The Victorian Clown

Jacky Bratton is Professor of Theatre and Cultural History in the Department of Drama and Theatre, Royal Holloway, University of London. She is the author of New Readings in Theatre History (Cambridge University Press, 2003), and, with Julie Hankey, is Joint Series Editor of the Shakespeare in Production series published by Cambridge University Press. She also discusses theatre history on BBC radio. Ann Featherstone is Research Assistant in the Department of Drama and Theatre, Royal Holloway, University of London. Her interests encompass popular entertainment and culture, and she has published on subjects such as public entertainments, the diary of a Victorian theatre-goer in Nottingham, and the portable theatres in Nineteenth Century Theatre and Film and Early Popular Visual Culture. She is also a part-time lecturer in theatre history and popular culture at the University of Manchester.

• The Victorian Clown: 1. The Victorian travelling shows; 2. Circus buildings; 3. A micro-history from two manuscripts; The Autobiography of James Frowde, a Victorian Clown: 1. Childhood and youth, 1831–49; 2. Running away to join the circus, 1847–9; 3. Out into the world to learn his trade, 1849; 4. At last a clown with Hengler's, 1850–1; 5. A spell with Cooke's Circus, 1851; 6. The end of the story, 1851–7; Lawrence's Repertoire: Popular Humour Unmediated; Thomas Lawrence's gagbook: a collection of Victorian wheezes.