The Big Show by Felix Sutton
Contributed by Florian Hardwig on May 21st, 2022. Artwork published in
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Emanuel Schongut. License: All Rights Reserved.
Book jacket for Felix Sutton’s The Big Show. A History of the Circus, with an introduction by Bill Doll, published by Doubleday in 1971.
Design and illustration by Emanuel Schongut, who stated that this is one of his favorite covers. On the front, he shows a harlequin with a dog doing tricks, alongside a parade of elephants. The spine has a different whiteface clown. The back isn’t half bad either, featuring a spectacular jumping tiger with tamer, next to a lion and a number of rising horses in silhouette. For the typography, Schongut paired two typefaces that are traditionally associated with the world of circus, both by use and by name, but avoided a direct LTypI: “The Big Show” is set in Circus. All other text uses P.T. Barnum.
Emanuel Schongut. License: All Rights Reserved.
