ABSTRACT
The cause of Barnum’s coming out of “retirement” was a proposition he had received from a young circus manager named William C. Coup, who, together with his partner Dan Castello, wished Barnum to join them in an ambitious enterprise. Barnum’s connection with the American circus has been notoriously misrepresented by past writers on the subject, some of whom have taken a perverse delight in pointing out what he did not do in this field, almost as though they were attacking a personal enemy. Barnum was obviously well qualified to advise in the museum and menagerie departments; nor was he so ignorant of circus matters as is sometimes claimed. One of the greatest and most far-reaching improvements during the 1872 season resulted from the decision to move the show exclusively by rail.
