The Unboxing of Henry Brown, by Jeffery Ruggles.
Ruggles, Jeffrey, The Unboxing of Henry Brown , Library of Virginia, Richmond,Virginia, 2003.
The book, The Unboxing
of Henry Brown, by Jeffrey Ruggles, not only talks about Brown’s early life and escape to freedom, it gives a rare glimpse into the life of a 19th Century moving panorama showman. Much of the book focuses on Brown's moving panorama.
Ruggles spent ten years researching the life of Henry Brown in the US and England, uncovering some never before published information.
Brown's moving panorama, like almost all of the moving panoramas of that time, did not survive to this day, but by piecing together bits of information from newspaper reviews, handbills and from a book of that time, The Nubian Slave, Ruggles was able to speculate on what the moving panorama looked like and how it was created. Ruggles gives a sense of what it was like
to be a moving panorama showman of that time. It was hard work transporting the large apparatus and scroll by train and horse and cart. Protecting the delicate painted scroll from the weather, finding places to perform and procuring letters of endorsement
were just a few of the many challenges Henry Brown faced.
To purchase the book, contact The Virginia Shop at the link below, where the cost of the book is $25.00.
http://www.thevirginiashop.org/theunboxingofhenrybrown.aspx
If
you search for the book via other on-line purchasing resources, you will find the price to be between $100.00 - $200.00, so go to The Virginia Shop site!