Fairburn's Accurate Portraits of the two most corpulent Englishmen ever known, with a comparative account of their extraordinary Persons and Manners
Date1806
MediumInk on paper, colored engraving with etched elements
DimensionsHEIGHT: 15 × 18 3/4 in. (38.1 × 47.6 cm)
ClassificationsPrints
Credit LineTibbals Circus Collection
Object numberht8000431
Popular prints were often created as a supplemental income stream for performers but also served to create interest in the exhibits themselves. This image produced by London printer John Fairburn combined the visual spectacle of Edward Bright (1721-1750) and Daniel Lambert (1770-1808) with a textual backstory that allowed viewers to understand and compare the stories of the two men.
Published in 1806, the print was available to audiences who might have considered attending Daniel Lambert’s exhibit in London, more than 50 years after the death of Edward Bright. The images and the statistics of the text clearly illuminate that Lambert’s size was considerably larger than Bright. In many ways, the men’s stories were strikingly similar, born to parents of average size, both men gained weight rapidly although neither was known to overindulge in food or drink. The detailed biographies that Fairburn included hint at a growing curiosity about the individual experiences of such extraordinary persons.
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