This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 8/17/2024
SCOTT, Samuel (c. 1813 – 41). Five Items Depicting the Fated American Diver. Including a handsome engraved half-length portrait titled Scott the Unfortunate American Diver, depicting Scott with the scaffolding from which he dove in the background; Awful Death of Sam Scott, the Great American Diver. [London]: Glover & Co., [1841]. Showing Scott handing from the scaffolding at Waterloo Bridge with the crowd below; a letterpress broadside, Dreadful Accident to Scott the Diver at Waterloo Bridge, [London, 1841], explaining the accident that led to Scott’s death, and hand dated Jan 11, 1841 in ink, the date of Scott’s fatal accident; and two contemporary prints of Scott, one showing his dive, the other showing him hanging from the scaffolding, uniformly matted. The first three uniformly framed, the largest 17 x 13 ¼”. Not examined out of frames. These images were used to illustrated chapter 10 of Learned Pigs & Fireproof Women.According to Ricky Jay, Scott was “…an American diver who made his living and reputation plunging into water from the tops of buildings, shipmasts, and bridges in the 1830s and 1840s.” Scott’s end was met due to lack of preparation. On Jan. 11, 1841, in acceptance of a challenge for 100 guineas, he first ran from the White Lion Pub in Drury Lane to Waterloo Bridge, where he would jump forty feet into the river below, then return to the pub – all within a one hour timespan. Unfortunately, just prior to making his dive, a noose around Scott’s neck, from which he hung, tightened unexpectedly, strangling and killing the 28-year-old stuntman.