CDV OF “FOUR-LEGGED WOMAN” MYRTLE CORBIN

$450.00 SOLD

Quantity Available: None

Item Code: 1139-464

Seated studio image of Corbin displaying her four legs. Photo is clear with good contrast. Some soiling on the image and around edges. Photographer’s backmark, Lincoln Park Gallery, Cincinnati, Ohio.

Josephine Myrtle Corbin (May 12, 1868 – May 6, 1928) was an American sideshow performer born with two separate pelvises side by side from the waist down, as a result of her body axis splitting as it developed. Each of her smaller inner legs was paired with one of her outer legs. She was said to be able to move her inner legs, but they were too weak for walking.

Corbin entered the sideshow circuit with the moniker "Four-Legged Girl from Texas" when she was 13 years old. She used to be considered as quite the popular attraction with P.T. Barnum, and with Ringling Bros. and Coney Island later on. Myrtle's popularity was likely due to her showmanship as she was known for dressing the extra limbs in socks and shoes while making sure everything matches perfectly, which ended up making her appearance truly surreal.

At age 19 she married James Clinton Bicknell, with whom she had four daughters and a son.

She died in Cleburne, Texas, on May 6, 1928. Her casket was covered in concrete and various family members kept watch until it was fully cured. This was to prevent grave robbers from stealing her corpse. Several medical practitioners and private collectors offered financial compensation for her corpse. [jet]   [ph:L]

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