[ Autographs ] PHINEAS T. BARNUM (1810 - 1891) American showman who opened his circus, "The Greatest Show On Earth", merged with James Bailey to form Barnum and Bailey Circus. A.L.S. on his Waldmere letterhead, 1p. 8vo., Bridgeport, Sep. 21, 1887 to his biographer F. J Bonnelle. In part: "...Yours rec'd. What a wonderful circulation you got for the article on `How to get rich!' And how it is being copied all over! The `Nation' comments on it, and so will the 1,000 newspapers to which I have mailed [it]....in the U.S. and Europe. The Press is nearly omnipotent - and the system by which so many readers can be reached in a couple of days makes man himself a miracle! When Iwas a boy we were lucky to see a weekly newspaper every seven days, and that was brought to us by a post rider the 2nd day after it was printed - & contained mighty little news at that..." A tiny margin chip at blank upper-right, otherwise very good.