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See "Columbus" the elephant in 1817...
See "Columbus" the elephant in 1817...
Item # 724026
December 17, 1817
COLUMBIAN CENTINEL, Boston, Mass., December 17, 1817
* The Elephant 'Columbus' engraving
* Asian Pachyderm from India on display
* First ever male exhibited in America
Page 3 has a 3 1/2 x 2 1/2 inch notice for an exhibition of "The Elephant Columbus", which includes an engraving of an elephant. The ad states, in part that: "The ELEPHANT is not only the largest and most sagacious animal in the world, but...with its trunk, is acknowledged to be the greatest natural curiosity ever offered to the public. The one now offered...is...the only one ever exhibited in America..."
Four pages, a little irregular along the margins, generally good.
AI notes: In December 1817, a male Asian elephant named Columbus arrived in Boston from Calcutta, India, after a grueling 155-day voyage aboard a ship also called Columbus. Upon arrival, he was put on public display in the city, with contemporary advertisements in the Columbian Centinel announcing that visitors could see him “in the avenue opposite the Old South Meeting House.” At the time, elephants were extremely rare in the United States, and Columbus was only the fourth known elephant brought into the country, making him a major curiosity and spectacle for Bostonians. Promoted as both a natural marvel and an exotic attraction, Columbus drew large crowds eager to witness his immense size and unusual appearance. After his Boston exhibition, he continued touring with traveling shows and menageries across the United States throughout the 1820s, helping to popularize exotic animal exhibitions in early American entertainment.
Category: Pre-Civil War
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