Letterpress handbill measuring 190 by 115mm. Old fold, some toning. London, c, 1790.
A lovely survival from the period when discoveries from the both the New World and Old were of great interest to the English public.
The short text clarifies their appearance, exaggerated but nonetheless consistent with Albinism: "their Eyes are of a pale red Colour; their Eye-brows, Eye-lashes and Beards is [sic] perfectly White, as is the hair on their Head ... the Skin on their Head is of a fine pink Colour; they are remarkably fair and ruddy." To add credence to the show, this advertisement notes that they had "the Honor to be presented to Sir Joseph Banks, who was pleas'd to express his surprise and admiration, and at the same time, with other Gentlemen learned in Natural History, pronounced them a perfect and new variety of Men."
They were known as the Brothers from Chamouni [Chamonix] and were active in the late eighteenth century. Their shows were popular among those holidaying in the Alps and were frequently visited by the likes of natural philosophers such as Marc-Théodore Bourrit and frequently by Johann Blumenbach. They not only made tours of the English countryside, but kept apartments in Charing Cross from where they made, and received, visits to the aristocracy. They even took out advertisements in papers such as the London World (see the issue for 30 April 1789, L1).
Indeed, their children settled in Paris and continued to perform shows as late as 1838. "In a dramatic tour-de-force, however, the Chamouni descendants billed themselves not as Europeans, but as denizens of the Isthmus of Panama popularized by Wafer himself, falsely increasing their perceived exoticism— a profitable charade, until du Villards picked up their distinctly Alpine accent and uncovered their genuine lineage" (Griffith).
This is particularly interesting as these brothers appear to have control of their whole operation. There's no mention of a manager in the style of P.T. Barnum, or of them being part of a larger show under another's control.
Griffith, T.J. "Seeing Race: Techniques of Visiob and Human Difference in the Eighteenth Century" in Yale University ProQuest Dissertations & Theses, 2015. 3663481, p.106.
