's… Struggles and Triumphs (1869), selling at bookstores for $1.50, could be had for $1. Produced for nine cents, these sold 100,000 yearly. Barnum did not copyright the book, assuring that his words flowed everywhere" (ANB). By the end of the 19th century, there were allegedly almost as many copies of Struggles and Triumphs in circulation as the New Testament. The first edition was published in 1869 with a slightly different title; this edition has been updated through the date of publication. Recipient George Mallory was a significant figure in Connecticut: an early investor in the Watertown Manufacturing Company, a member of the Bridgeport Board of Trade with Barnum, and director of the Bridgeport City Bank. Most notably, Mallory was one of the original incorporators and stockholders of the Wheeler & Wilson Manufacturing Company of Bridgeport, a manufacturer of sewing machines, that was later acquired by the Singer Corporation in 1905. Both Mallory and Barnum owned homes in Bridgeport; in 1875, Barnum was elected Mayor of that town, as noted in the present autobiography: "If by improving and beautifying our city Bridgeport," Barnum wrote, "and adding to the pleasure and prosperity of my neighbors, [and] I can do so at a profit, the incentive to 'good works' will be twice as strong as if it were otherwise" (page 297).

A fine presentation copy, scarce and desirable inscribed by Barnum, with an excellent association.