[Bunker, Chang and Eng (subjects)]:

$750 · Offered by William Reese Company

[Broadside Song Sheet:] SIAMESE YOUTHS OR, THE WONDERFUL PRODIGY OF NATURE! A NEW SONG [caption title]. A rare UK street song broadside stemming from the earliest visit to London by Chang and Eng Parker (May 11, 1811 - January 17, 1874), most widely known as the original "Siamese Twins." The date of the text can be confidently ascertained as the youths are described as eighteen years of age and their appearance located at the Egyptian Hall, in Piccadilly. The twins were brought to the US from Thailand by Scottish merchant Robert Hunter in August of 1829, where they made a sensational impression during their brief initial stay. In November of that year they were taken to England where, on the 24th, they were examined by a group of eminent physicians and scientists, including among them Sir Astley Cooper who is mentioned four times in this text, initially at the conclusion of the first verse: "And Sir Astley Cooper says, [/] There is no deception there, sirs." A portion of the text relates to the divergence of opinions at that meeting in regard to the possibility of separating Chang and Eng. The text consists of eight verses, each of eight lines, plus a four-line Chorus (which is printed once). The penultimate verse suggests that Chang and Eng enjoyed a romantic encounter with the Chambermaid where they were staying, and speculates in a poetically clumsy fashion that pregnancy might have resulted: "And suppose she brings to town [/] Next summer two young black men."Chang and En

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