W.F. Doc Carver, CDV, Program, and Newspaper Clipping

Lot of 3, including 1880 CDV from Austria, 1888 program, and newspaper clipping for Doc Carver's Wild West Show. CDV credited to Josef Löwy (Austrian, 1834-1902) on mount below image, with elaborate imprint of his Vienna studio on verso and handwritten date "Domenica il 1. Agosto 1880" (Sunday, August 1, 1880). The photograph was taken during Carver's tour of Germany and Austria. Printed program with staple binding, entitled, "Dr. Wm. F. Carver / Champion Shot of the World." 16pp, 7 x 10 in., ca 1888. Promotes Carver's career and feats of marksmanship in the Combined Wild West and Great Forepaugh Shows, with descriptions of other acts, including "'Carazo,' A Lady Sharpshooter" and "The Horse Blondin, Walking the High Rope." Clipping excerpted from The Courier-Journal. Louisville, KY: November 4, 1883. Large illustrated advertisement for Carver's four-day Wild West performance at the "Louisville Fair Grounds" featuring "One Hundred Indians and Cow-Boys." Acts of note include lassoing by Jim Lawson, an "Indian scalp dance," and "CARVER, the champion shot of all the world," billed as "an educational performance, strictly moral, and as interesting to ladies and children as to gentlemen."

Born in Winslow, IL, William "Doc" Carver (1840-1927) first trained as a dentist, but relocated in 1872 to Nebraska, where he began to develop frontier skills including hunting, riding, and, most notably, marksmanship. In 1876, Carver launched his career as a national showman, styling himself as the "Champion Rifle Shot of the World." He toured Europe in 1879, which included a residency at London's Crystal Palace. In 1883, Carver partnered with William F. "Buffalo Bill" Cody in an early version of Buffalo Bill’s Wild West show, billed as "Hon. W. F. Cody and Dr. W. F. Carver's Rocky Mountain and Prairie Exhibition." It only lasted one season, as the two showmen apparently had a clash of egos. They divided assets, and Cody partnered with Nate Salsbury to form his iconic Buffalo Bill's Wild West. Carver also called his new show "Wild West," and the two fought for years over naming rights and the division of the earlier company. The economic depression of the early 1890s and competition from many other "Wild West" shows finally seemed to destroy Carver's show, but he continued to hold shooting matches until about 1896.

This lot is located in Cincinnati.