The Arts of Deception: Playing with Fraud in the Age of Barnum

About this book

Ingenious automatons which appeared to think on their own. Dubious mermaids and wild men who resisted classification. Elegant sleight-of-hand artists who routinely exposed the secrets of their trade. These were some of the playful forms of fraud which astonished titillated and even outraged nineteenth-century Americas new middle class producing some of the most remarkable urban spectacles of the century. In The Arts of Deception James W. Cook explores this distinctly modern mode of trickery designed to puzzle the eye and challenge the brain. Championed by the "Prince of Humbug " P. T. Barnum these cultural puzzles confused the line between reality and illusion. Upsetting the normally strict boundaries of value race class and truth the spectacles offer a revealing look at the tastes concerns and prejudices of Americas very first mass audiences. We are brought into the exhibition halls theaters galleries and museums where imposture flourished and into the minds of the curiosity-seekers who eagerly debated the wonders before their eyes. Cook creates an original portrait of a culture in which ambiguous objects images and acts on display helped define a new value system for the expanding middle class as it confronted a complex and confusing world.