The Circus, 1870-1950 - Reviews
"Now, that's really big. The size: 20 x 13 x 3.3 inches (50,8 x 33 x 8,4 cm). Just imagine the corresponding weight. Alive in the inside, 900 images, 760 pages. No way to hold it in your hands. The printing, design and fabrication are the best you can even dream. Circus literature through the centuries is an infinite, exciting and surprising landscape of marvels. But this one risks to be the best circus book ever. If legendary bibliographer Toole-Stoot was alive, he would have jumped from his chair. Where our inconsiderate enthusiasm generates for "Circus 1870-1950", just published internationally by TASCHEN? This book has an interesting approach to the circus, reflecting the identity itself of the big top divertissements: the emphasis on size, richness, exageration, surprise, rarity, colossal cornucopia of never-ending wonders. The recipe of this masterpiece of a book is just the same of the glorious circuses of a bygone era: assemble the bigger and the best ever. So, take the world's best publishing house in the field of illustration (TASCHEN); treat the reader with the finest available paper choice wrapped with a solid, elegant, bible-like cover. Assemble for the first time ever those considered as the four most prestigious circus collections in the world: The Circus World Museum of Baraboo; the Tibbals Collection at the Ringling Circus Museum in Sarasota; if not enough, the antique prints from the Pascal Jacob - Williams collection at Tohu in Montreal; and, just to top the cake, the generous paraphernalia from not less that Ricky Jay. To write competent essays, the editors (Noel Daniel and Linda Granfield) called the most world-encyclopedic circus historian walking today upon the face of the globe: Dominique Jando, with, as a guest star, the best fact-checker that the sawdust mitology ever knew in his long history, Fred Dahlinger. The picture captions are enhanced by a crowded constellation of small gems: circus-waxing quotes incessantly fleeding thru the pages from the pen of Steinbeck, Hemingway, De Mille, and dozen of others. Now, this was enough to fill such a project. But is just the beginning. In fact, TASCHEN digged in other collections revealing in the best splendor possible the great gems of circus photography: legends as F.W.Glasier and E.Kelty. And with them, Mathew Brady, Cornell Capa, Walker Evans, Weegee, Lisette Model, Charles and Ray Eames. The odd and unusual, too: they unearthed never-before seen circus photos taken by a young Stanley Kubrick (!). And, for the first time in print, the first existing colour photos of a circus, with the polaroid series of C.Cushman visiting Ringling's (a treasure until today hidden at the Illinois University). Jando and Dahlinger investigated the identity of performers and acts compiling precious captions for the reader. The sideshow art is not forgotten: with the works of banner artists Nieman Eisman, Fred G. Johnson, and David "Snap" Wyatt. Just an example of how surprising is this treasure chest: the following magnificent picture, taken in 1948 at Ringling's circus, is one of the first colour photos of a circus ever taken. But, if this is not enough to amaze, there's something more about it. In fact, the photographer was a young reporter from "Look" magazine called Stanley Kubrick. The experience of this book for the circus lover, generates the same awe to stay in front of a Holy Bible for a religious. For those of us that are not initiated to the circus, the sense is probably of the same awe, witnessing here the bizarre repository of a colossal religion, almost gone, but still able to surprise and disturb. The price is according to the pachidermism of the whole, too: 200 dollars in the Usa or 150 Euros for the european market. But you can be sure that it worths the double."raffaelederitis.blogspot.comItaly |
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"The travelling circus was what kept millions of Americans entertained before they started going to the movies, watching TV or tuning into the radio, according to this amazing new book, which must surely be the year's largest and most lavishly illustrated...A note of caution: this book isn't one to go in the suitcase or even taken to bed - it's better as a replacement television."The Evening Standard, LondonUnited Kingdom |
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"Damas y caballeros...acrobacias y piruetas, humor y colorido, animales salvajes...el imaginario del circo está presente allá donde miremos esta temporada: de los arlequines de Miu Miu al libro The Circus de TASCHEN. (...) POr algo lo llaman el mayor espectáculo del mundo."Vogue, MadridSpain |
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"Wo, wenn nicht hier, werden Außenseiter als Wunder angekündigt, boxen Kängurus mit Champions, fahren Bären Rad, springen Löwen durch brennende Reifen und verschlucken Jumbo-Elefanten kleine Männer? Politisch inkorrekt bis in die Haarwurzeln bündelt und verschmilzt der Zirkus die Schönen und die Biester, die Riesen und Zwerge, Schlangenmenschen und Dresseure zu einem unerhörten Universum der Körperexzentrik. Und gaukelt mit dieser unwiderstehlich grotesken Melange aus Menschen und Tieren in einer Karawane aus Planwagen, Zelten und Zügen unermüdlich von Ort zu Ort, wie in einer Endlosschleife um den Globus ... Dass unser Verlangen nach der größten Show der Welt nie ganz gestillt werden kann, beweist der soeben erschienene Band des Kölner TASCHEN-Verlages, The Circus. 1870-1950."Süddeutsche Zeitung, MünchenGermany |
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"Salto mortale über der Alltagstristesse: Ein opulenter, fabelhafter Bildband erinnert an die Glanzzeit des amerikanischen Wanderzirkus ... So ungefähr hat man sich, seit dem späten 19. Jahrhundert die damalige Zirkuswelt gedacht, von der uns dieser Prachtband nun solch mitreißende Einblicke gewährt: Als Allegorie der Welt und des prekären Daseins des Menschen. Denn nichts anderes sei ja das Leben als ein leeres Spiel, ein ebenso frappierendes wie gänzlich sinnloses Kunststück, aufgeführt über gähnendem Abgrund, vom tödlichen Absturz jederzeit bedroht ... Dass der amerikanische Zirkus die populäre Kultur des späten 20. Jahrhunderts vorwegnimmt, dass er ihr Spektrum, ihr Ziel und ihre Inszenierungsformen prägt - das lassen die 900 Abbildungen des Bandes vorzüglich erleben ... Neben der melancholisch-possierlichen, zeitweise doch schwer nervenden Weltschmerz-Artistik, mit der heute in unseren Breitengraden der Zirkus so gerne bestritten wird ... überwältigt die ungenierte Vitalität des klassischen amerikanischen Zirkus, sein Wunsch, um jeden Preis, koste es was es wolle, den Zuschauer zu frappieren, zum Staunen, zum Wunderglauben zu bringen ... ‚Greatest Show on Earth' nannte der legendäre Impresario E.T. Barnum seinen Zirkus ab den 1880er-Jahren, der vermutlich wirklich das größte, das sensationellste und schönste, das gerissenste und geschmackloseste Unternehmen aller Zeiten war und als ein von enormen Menschenmassen bestauntes Schauspiel in endlos langen Sonderzügen die Vereinigten Staaten von Küste zu Küste durchquerte: als größte Schau auf Erden eben. Und das ist der Zirkus, als Vorläufer, als Auftakt zu unserer Popkultur, wirklich gewesen. Ein lautes und schrilles, buntes und groteskes, ein auf den Paukenschlag, den Trommelwirbel hin angelegtes Massenvergnügen."Welt am Sonntag, BerlinGermany |
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"Beeindruckende Bilder, die der Faszination Zirkus auf den Grund gehen."Elle, MünchenGermany |
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"For anyone who spent their childhood dreaming of running away to join the circus, perhaps as a sword swallower or a daredevil trapeze artist, this beautifully produced, ginormous book will represent sawdust-and-spangles nirvana. Rest assured, the price is more than matched by the elephantine size: at almost 2ft long, The Circus is less coffee-table book than actual coffee table."The Observer, LondonUnited Kingdom |
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"Il circo, lo spettacolo più bello del mondo, si racconta per parole e immagini dagli albori a oggi. Oltre 900 immagini e colori e bianco e nero e tante illustrazioni per ripercorrerne la storia, fatta di leggendari personaggi, esilaranti clown, giovani starlet e impavidi domatori di tigri e leoni. The Circus 1870-1950, TASCHEN"Marie Claire, MilanoItaly |
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"Per chi fosse incerca di ispirazione, una lettura utile è il bel libro illustrato The Circus di TASCHEN."Venerdì di Repubblica, RomaItaly |
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"Les éditions TASCHEN publient ce mois de juin un beau livre sur un siècle de cirque américain: Circus, 1870-1950, de Noel Daniel, Dominique Jando, Linda Granfield et Fred Dahlinger. Plus de 650 pages et 1000 illustrations."horslesmurs.frFrance |
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The Circus, 1870-1950
Daniel, Noel (Editor)
Jando, Dominique / Granfield, Linda / Dahlinger, Jr., Fred Hardcover, 29 x 44 cm (11.4 x 17.3 in.), 670 pages $ 200.00 ISBN: 978-3-8228-5153-1 Multilingual Edition: English, French, German Availability: Not in Stock |
- Videos (1 items)
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The Circus, 1870-1950 The greatest show on earth! The history and legacy of the circus. September 2008 |
- Clippings (78 items)
The Circus, 1870–1950
Circus Fanfare Magazine, United States, October 01, 2008
Circus Fanfare Magazine, United States, October 01, 2008
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- See also (1 items)
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