Editing P. T. Barnum (section)

==Author and debunker==
{{more citations needed section|date=February 2021}}

[[File:Barnum Humbug.jpg|thumb|upright|"Hum-Bug", a cartoon by [[Henry Louis Stephens|H. L. Stephens]] (1851)]]
Barnum wrote several books, including ''Life of P. T. Barnum'' (1855), ''The Humbugs of the World'' (1865), ''Struggles and Triumphs'' (1869), ''Forest and Jungle, or, Thrilling Adventures in All Quarters of the Globe''<ref>[https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/bibliography/24499#/summary ''Forest and jungle, or, Thrilling adventures in all quarters of the globe : An illustrated history of the animal kingdom, written in easy and instructive form for boys and girls''. ]</ref> and ''The Art of Money-Getting'' (1880).<ref>[http://www.fourmilab.ch/etexts/www/barnum/moneygetting/ The Art of Money-Getting]</ref>

Barnum was often called the Prince of Humbugs and felt that entertainers and vendors perpetrating hoaxes (or "humbugs") in promotional material were justified if the public received value in return. However, he was contemptuous of those who accrued money through fraud, especially the [[Spiritualism (religious movement)|spiritualist]] mediums popular in his day. He testified against noted "spirit photographer" [[William H. Mumler]] in his trial for fraud, and he exposed the tricks employed by [[Mediumship|mediums]] to cheat the bereaved. In ''The Humbugs of the World'', Barnum offered $500 ({{Inflation|index=US|value=500|start_year=1865|fmt=eq}}) to any medium who could prove the power to communicate with the dead.