Ethardo | The great spiral ascensionist

Ethardo 

Star Music Hall…the Last Six Nights of the Great Original Spiral Ascensionist. [Birmingham]: James Upton, 1867

Broadside (765 x 250 mm). Numerous fonts, printed in black, orange, and blue; old folds, minor marginal soiling, two short closed tears. Mounted, framed, and glazed; not examined out of frame.  

The renowned spiral ascensionist 

Signor Ethardo's great feat was, according to a contemporary newspaper report, "to walk on the top of a globe, which with his feet he takes along with him upon a spiral and ascending platform until he attains a dizzy height" (Sunday Times). The globe, or ball, on which Ethardo stood was 30 inches in diameter, and made of iron and wood. The width of the winding platform was 12 inches, without any sort of groove to guide the ascent or descent. The height of the spiral column was an incredible 50 feet. The incline winding from the base to the capital of the column was over 180 feet in length. 

REFERENCE:

Exemplars, pp. 294; EE, pp. 144-145; Sunday Times. London: 28 June 1868, p.3f