The Grange Winter Lyceum presents
Capturing the Unicorn: Empire and the Global Animal Trade from Assam to Albany

Tuesday, March 17
7:00
Suggested donation: $5

In 1834, the Zoological Institute of New York proudly advertised “the unicorn” to Albany residents. Rhinoceros unicornis—otherwise known as the Indian rhinoceros—had become the essential inhabitant of traveling menageries across Europe and North America, launching a scramble to commodify one of the world’s strongest animals. Using the archives of showmen, traders, and colonial officials, this talk follows the rhinoceros as it traveled from Assam to America, revealing how the global animal trade rested on Indigenous knowledge, American diplomacy, and the expansion of British imperial power.

Alexander Clayton is an assistant professor in the History Department at the University of Vermont, where he teaches classes in environmental history and the history of science. He is currently working on a book project on the history of zoology and the global animal trade, titled The Living Animal: Menageries and the Nature of Empire.