Wonderful experiments! . . . Electricity . . . [Broadside]

Rare 19th Century American Electricity Broadside

[Electricity] Wonderful experiments! At the [Liberty Hall (Groton)] this evening, [Feb. 19] inst. Dr. Fisk begs to inform the ladies and gentlemen of this place, that he will give one night of pleasing and instructive amusement . . . Broadside. Woodcut illustrations. N.p.: Samuel B. Hall, n.d. [ca. 1850]. 627 x 225 mm. Small portion of one corner torn (not affecting text), some creasing, minor stains, but very good.

Rare nineteenth-century American broadside advertising Dr. Fisk's traveling show offering a "pleasing and instructive" demonstration of the many and varied uses of electricity. Among the marvels promised were "a splendid railway engine . . . driven by electricity, 200 miles per hour," "electro-magnetic engines, of immense power . . . driving a variety of useful machines," and "cannons and fireworks . . . fired by electricity." The broadside also proclaims that "a medical galvanizing machine will be at work for the benefit of all," which Dr. Fisk (whom we have not been able to identify) would use to make "chickens . . . fly without heads," and "sheep that have been dead some time . . . jump and run about." The broadside has blank spaces for inserting the place and date of Dr. Fisk's performance, which have been filled in with the words "Liberty Hall (Groton [Connecticut])" and "Feb. 19" in pencil in a nineteenth-century hand.