Editorial comment for this plate:

P. T. BARNUM.

We take especial pleasure in presenting our readers this week with a portrait of P. T. Barnum, the world’s greatest showman. It is an excellent likeness, as all who have seen this remarkable man will know. It is a recent portrait, made not very long before his death, and therefore depicts the genial showman as he was familiar to most of us.

Mr. Barnum was more than a great showman. He was a true philanthropist in the broadest sense of the word. His winning personality and attractive private character are known, of course, but to few, members of his family and immediate friends; with his public career, however, scarcely a school boy in the land is unfamiliar. A sketch of his life in these columns is therefore unnecessary at this time.

Merely a glance at the portrait tells one much of this great man. His character is revealed to an unusual degree in his face, The picture, more-over, is an excellent model of posing and lighting for those who study portraiture.

P.T. Barnum: 1810-1891

Phineas Taylor Barnum was an American showman, businessman, and politician remembered for promoting celebrated hoaxes and founding with James Anthony Bailey the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. He was also an author, publisher, and philanthropist, although he said of himself: “I am a showman by profession … and all the gilding shall make nothing else of me.” According to Barnum’s critics, his personal aim was “to put money in his own coffers”. The adage “there’s a sucker born every minute” has frequently been attributed to him, although no evidence exists that he had coined the phrase.—Wikipedia (2026)

See our 2015 blog post on Barnum’s Jumbo the elephant here.