NEW YORK HERALD, August 22, 1812 

* Scudder's American Museum
* Leatherback sea turtle display

A back page notice for the: "Mammoth Turtle In Scudder's American Museum" takes nearly half a column and offers many details about this enormous creature. Includes a rather large woodcut of the turtle's head as well.
Complete with all 4 pages, nice condition.

Background: This August 22, 1812, issue of the New York Herald captures a fascinating intersection of early American pop culture and wartime history, providing a rare glimpse into the precursor of modern showmanship just two months after the United States declared war on Great Britain. The prominent, half-column advertisement for the "Mammoth Turtle" at John Scudder’s American Museum—complete with an exceptionally rare and costly woodcut illustration for an era dominated by dense text—highlights the immense commercial value placed on natural curiosities that served as vital public distractions during the anxiety of the War of 1812. The historical weight of this specific publication is profoundly elevated by the museum itself; Scudder was a trailblazer in American entertainment whose vast collection of oddities and taxidermy was ultimately purchased by P.T. Barnum in 1841 to form "Barnum's American Museum." Consequently, this intact four-page artifact serves as a literal foundational document for the birth of American mass media and commercial entertainment, proving that even as the young nation braced for military conflict, the public's appetite for wonder and the roots of the modern circus empire were already taking shape.