RICE, Dan (Daniel McLaren, 1823 – 1900). Autograph Letter Signed by Dan Rice. Hand dated Nov. 4th 1855, Rice writes in ink to his correspondent, possibly a printer, regarding posters used to advertise his circus, as well as his travels in New York. One 4to sheet with old mailing folds and one corner clipped. SIGNED boldly in ink, “Yours respectfully Dan Rice.” A rare and important autograph of this circus legend. Dubbed by his biographer as “The most famous man you’ve never heard of,” Rice seemed, from birth, destined to a life in the center ring. His uncle was a ringmaster with the Howes & Turner circus, and by the time he was a teenager, Rice had taken up the family business, exhibiting a trained pig named Sybil who could apparently tell time. It was not long thereafter that he began singing, dancing, and acting, though it was as a clown and proprietor of a circus bearing his own name that he found his greatest fame, rivaling and perhaps even surpassing Barnum’s reputation for a time. In fact, it may have been Rice’s show that was the first to be described as the “greatest show on earth.” An inveterate patriot, he ran for President in 1868, inspired George M. Cohan, and was one of the models for Uncle Sam. While campaigning for Zachary Taylor, Rice was also reported to coin the phrase “jump on the bandwagon,” in the act of encouraging the candidate to campaign from the back of one of his circus wagons.