This collection of primary sources brings together a series of documents derived from archives, journals, newspapers, out-of-print books, memoirs, letters, and other written materials pertaining to the circus during the long nineteenth century (1789-1919). Historians concur that the ‘modern’ circus emerged in London in the late-eighteenth century, following the entrepreneurial initiatives of Philip Astley (1742-1814). It soon spread to Scotland, Ireland, France, Russia, Scandinavia, and other regions of Europe. Introduced to the United States by and English equestrian, John Bill Ricketts, in 1793, the modern circus transformed into a movable tent show by 1825. Following the Civil War and the development of railroad transport, the uniquely American circus transformed again into an ‘industrialized juggernaut’ capable of entertaining a large and diverse population from coast to coast. Transmitted across the globe through the British colonial project, the circus flourished in the colonies of Australasia, South Africa, South- and Southeast Asia, and was nourished by traditional performance forms of China, Japan, India, and Southeast Asia. The modern circus evolved through interaction with different geographies, socio-political contexts, new technologies, cultural heritage, and absorption of vernacular performance forms.
Accompanied by extensive editorial commentary, and edited by an international team of scholars, this collection will be of great interest to students and researchers of circus studies, theatre and performance studies and cultural history.

Gillian Arrighi is an independent scholar who was until recently Associate Professor and Head of Creative and Performing Arts in the School of Creative Industries, University of Newcastle, Australia. She has published numerous journal articles and chapters in edited volumes on popular entertainments, child actors, and acting theory.

Kim Baston was until recently Senior Lecturer in Theatre and Drama at La Trobe University, Melbourne and is a member of the curriculum advisory group of the National Institute of Circus Arts (NICA). Her research interests include popular entertainments in the eighteenth century, circus history and culture, and the intersection of music and theatre.

Aastha Gandhi is a PhD in theatre and performance studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, and has a Doctoral Fellowship at the Temporal Communities-Cluster of Excellence program, Freie University, Berlin. Aastha’s research engages with the circus, networks, laws and discourses of the performing body.

Kate Holmes is an honorary fellow at the University of Exeter. She has recently finished working as a postdoctoral researcher on the major collaborative UK Arts and Humanities Research Council funded ‘Theatre and Visual Culture in the Long Nineteenth Century’ project. As part of this project, she researched popular entertainments as an integrated element of visual culture and managed impact activities such as exhibitions. Kate’s research has also considered how world events influenced circus performer’s careers and explored how audience experience was guided by differences in early twentieth century North American and British circus spaces.

Betsy Golden Kellem is an entertainment historian, and a media and advertising attorney for one of the Fortune 500’s top 5 companies.

Matthew McMahan is assistant professor of comedic studies at Emerson College, where he teaches the history and theory of comedy. He is the author of Border-Crossing and Comedy at the Théâtre Italien, 1716-1723 (Palgrave Macmillan), and numerous articles and reviews on vaudeville, clowning, farce, and French theatre

Jennifer Lemmer Posey is Tibbals Curator of Circus at the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art in Sarasota, Florida, a campus of Florida State University. She has been working with circus collections and the diverse circus community for twenty years. With research interests focused on the relationship of the circus arts, mass media, identity, and popular culture.

Mark St Leon is a freelance lecturer in accounting, economics and management, now retired. Descended from one of Australia’s earliest circus families, he pioneered the study of Australia’s circus and travelling show people.

Laurence Senelick is Fletcher Professor Emeritus of Drama and Oratory, Tufts University, and a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. For many years he served as an adjudicator of the International Mime & Movement Festival in Philadelphia.