HarperCollins is proud to present its incredible range of best-loved, essential classics.
Meet the greatest entertainer of the 19th Century…
In 1834, desperate to create a better life for his family, small-time Connecticut businessman P. T. Barnum moved to New York City. With true entrepreneurial spirit and against all odds, he wowed audiences with his ensemble of musical spectacles, attractions and variety shows – often exploiting the vulnerable for entertainment value. A master showman, his crowning achievement was the world-famous circus, Barnum &amp; Bailey’s Greatest Show on Earth.
In this account of his life and work, written by the man himself and first published in 1855, P. T. Barnum creates an aura of excitement about himself and his enduring fame, confirming his reputation as the greatest impresario of all time and revealing the controversial decisions that helped him to his fortune.

The Life of P.T. Barnum (Collins Classics)

BARNUM, P.T.

Humor & Entertainment

William Collins

Written with the same energy and imagination Barnum brought to all his endeavors, this autobiography is a manual on getting rich, an occasional sermon on the merits of Christianity, and a survey of popular entertainment. When the first version was published in 1855, it became an immediate bestseller. Read today, it is not only a wonderful portrait of the most colorful figure in nineteenth-century American life but also a fascinating document of his times. He schemed to entrance the American people—to shock, amuse, and surprise them. And he succeeded. P.T. Barnum introduced the American public to Tom Thumb, the Siamese twins Chang and Eng, and the Swedish Nightingale, Jenny Lind. He made Americans open their eyes in amazement at thousands of “oddities,” some real, some manufactured. Struggles and Triumphs is the life story of America’s first purveyor of pop culture—a man who indulged in outright chicanery and yet managed to retain an image (most of the time) of unassailable moral rectitude.

Struggles and Triumphs: Or, Forty Years' Recollections of P.T. Barnum (Penguin Classics)

Penguin Publishing Group

An encyclopedic treasure trove from the mastermind behind "The Greatest Show on Earth"

The Colossal P. T. Barnum Reader: Nothing Else Like It in the Universe

Biographies & Memoirs

Arts & Literature

University of Illinois Press

For more than fifty years, Phineas T. Barnum embodied all that was grand and fraudulent in American mass culture. Over the course of a life that spanned the nineteenth century (1810-91), he inflicted himself upon a surprisingly willing public in a variety of guises, from newspaper editor (or libeler) to traveling showman (or charlatan) and distinguished public benefactor (or shameless hypocrite). Barnum deliberately cultivated his ambiguous public image through a lifelong advertising campaign, shrewdly exploiting the cultural and technological capabilities of the new publishing industry. While running his numerous shows and exhibitions, Barnum managed to publish newspaper articles, exposés of fraud (not his own), self-help tracts, and a series of best-selling autobiographies, each promising to give "the true history of my many adventures." Updated editions of The Life of P. T. Barnum appeared regularly, allowing Barnum to keep up with demand and prune the narrative of details that might offend posterity. The present volume is the first modern edition of Barnum's original and outrageous autobiography, published in 1855 and unavailable for more than a century. Brazen, confessional, and immensely entertaining, it immortalizes the showman who hoodwinked customers into paying to hear the reminiscences of a woman presented as George Washington's 161-year-old nurse, the impresario who brought Jenny Lind to America and toured Europe with General Tom Thumb, and the grand entrepreneur of the American Museum of New York. Above all, it ensures that Barnum would be properly remembered . . . exactly as he created himself.

The Life of P. T. Barnum, Written by Himself

The P. T. Barnum Reader reveals the trailblazing American showman P. T. Barnum as, by turns, a moral reformer, a habitual hoaxer, an insightful critic, a savvy puffer, a master of images, a sparkling writer, a relentless provocateur, and an early advocate of family entertainments. Taken together, these selections paint a new and more complete portrait of this complex man than has ever been seen before. James W. Cook's The Colossal P. T. Barnum Reader is the largest collection of Barnum's works ever produced. Included are excerpts from his pseudo-autobiographical novel The Adventures of an Adventurer (1841), his European letters from 1844-46 informing readers of the New York Atlas of his regal reception overseas, and a large selection from his Ancient and Modern Humbugs of the World, Barnum's 1864-65 insider's look into the frauds of nineteenth-century American culture.

The Art of Money Getting

Business & Money

Blurb

40 years of recollections, in his own words.  P. T Barnum is always engaging and this first hand account of his life is amazing and riviting.

Struggles and Triumphs (The American Journalists)

Ayer Co. Pub

P. T. Barnum's career of showmanship and charlatanry was marked by a surprising undercurrent of honesty and forthrightness. His exuberant autobiography forms a happy combination of all those traits, revealing the whole story of his world-famous hoaxes and publicity stunts. Here is a pageant of nineteenth-century America's gullibility and thirst for marvels, as told by the master of revels himself. A born storyteller, Barnum recalls his association with Tom Thumb, his audience with Queen Victoria, and his trouble keeping Jenny Lind's angelic image intact during a trying tour. He tells of Jumbo, the most famous elephant in history, from the creature's heroic arrival in America to its tragic death in a railroad accident; of his attempts to transfer Shakespeare's house and Madame Tussaud's Waxworks from England to New York; and of his triumphant reentry into public life after financial failure and five disastrous fires had all but wiped him out. The true-life tale of a man of boundless imagination and indomitable energy, Barnum's autobiography embodies the spirit of America's most exciting boom years.

Barnum's Own Story: The Autobiography of P. T. Barnum

Dover Publications

<div>Phineas Taylor "P. T." Barnum (1810-91) is best known for forming the circus that came to be known as The Greatest Show on Earth. A brash, larger-than-life entrepreneur, he transformed the nature of commercial entertainment in the nineteenth century, from his private museum of curiosities to his big-top extravaganzas. Towards the end of his illustrious career, the renowned showman shared the secrets to his success in The Art of Money Getting&nbsp;or,&nbsp;Golden Rules for Making Money. As relevant today as it was upon its 1880 publication, this guide to prosperity offers practical advice rather than get-rich-quick schemes. Barnum asserts that there are no shortcuts to affluence; instead, he stresses the importance of virtue as a foundation for wealth. His suggestions for the development of character and for cultivating habits that will insure financial security range from choosing the right vocation and avoiding debt to preserving integrity and maintaining courtesy. This book of timeless counsel from a legendary impresario will prove a helpful companion to readers wishing to make the most of their talents and opportunities.</div>

Reference

Ixia Press

This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the original. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work.

How I Made Millions or the Secret of Success

Personal Finance

Kessinger Publishing

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by BARNUM, P.T.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by BARNUM, P.T.

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by BARNUM, P.T.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

The Life of P.T. Barnum (Collins Classics)

Struggles and Triumphs: Or, Forty Years' Recollections of P.T. Barnum (Penguin Classics)

The Colossal P. T. Barnum Reader: Nothing Else Like It in the Universe

The Life of P. T. Barnum, Written by Himself

The Colossal P. T. Barnum Reader: Nothing Else Like It in the Universe

The Art of Money Getting

Struggles and Triumphs (The American Journalists)

Barnum's Own Story: The Autobiography of P. T. Barnum

The Art of Money Getting

How I Made Millions or the Secret of Success