Menageries [ Sports & Leisure / Politics & Society / Social interaction ]
… the king’s elephants and the queen’s zebra. Likewise, Walpole and Mason exchanged witty letters on the zebra whose dead body was put on display at the Blue Boar Inn in York. In a letter dated 2 June 1773, Mason empathises with the zebra’s … or the paths with a broom, and the accommodating and indulgent male rhinoceros who bore to be touched on any part of his body. This latter, purchased for £ 700, was so obedient and friendly with strangers that George Stubbs was commissioned … from the Royal College of Surgeons. Chunee’s death was publicised with illustrations reproducing his bleeding 4-ton body which was rumoured to be sold to butchers serving large steaks at the menagerie. Not only did his death spark …
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