Publications
Further research possibilities
If you would like to explore the history of circus, these publications may be helpful.
Publications
Further research possibilities
If you would like to explore the history of circus, these publications may be helpful.
The Penny Gaff recommends the following publications.
Anon., ‘The Roman circus’, Age, 21 May 1927.
Anon., ‘A circus proprietor’s career: A chat with Mr Dan FitzGerald’, Sunday Times, 10 Nov 1895.
Anon., ‘Burton’s Circus’, Imperial Review, Jan 1888.
Anon., ‘Circus life in Australia’, Australasian Stage, 1901.
Anon., ‘Circus life’, Imperial Review, No. 8, Oct 1882.
Anon., ‘Cooper and Bailey’, Austral Review, Vol. II, No. 8, Aug 1878.
Anon., ‘FitzGerald Brothers’ Monster Australian Circus and Menagerie’, Bulletin, 20 May 1893.
Anon., ‘One who was there’, Australasian Bandsman, 26 Oct 1923.
Anon., ‘Show business’, Imperial Review, Jul 1884.
Anon., ‘Some elephants and FitzGerald’s circus’, Bulletin, 20 Apr 1905.
Anon., ‘Tent show nomads’, Pix, 14 Jul 1951.
Anon., ‘The circus’, Imperial Review, Melbourne, Mar 1892.
Anon., ‘The Grand United Circus’, Australian Town & Country Journal, 11 Jul 1874.
Anon., ‘The Wirths and their circus’, Theatre, 1 May 1911.
Broadway, Susan, ‘Circus Oz—the first seven years’, Australasian Drama Studies, No. 35, Oct 1999.
Cannon, Judy [with St Leon, Mark], Take a Drum and Beat It: The Story of the Astonishing Ashtons, 1848–1990s, Sydney: Tytherleigh Press, 1997.
Cornford, Peter, ‘The circus lives’, National Times, Nov 1973.
Cumming, H. (ed.), Roll Up! Roll Up! Circus Photographs by Brendan Esposito, Sydney: State Library of New South Wales, 2002.
Everett, Lynn, ‘Thrills and spills: The precarious life of Circus Monoxide’, Australasian Drama Studies, Vol. 35, 1999.
Fernandez, Natalie, Circus Saga: Ashton’s, Sydney: Ashton’s Circus, 1971.
Fogarty, James T., The Wonder of Wirths, Oak Flats: JB Books, Oak Flats, 2000.
Frederickson, Charles, ‘With sideshows in the early nineties’, Outdoor Showman, Apr 1964.
Greaves, Geoff, The Circus Comes to Town: Nostalgia of Australian Big Tops, Sydney: Reed, 1980.
Hanley, Jack, Jack Hanley Collection, State Library of Western Australia, Perth, PR 14497.
Higham, Charles, ‘Death of a circus?’, Bulletin, 27 Jul 1963.
Jameson, Neil, ‘For the Ashtons, it’s home sweet big top’, Newcastle Herald, 14 May 1988, p. 9.
Onlooker, (pseud.), ‘Spangles and sawdust: A chronicle of colonial circus life’, Theatre, Dec 1907–Dec 1908.
Salmon, Mary, ‘An old-time circus’, Australian Town and Country Journal, 3 Aug 1904.
Sissons, David C. S., ‘Japanese acrobatic troupes touring Australia 1867–1900’, Australasian Drama Studies, Vol. 35, Oct 1999.
Te Whero, (pseud.), ‘A morning in a circus tent: behind the scenes at FitzGerald’s Show’, Sydney Mail, 26 Apr 1905.
Urquhart, J., ‘Our first circus: Its rise and fall’, Sydney Morning Herald, 20 Jun 1931, p. 9.
Webber, Kimberley (ed.), Circus! The Jandaschewsky Story, Sydney: Powerhouse Publishing, 1996.
Wirth, George, ‘The romance of a great circus: George Wirth in a reminiscent mood’, Theatre, 1 Apr 1920.
Wirth, George, ‘Under the big top: The life story of George Wirth, circus proprietor, told by himself’, Life, 14 Jan, 15 Apr, 15 May, 15 Jun, 15 Jul 1933.
Wirth, George, Round the World with a Circus, Melbourne: Troedel & Cooper Pty Limited, 1925.
Wirth, Philip, The Life of Philip Wirth, The Great Circus Man, Melbourne: Troedel & Cooper Pty Limited, 1933.
Demoriane, Hermine, The Tight Rope Walker, London: Secker and Warburg, 1989.
Petit, Philip, On the High Wire, New York: Random House, 1985.
Anon., Summit Report, Melbourne: National Circus Summit,1990.
Bolton, Reginald, New Circus, London: Caloustre Gulbenkian Foundation, 1987.
Schoeman, Karen, ‘An early circus company: Signor Dalle Case and his visit to Bloemfontein’, Africana Notes and News, No. 8, 26 Dec 1985.
Bouissac, Paul, Circus and Culture: A Semiotic Approach, Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1976.
Carmeli, Yoram, ‘The invention of circus and bourgeois hegemony: A glance at British circus books’, Journal of Popular Culture, Vol. 29, No. 1, 1995, pp. 213ff.
Carmeli, Yoram, ‘Mimicry, display and play of the real: A trainer and ‘big cats’ in a circus den’, Australasian Drama Studies, No. 35, Oct 1999.
Tait, Peta, ‘Circus bodies as theatre animals’, Australasian Drama Studies, No. 35, Oct 1999.
Anon., ‘Circus life in the Old World: Andrew Ducrow, the famous equestrian’, New York Clipper, 5 Jun 1875.
Bemrose, Paul, Circus Genius: A Tribute to Philip Astley, 1742–1814, Newcastle-Under-Lyme: Borough Council, 1992.
Bostock, Edward Henry, Menageries, Circuses and Theatres, London: Chapman & Hall Ltd, 1927.
Croft-Cooke, Rupert and Cotes, Peter, Circus: A World History, London: Elek, 1976.
Croft-Cooke, Rupert and Meadmore, W. S., The Sawdust Ring, London: Odhams Press Ltd, c. 1950.
Frost, Thomas, Circus Life and Circus Celebrities, London: Tinsley Brothers, 1876.
Hippisley Coxe, Antony, A Seat at the Circus, London: The Macmillan Press Ltd, 1980.
Manning-Sanders, Ruth, The English Circus, London: Werner Laurie, 1952.
Saxon, Arthur H., The Life and Art of Andrew Ducrow and the Romantic Age of English Circus, Hamden, Connecticut: Archon Books, 1978.
Speaight, George, A History of the Circus, London: The Tantivy Press, 1980.
Stoddart, Helen, Rings of Desire, Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2000.
Taylor, Michael, ‘Transport and logistics, circus style’, Journal of the Institute of Logistics and Transport, Vol. 4, No. 10, Dec 2002.
Tyrwhitt-Drake, G., The English Circus and Fairground, London: Methuen and Co Ltd, 1946.
Wykes, Alan, Circus! An Investigation into What Makes the Sawdust Fly, London: Jupiter Books Ltd, 1977.
Anon., Around the World in Three Years, Replete with Romantic Incidents, Thrilling Adventures and Startling Episodes, Cooper, Bailey & Co., 1880.
Anon., Route Book, Columbus, Ohio: Sells Bros, 1893.
Culhane, John, The American Circus: An Illustrated History, New York: Henry Holt & Company, 1990.
Davis, Janet M., The Circus Age: Culture and Society Under the American Big Top, Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2002.
Dressler, Albert (ed.), California’s Pioneer Circus, Joseph Andrew Rowe, Founder. Memoirs and Personal Correspondence Relative to the Circus Business through the Gold Country in the 1850s, San Francisco: H. S. Crocker,1926.
Durant, John and Alice, Pictorial History of the American Circus, New York: A. S. Barnes and Co., 1967.
Hoh, LaVahn G. and Rough, William H., Step Right Up! The Adventure of Circus in America, White Hall, Virginia: Betterway Publications Inc., 1990.
Kelley, F. Beverley, ‘The land of spangles and sawdust’, National Geographic, Vol. LX, No. 4, Oct 1931.
May, Earl Chapin, The Circus from Rome to Ringling, New York: Dover Publications Inc., 1932.
Middleton, George, Circus Memoirs, Los Angeles: G. Rice & Sons, 1913.
North, John Ringling and Hatch, Alden, The Circus Kings: Our Ringling Family Story, New York: Doubleday & Company Inc., 1960.
Shettel, James W., ‘The great international circus in Australia’, Circus Scrap Book, No. 11, Jul 1931.
Slout, William L., Chilly Billy: The Evolution of a Circus Millionaire, San Bernardino: An Ameritus Enterprise Book, 2002.
Sturtevant, Charles G., ‘Chiarini, prince of international showmen’, White Tops, Dec 1932, pp. 9–10.
Taber, Robert, ‘Murray Pennock’, Bandwagon, No. 2, Mar–Apr 1962, pp. 114–17.
Thayer, Stuart, Annals of the American Circus. Volume 1, 1793–1829, Seattle: Dauven and Thayer, 1976.
Thayer, Stuart, Annals of the American Circus. Volume 3, 1848–1860, Seattle: Dauven and Thayer, 1992.
Thayer, Stuart, ‘James Hunter, the bareback rider’, Bandwagon, Vol. XXIII, No. 5, Sep–Oct 1989, pp. 36–7.
Thayer, Stuart, Mudshows and Railers: The American Circus in 1879, Michigan: Ann Arbor, 1971.
Vail, R. W. G., Random Notes on the History of the Early American Circus, Worcester, Massachusetts: American Antiquarian Society, 1934.
The Penny Gaff recommends these publications.
Brisbane, Katharine (ed.), Entertaining Australia: An Illustrated History, Sydney: Currency Press Pty Limited, 1991.
Broome, Richard [with Jackomos, Alec], Sideshow Alley, Sydney: Allen and Unwin, 1998.
Cumes, James William C., Their Chastity was not too Rigid: Leisure Times in Early Australia, Melbourne and Sydney: Longman Cheshire Reed, 1979.
Hall, Humphrey and Cripps, Alfred J., The Romance of the Sydney Stage, Sydney: Currency Press, in association with the National Library of Australia, 1996.
Irvin, Eric, Theatre Comes to Australia, Brisbane: University of Queensland Press, 1971.
Parsons, Phillip (ed.), Companion to Theatre in Australia, Sydney: Currency Press Pty Limited, in association with Cambridge University Press, 1995.
Thorne, Ross, Theatre Buildings in Australia to 1905: From the Time of the First Settlement to the Arrival of Cinema, Architectural Research Foundation, University of Sydney, Sydney, 1971, two volumes.
Waterhouse, Richard, From Minstrel to Vaudeville: The Australian Popular Stage, 1788–1914, Sydney: University of New South Wales Press, 1990.
Williams, David (ed.), Performing Arts Year Book of Australia, Mosman: Showcast Publications, 1979.
Anon., ‘Old London fairs’, New York Clipper, 11 Sep 1875.
Anon., ‘Old London fairs’, New York Clipper, 14 Aug 1875.
Anon., ‘Old London fairs’, New York Clipper, 7 Aug 1875.
Starsmore, Ian, English Fairs, London: Thames and Hudson, 1975.
Scott, Harold, The Early Doors: Origins of the Music Hall, London: EP Publishing Limited, 1977.
Brown, T. Allston, History of the American Stage, New York: Dick and Fitzgerald, 1870.
Odell, George Clinton Densmore, Annals of the New York Stage, New York: Columbia University Press, 1927–49, 15 volumes.
The Penny Gaff recommends these publications.
Askew, John, A Voyage to Australia and New Zealand, London: Simpkin Marshall & Co., 1857.
Bambrick, Susan (ed.), The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Australia, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994.
Davison, Graeme, McCarty, J. W., and McLeary, Ailsa, Australians 1888, Sydney: Fairfax, Syme, Weldon & Associates, 1987.
Finn, Edmund G., The Chronicles of Early Melbourne 1835 to 1852: Historical, Anecdotal and Personal, Melbourne: Ferguson & Mitchell, 1988.
Hood, John, Australia and the East: Being a Journal Narrative of a Voyage to New South Wales in an Emigrant Ship with a Residence of Some Months in Sydney and the Bush and the Route Home by Way of India and Egypt in Years 1841 and 1842, London: John Murray, 1843.
Horne, Donald, The Lucky Country, Ringwood: Penguin Books, 1964.
Potts, E. Daniel and Annette, Young America and Australian Gold: America and the Gold Rush of the 1850s, Brisbane: University of Queensland Press, 1974.
Shennan, M. Rosalyn, The 1855 Ovens Election and The Golden Horseshoes, Melbourne, self-published, 1995.
Sorenson, Edward S., Life in the Australian Backblocks, Sydney: Currey O’Neil, 1984.
Swan, Keith, A History of Wagga Wagga, Sydney: Hogbin Poole (Printers) Pty Limited, 1970.
Teo, Hsu-Ming and White, Richard (eds), Cultural History in Australia, Sydney: UNSW Press, 2003.
Twopeny, Richard, Town Life in Australia, Sydney: Penguin Books, 1973.
Vamplew, Wray, Australians: Historical Statistics, Sydney: Fairfax, Syme & Weldon Associates, 1987.
Walker, R. B., Old New England: A History of the Northern Tablelands of New South Wales 1818–1900, Sydney: Sydney University Press, 1966.
Ward, Russell, Australia Since the Coming of Man, Sydney: Landsdowne Press, 1982.
Waterhouse, Richard, Private Pleasures, Public Leisure: A History of Australian Popular Culture Since 1788, Sydney: Longman Australia Pty Limited, 1995.
Woods, Carole, Beechworth: A Titan’s Field, Melbourne: Hargreen Publishing Co., 1985.
Chesney, Kellow, The Victorian Underworld, Melbourne: Penguin Books Australia Ltd, 1978.
Cunningham, Hugh, Leisure in the Industrial Revolution, London: Croom-Helm, 1980.
Golby, John M., and Purdue, A. William, The Civilisation of the Crowd: Popular Culture in England, 1750–1900, Stroud: Sutton Publishing Ltd, 1999.
Hayes, M. H., Among Men and Horses, London: T. Fisher Unwin, 1894.
Quennell, Peter (ed.), Mayhew’s London, London: Bracken Books, 1951.
Woodward, Llewellyn, The Age of Reform, 1815–1870, Oxford: The Clarendon Press, 1962.