Image of a central image of a portrait of William F. Cody as Buffalo Bill sitting at a campfire in a frontiersman costume with a rifle and saddle, surrounded by eight vignettes of different dramatic scenes including a street parade with a horse-drawn cart labeled "Buffalo Bill To Night"; Cody digging at a hill with a knife in the wilderness with the caption "Buried Alive"; Cody holding up the head of a young injured man with the caption "He Still Lives"; a farmer sleeping on a plow pulled by two oxen while holding a book of the "Life of Buffalo Bill" while images of caricatured Native American Indians and a man hanging by a noose while another is burned at the stake appear in his dreams, captioned "The Farmer's Dream"; Cody on horseback cutting the rope of a hangman's noose from a young man’s neck who hangs from a tree, captioned "Whose Picnic Is this?"; a parlor scene where a man is shot while others look on, captioned "The 20 days are up, and my pledge fulfilled"; a man in a fistfight with Cody in the parlor and wielding a knife, captioned "Keep Cool Pard."; and Cody riding on horseback through the plains while a fire burns in the distance and a battle with Native American Indians on horseback goes on; with images of a bison with the caption "Diamond Pin with Diamond Eyes," at bottom of central image, and an eagle that holds a medal that reads "Congress to W. F. Cody Buffalo Bill Scout & Guide" at top; the poster advertises the melodrama "20 Days or Buffalo Bill's Pledge" (also known as "Twenty Days or Buffalo Bill's Pledge") and includes printed date information for performances beginning on December 11, [1882], at the Walnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Probable date based on month and day in date sheet and general history of play. "A. Hoen & Co. Baltimore, M.D."--text, bottom margin centered. Walnut St. Theater"--text, top margin centered. "One week, / commencing / Monday, Dec'r 11 / Wednesday and Saturday matinees."--text, bottom margin centered. "Hon. W. F. Cody, proprietor & manager, Josh Ogden business manager."--text, top border of image centered.
Type
image
Extent
1 lithograph : color printed ; overall 86.2 x 64.77 cm (33 15/16 x 25 1/2 in.)
Buffalo Bill, 1846-1917--Portraits Actors--Portraits Actors--Pictorial works Frontier and pioneer life--Pictorial works Indians of North America--Pictorial works Hanging--Pictorial works Melodramas Rescues--Pictorial works Theatrical productions Violence--Pictorial works Walnut Street Theatre (Organization : Philadelphia, Pa.) Buffalo Bill Combination Lithographs--Color--1875-1900. (gmgpc) Portrait prints. (gmgpc) Theatrical posters--American. (gmgpc)
Place
Philadelphia (Pa.)
Source
Jay T. Last Collection Entertainment Large Size Music and Theater The Jay T. Last Collection of Graphic Arts and Social History, Huntington Digital Library
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