[CIRCUS HISTORY] Unzie, the Circassian youth, with W. E. Jackson, “The New Zealand Tom Thumb”. Melbourne, October 1886.

A$600 · Offered by Douglas Stewart Fine Books

Albumen print photograph, carte de visite format, 102 x 62 mm (mount); verso with imprint of Stewart Co., Photographers, Miniature Portrait Painters, 217 219 Bourke St. East, Melbourne ; both the print and mount are in fine condition. In 1886, when this photograph was taken in Melbourne, Unzie an albino man was being exhibited to the public as an exotic Circassian, who hailed from the Caucasus region; in 1890, in the United States, he would be toured and promoted as an Aboriginal beauty from Australia (see below). Trove locates no photographs of Unzie taken in Australia, and only one studio portrait of him taken in the United States in the 1890s (Monash University Library). From The Maitland Mercury and Hunter River General Advertiser , 8 August 1886: THE MIDGET AND CIRCASSIAN YOUTH. THE NEW ZEALAND TOM THUMB (W. E. JACKSON)—Height, 30 inches; weight, 19 lbs.; age, 15 years. The Queen s smallest subject. The smallest perfectly-formed Midget ever exhibited. Witty, entertaining, and refined. Visited during his New Zealand tour by over 150,000 persons. Also, THE CIRCASSIAN YOUTH (UNZIE KHOURT), 19 years old, with wonderful head of pure white hair (4 feet in circumference), and pink eyes. These unique wonders were exhibited in Sydney for over 3 months, and were visited by upwards of 80,000 persons. Open afternoons (for the convenience of ladies and children), from 2 till 5 ; Evenings, from 7 till 10. Prices of admission, 1£; Children under 12, 6d. From the Melbourne newspaper, Th

• Binding: Hardcover

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