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William F. ‘Buffalo Bill’ Cody and Gordon W. ‘Pawnee Bill’ Lillie

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Autographs Start Price:NA Estimated At:3,000.00 - 4,000.00 USD
William F. ‘Buffalo Bill’ Cody and Gordon W. ‘Pawnee Bill’ Lillie

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Auction Date:2013 Jul 17 @ 18:00 (UTC-05:00 : EST/CDT)
Location:5 Rt 101A Suite 5, Amherst, New Hampshire, 03031, United States
ALS - Autograph Letter Signed
ANS - Autograph Note Signed
AQS - Autograph Quotation Signed
AMQS - Autograph Musical Quotation Signed
DS - Document Signed
FDC - First Day Cover
Inscribed - “Personalized”
ISP - Inscribed Signed Photograph
LS - Letter Signed
SP - Signed Photograph
TLS - Typed Letter Signed
Very scarce DS, signed “W. F. Cody V.P.,” and “G. W. Lillie Pres.,” one page (with an accounting of posters on a separate slip affixed to the front), 8 x 11, February 15, 1913. Agreement between the United States Lithograph Company and Cody’s and Lillie’s Wild West Show for the printing of Wild West Show posters and lithographs for their 1913 season. The first page, affixed to the center of the document, lists 19 different posters, with various titles, including “Parade,” “Animal Lot,” “Whip Crackers,” and “Chariot Race,” ranging in size from 40-sheet down to one sheet, and totalling $15,092.50. The document is signed at the bottom of the second page by both Cody and Lillie, as the company’s vice president and president, respectively, and appears to have been entered as evidence in a court case as each page also bears a “Case No., Plaintiff’s Exhibit No.,” stamp. In very good condition, with expected document wear, uniform light toning to both pages, both signatures a bit cramped, and a light company blindstamp over signatures.

Hoping to add new life to his declining show, Cody invited the popular and business-savvy Lillie to join his tour in 1908, forming the combined ‘Buffalo Bill’s Wild West and Pawnee Bill’s Great Far East.’ The two Bills perfected the traveling Wild West Show, using graphic advertising posters to convince the nation that they were gun-slinging heroes of epic proportions, selling the public a picture of their Wild West as a mythical world in which they were the rulers. The marketing worked, and their popularity swelled, growing into an entertainment empire rivaling even Barnum’s circus in its day. Commissioning the US Lithograph Company to print new posters for what would be their final season in 1913, this is one of the finest Wild West pieces we have offered—and only the second signed by both members of the famous duo!