{"product_id":"the-clown-king-gareth-h-h-davies-9781515375920","title":"The Clown King: Popular Entertainment 1840-1860","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe Clown King\u003c\/strong\u003e is a microhistory of popular entertainment in the period 1840 - 1860 woven out of the career of Arthur Nelson, the Clown King.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eBorn around 1816, Nelson began as an actor in provincial and minor theatres before specialising as a 'talking' or Shakespearean clown. While some contemporaries wrote accounts of their lives, Nelson left no such formal record and yet, as one of the most popular clowns at the time, his career was one full of interest. Traced through playbills, advertisements and newspaper reports of the period, he moved seamlessly between circus ring and pantomime stage, as well as performing in concert halls with his musical novelties. His 'benefit' stunt, being drawn in a washing tub by four geese, although not original, drew huge crowds when performed in a town or city. This was to end with disaster in 1845 at Great Yarmouth, when spectators watching from the suspension bridge over the river Bure were propelled into the river causing the largest loss of life there has ever been in the town.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eUsing Nelson's career this book explores the social and economic place of the clown in circus, pantomime and the wider milieu of early Victorian society. His engagements enable the reader to trace the changing nature of the circus from rings, in semi-permanent wooden buildings and theatres, to the development of itinerant 'tenting'. His collaboration with other artistes allows for an exploration of performance as display, whether it be the 'pseudo-art' of tableau vivants or 'race-science' with the exhibition of dwarfs, microcephalic children and peoples of other cultures. His performance material gives an insight into cross-fertilisation of popular music between Britain and the United States before the American Civil War. This period saw rapid change as an expanding middle-class wanted their leisure-time to include entertainments that reflected both their aspiring cultural values and a desire to understand the technological and scientific progress of their age.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe book is supported by a complementary website: www.theclownking.com\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Gareth H. H. Davies\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 1515375927\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781515375920\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Createspace Independent Publishing Platform\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 09\/08\/2015\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 182\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.76lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.47d","brand":"Gareth H. H. Davies","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":44068303995135,"sku":"9781515375920","price":34.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_62cad1d1-308d-4c82-acf0-034939269294.jpg?v=1685418224","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/the-clown-king-gareth-h-h-davies-9781515375920","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}