Archival sources

​The Allard Pierson (University of Amsterdam) holds an extensive collection on the history of circus, managed by its Performing Arts department. This rich archive includes posters, photographs, personal collections, and ephemera related to itinerant entertainment, with a major highlight being the digitized collection of over 8,000 lithographic posters by Adolph Friedländer (from the Jaap Best Collection). Much of this material is freely accessible online through the Allard Pierson’s digital repository. The SciFair research team has examined several key sub-collections with strong links to fairground and magic history, including the Stapert Collection; the Arie van den Berg Collection; and the Ritsko van Vliet Collection. 

This private collection preserves the collections once related to the Roca museum, a Spanish museum that displayed medical wax models, in addition to other medical models, natural specimens, medical posters and drawings, and items related to general circus and fairground history. Thanks to the generosity of the owners, the SciFair team was able to photograph and make an inventory of all medical models and related iconography, comprising more than 350 objects.

Created by Erich Knocke (1927–2011), a descendant of travelling showpeople, the collection grew out of a lifelong dedication to preserving the material culture of the fair. Knocke’s family history—ranging from colonial-era exhibitions (Völkerschauen) to hypnosis shows and fairground rides—shaped a vast assemblage of posters, prints, photographs, books, and objects reflecting the vibrant world of nineteenth- and twentieth-century popular spectacle. In 1996, he established the Markt- und Schaustellermuseum in Essen to publicly exhibit these materials. After the museum’s closure in 2021, the SciFair research team undertook the digitization of the iconographic collection. Thanks to the support of Andrea Stadler, both the visual archive and Knocke’s extensive library of over 2,000 volumes were safely transferred to the Theaterwissenschaftliche Sammlung at the University of Cologne. 

The Musée de la Vie wallonne in Liège houses a substantial collection documenting the rich history of fairground culture in Wallonia (Belgium). This collection includes a wide array of ephemera, such as flyers and broadsides, as well as a notable photographic archive by Jules Martiny, capturing vivid scenes of fairground life. Currently, the museum is undertaking a comprehensive digitization project to make these collections accessible online. The SciFair research team has integrated working images of these flyers into their database, thereby enhancing the visibility and scholarly utility of the museum's holdings.  

The Fonds Soury, housed at the Musée des Civilisations de l'Europe et de la Méditerranée (MuCEM) in Marseille, is a significant collection focusing on the visual culture of fairgrounds and circuses in France and Europe. It comprises a wide array of materials, including postcards, photographs, posters, and broadsides, documenting the vibrant world of itinerant entertainment. Many of these items are accessible through MuCEM’s online collections portal, offering researchers and the public a glimpse into the historical spectacle of popular amusements.The Science at the Fair research team digitized approximately 700 ephemeral items—such as flyers and broadsides— from the Fonds Soury. These digitized materials have been integrated into the SciFair database, enhancing access to rare visual documents that illuminate the cultural history of nineteenth- and early twentieth-century fairground life. 

Since the organization and regulation of fairs traditionally fell under the responsibility of local authorities, municipal and regional archives are a vital resource for historians researching the history of travelling entertainment. These archives often contain administrative records such as correspondence from circus and fairground managers requesting pitches for annual fairs, as well as permits, regulations, and local ordinances. In some cases, they preserve rich collections of ephemera—including handbills, posters, photographs, and maps—that offer valuable insight into the composition and spatial layout of historical fairgrounds. The SciFair project has drawn extensively on such local holdings, particularly from the Stadsarchief Gent (De Zwarte Doos), FelixArchief Antwerpen, Noord-Hollands Archief, Archives Municipales de Quimper, and the Regionaal Archief Nijmegen, integrating key materials and metadata into its research database.

​The National Fairground and Circus Archive (NFCA), established in 1994 at the University of Sheffield, is the UK’s leading repository dedicated to the history of travelling entertainment. Founded by Professor Vanessa Toulmin, the archive documents the evolution of popular amusements from the seventeenth century to the present day, with extensive holdings that include posters, photographs, programmes, handbills, newspapers, journals, and a specialized library. Its collections span the worlds of fairs, circuses, variety, early cinema, magic, boxing booths, and amusement parks, as well as the social history of showpeople. Notable sub-collections include the Circus Friends Association Collection, the Shufflebottom Collection, and rare visual and printed materials from the Orton & Spooner Company. Many resources are accessible online or through the Western Bank Library, making the NFCA an essential centre for the study of popular spectacle and itinerant performance. 

The Puppet Theatre collection, part of the city museum of Munich, was established in 1940. The collections originally focused on puppetry, holding items like shadow puppets, marionettes, show booths, decorations, and textbooks. Since 1980, the focus was extended to fairground culture, a logical inclusion with Munich hosting one of the largest fairs in Europe, Oktoberfest. This collection contains both material objects, from wax models, a flea circus, and an entire fairground attraction to posters, photographs, postcards, and documentation. Part of the collections can be explored online, with special mention of the posters of Adolph Friedländer. The museum is currently under renovation, but the former exhibition can be explored in an online virtual tour.  

The Theaterwissenschaftliche Sammlung (TWS) at the University of Cologne, located in Schloss Wahn, holds several major collections relevant to visual and popular culture, including the Werner Nekes Collection, comprising over 25,000 objects that trace the history of visual arts and perception through optical devices, magic lanterns, and pre-cinematic media. In 2024, TWS also acquired the Volker Huber Collection, the most extensive private collection on the history of magic in Germany, containing rare books, posters, props, and automata. Thanks to the support of the SciFair team, the TWS also became the permanent home of the Erich Knocke library and iconographic archive on fairground culture and itinerant entertainment. These acquisitions make the TWS a key resource for scholars studying performance, illusion, and visual spectacle in both institutional and popular contexts. 

​The Vliegende Bladen (Flying Sheets) Collection at Ghent University's Boekentoren, is a vast archive of ephemeral documents, such as posters, pamphlets, broadsides, and printed leaflets, that offers a vivid window into nineteenth- and early twentieth-century everyday life and popular culture. Initiated in 1859 by Ferdinand Vander Haeghen, then head librarian, the collection was built through an appeal to preserve even the most seemingly trivial printed materials. Over time, it has grown to encompass over one million items, meticulously organized by subject and keyword, including materials related to fairs, circuses, and itinerant entertainment.  Items tagged under “foire” (fair) and circus have been integrated into the Science at the Fair database.