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Victorian comedians are difficult objects of study, because their jokes, if they survive at all, exist without the compelling presence of the comedian who animated them. Bratton and Featherstone offer an engrossing account of the previously unpublished writings of two mid-century professional circus clowns and, in so doing, go some way towards bringing the Victorian circus, at the height of its splendour and popularity, to life for the reader. This book should certainly be read by those interested in the history of popular performance traditions in Britain.
In 1847 James Henry Frowde ran away to join the circus. Like many a runaway before or since, he left behind an austere and...