376 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (colour, and black and white) ; 24 cm

The wonders : lifting the curtain on the freak show, circus and Victorian age / John Woolf.

Galleries and Reading Room

Library

Shop

Café

It's not possible to book tickets for events at present due to a problem with the ticketing system. We're working to fix it. You can still search and check information about events but please try again later if you want to book a ticket.

We're running paid user research studies to improve Wellcome Collection online

Take part in research

The archives landing page, archive category pages, and the 'Browse archives' link on the archive card list.

A 'Browse other types of archives' section.

Archive browsing

Archive collection level pages, plus the archive collection treatment on the work page and in search results.

The catalogue API's shortDescription is shown on the archive collection hero and in search results.

Archive collection

Clicking an image opens its details in a sidebar instead of a modal, with the selected image highlighted in the grid.

Updated image results grid and a re-sizable viewing pane.

Larger thumbnail, plus key information and onward journey in the sidebar.

Image sidebar preview

The three thematic browsing category pages (subjects, people & organisations, types & techniques) become accessible.

Subject sub-category pages become accessible, and the subjects category page gains a sub-category menu.

Curiosities and wonders - History - 19th century

Works from the collections

The wonders : lifting the curtain on the freak show, circus and Victorian age / John Woolf.