Hengler’s Grand Cirque – Programme for this Evening. – 3rd October 1883

Hengler’s Grand Cirque, Anlaby Road; cover printed by James Upton, Baskerville Steam Printing Works, Birmingham, 3 October 1883.

Rare and apparently unrecorded Victorian circus programme for Hengler’s Grand Cirque, Anlaby Road, Hull, issued for the evening performance of 3 October 1883. Single sheet, printed on both sides, with chromolithographic pictorial cover and letterpress programme to verso. Sheet size approximately 20 × 25.2 cm.

The front is a striking colour-printed advertising cover for “Hengler’s Grand Cirque. Every Evening”, produced by James Upton at the Baskerville Steam Printing Works, Birmingham. It is richly illustrated with equestrian scenes, including trick-riding, vaulting, circus horses and arena performance, centred around a dramatic image of riders and horses in the ring. The design reflects the spectacle, polish and commercial ambition of the permanent Victorian circus.

The verso gives the details of the Hull venue, “Anlaby Road, Hull”, and lists other Hengler establishments at Argyle Street, London; West Nile Street, Glasgow; Brunswick Road, Liverpool; St Thomas Street, Scarbro’; Rotunda Gardens, Dublin; and Queens Road, Bristol. It proudly states that Hengler’s Cirque was “Patronised by the Royal Family and Nobility of Great Britain and Ireland.”

The printed introduction is unusually valuable as a piece of circus self-promotion, claiming that Hengler’s Cirque had achieved greater success over thirty years than any circus previously known, and noting the long tenure of its establishments in Liverpool, Glasgow, Dublin, Hull and Bristol. The Hull cirque is stated to have been established for nineteen years, which is consistent with the opening of Hengler’s permanent Hull circus in the mid-1860s.

The evening’s programme includes Godfrey’s “Centenary” march, a selection from Planquette’s “Rip Van Winkle”, the “Trojan Youths” in a double act of horsemanship by Messrs Loyal, the performing pony “Robin” presented by Mr F. C. Hengler, clowning by Gus Elliott, juggling on horseback by M. Onra, Will Gomez as musical Momus, gymnastic exercises on the horizontal bar by M. Sivado, “Comical Cattle”, the first appearance in Hull of trained boar-hounds presented by M. Felix, and M. Georges performing pirouettes, evolutions and somersaults on horseback, culminating in “a flight of pigeons”.

Hengler’s was one of the most important British circus organisations of the nineteenth century. Originating with the Hengler circus dynasty, the business became especially associated with permanent urban circus buildings, combining equestrian display, clowning, gymnastic performance, music, animal acts and elaborate theatrical presentation. The Hull establishment on Anlaby Road formed part of this important national network and occupied a significant place in the city’s Victorian entertainment history.

The present programme is particularly appealing for its combination of a decorative colour pictorial cover and a fully detailed evening bill. It documents the working repertory of a major provincial circus at a precise date, and includes several notable features of late nineteenth-century circus culture: equestrian virtuosity, performing animals, clowning, gymnastic display, comic interludes and musical accompaniment.

Hull Museums record a later programme for Hengler’s Grand Cirque, Anlaby Road, dated November 1888, but we have not traced another copy of this specific 3 October 1883 programme in the British Library, Library Hub, WorldCat, Archives Hub, Hull Museums’ online records, the V&A theatre collections, or the principal institutional and commercial records consulted. Apparently unrecorded.

Condition: Single sheet, printed both sides. Loss to the upper right-hand corner, affecting the blank/marginal area and slightly intruding into the outer printed area; old folds, creasing, surface soiling, handling marks, small marginal nicks and light wear. Contemporary or early manuscript date at head. Despite the corner loss, the programme remains substantially complete, legible and visually attractive. Good condition overall.

A scarce and highly evocative survival of Victorian Hull circus ephemera, combining colour pictorial printing, equestrian spectacle, performing animals, provincial entertainment history and the national Hengler circus network.

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