{"product_id":"the-selected-letters-of-p-t-barnum-hardcover","title":"The Selected Letters of P. T. Barnum - Hardcover","description":"\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cp style=\"text-align: right;\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/reportcopyrightinfringement.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eReport copyright infringement\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eA. H. Saxon\u003c\/b\u003e (Editor)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"I believe hugely in advertising and blowing my own trumpet, beating the gongs, drums, to attract attention to a \u003ci\u003eshow,\"\u003c\/i\u003e Phineas Taylor Barnum wrote to a publisher in 1860. \"I don't believe in 'duping the public, ' but I believe in first \u003ci\u003eattracting\u003c\/i\u003e and then pleasing them.\"The name P.T. Barnum is virtually synonymous with the fine art of self-advertisement and the apocryphal statement, \"There's a sucker born every minute.\" Nearly a century after his death, Barnum remains one of America's most celebrated figures. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn the \u003ci\u003eSelected Letters of P.T. Barnum, \u003c\/i\u003e A.H. Saxon brings together more than 300 letters written by the self-styled \"Prince of Humbugs.\" Here we see him, opinionated and exuberant, with only the rarest flashes of introspection and self-doubt, haggling with business partners, blustering over politics, and attempting to get such friends as Mark Twain to endorse his latest schemes. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eAlways the king of showmen, Barnum considered himself a museum man first and was forever on the lookout for \"curiosities,\" whether animate or inanimate. His early career included such outright frauds as Joice Heth, the \"161-year-old nurse of George Washington,\" and the Fejee Mermaid-the desiccated head and torso of a monkey sewn to the body of a fish. Although in later years he projected a more solid, respectable image-managing the irreproachable \"legitimate\" attraction Jenny Lind, becoming a leading light in the temperance crusade, founding the Barnum \u0026amp; Bailey Circus-much of his daily existence continued to be unabashedly devoted to manipulating public opinion so as to acquire for himself and his enterprises what he delightedly termed \"notoriety.\" \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eHis famous autobiography, \u003ci\u003eThe Life of P.T. Barnum, \u003c\/i\u003e which he regularly augmented during the last quarter century of his life, was itself a masterpiece of self-promotion. \"Will you have the kindness to announce that I am writing my life \u0026amp; that fifty-seven different publishers have applied for the chance of publishing it,\" he wrote to a newspaper editor, adding, \"Such is the fact-and if it wasn't, why still it ain't a bad announcement.\" \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThe \u003ci\u003eSelected Letters of P.T. Barnum\u003c\/i\u003e captures the magic of this consummate showman's life, truly his own \"greatest show on earth.\"\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 351\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 1.2 x 9.2 x 6.36 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eIllustrated:\u003c\/strong\u003e Yes\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e May 09, 1983\u003c\/div\u003e\n            ","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47713339244792,"sku":"9780231054126","price":142.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0698\/5629\/7208\/files\/UnNXNHdFMnBZZ3l1YWVsdXhkNHdWQT09.webp?v=1766796933","url":"https:\/\/barneysbooksellers.com\/products\/the-selected-letters-of-p-t-barnum-hardcover","provider":"Barney's Book Sellers","version":"1.0","type":"link"}