Army scout, frontiersman, and hero of the American
West, William F. ''Buffalo Bill'' Cody was also a shrewd
self-promoter, showman, and entrepreneur. In 1888 he
published The Story of the Wild West, a collection of
biographies of four well-known American frontier
figures: Daniel Boone, Davy Crockett, Kit Carson, and
himself. Cody contributed an abridged version of his
1879 autobiography with an addendum titled, The Wild
West in England, now available in this stand-alone
annotated edition, including all the illustrations from
the original text along with photographs of Cody and
promotional materials. Here Cody describes his Wild West
exhibition, the show that offered audiences a mythic
experience of the American frontier. Focusing on the
show's first season of performances in England, Cody
includes excerpts of numerous laudatory descriptions of
his show from the English press, as well as stories of
his time spent with British nobility - from private
performances for Queen Victoria and the Prince and
Princess of Wales to dinners and teas with the elite of
London society.He depicts himself as an ambassador of
American culture, proclaiming that he and his Wild West
show prompted the British to ''know more of the mighty
nation beyond the Atlantic and ...to esteem us better
than at any time within the limits of modern
history.'' |
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