We don’t often wish we were in Los Angeles, but we do now. The Hammer Museum at UCLA is hosting Extraodrinary Exhibitions: Broadsides from the Collections of Ricky Jay from now until November 25. The exhibit features “80 examples of 17th-, 18th-, and 19th-century ephemeral advertising sheets known as broadsides…with an emphasis on remarkable entertainers and visual deceptions.” Today’s New York Times has an interview with Mr. Jay along with some amazing examples and descriptions from the exhibit.
The Mudd subscribes to Early American Imprints, 1801-1819 which includes the subject category “Curiosities and wonders.” Here you can find your “Great anaconda or the terrific serpent of Java,” a little tamer fare than Mr. Jay’s singing mouse, enormous head, or living skeleton.