Sandow, the Mighty Monarch of Muscle published on the 80th anniversary of his birth in 1947.
INTRODUCTION
With the presentation of this book, the author’s purpose is to fulfil a deeply-rooted desire to perpetuate the cherished memory of EUGEN SANDOW, the most remarkable and the most famous strong man of all time, at his pictorial best.
This work, the first of its kind devoted exclusively to a series of Sandow’s incomparable studies, should be of in- estimable and instructive value to the anatomist, the sculptor, the artist, and the lover of the physique beautiful.
Sandow, the possessor of the finest developed body, was a pioneer in Muscular and Classical Posing as well as in Muscle Control. He originated many physique poses which have not been duplicated or excelled to this very day. The Sandow studies which resulted from Sandow’s numerous op- pearances for artists, sculptors, anatomists, photographers, lithographers, et cetero, are of inspirational beauty, and will be for generations to come the criterion of the zenith in posing, for there was only one ORIGINAL SANDOW!
Sandow has been the most publicized, the most lionized, the most popular, and the most imitated of all strongmen.
A few brief biographical notes may be in order.
His triumphs in feats of strength over Cyclops and Samson in 1889 made him the athletic idol of Great Britain, and, later, of the entire world which gazed in wonder at his beau- tiful body and marvelled at his feats of super-strength. His example started the rage of muscle cult, and the modern boom towards physical improvement the world over.
Sandow was Florenz Ziegfeld, Jr.’s first glorified star; and from 1893 to 1896, Ziegfeld managed Sandow in his successful tours of the U.S.A. and Canada in the featured strong man act, in a group act known as “The Sandow Trocadero Vaudevilles” in which Sandow was labeled as “The
Perfect Man”, “The Unprecedented Sensation of the Cen- tury”, “The Strongest Man on Earth”, et cetera. His Ameri- can appearances showing him in muscle posing, muscle con- trol, classical posing, and feats of strength took the public by storm and he became the idol of the muscle worshippers, the lovers of the body beautiful including a group of promi- nent society women.
Sandow and Thomas Alva Edison, the famous inventor, were friends; and through the efforts of W. K. L. Dick- son, Edison’s experimental photographer, Sandow became the first strongman to be filmed. He appeared in muscle control and muscle posing routines in the early Kinetoscopic films (the forerunner of the modern motion picture films) which were taken by Mr. Dickson in the early “Nineties” at the Edison famous Black Maria Studio at Orange, New Jersey. Coincidentally, this year is a memorable one. It commemo- rates the anniversaries of Sandow’s and Edison’s births… being the 80th anniversary of the birth of Sandow, and the Centennial Anniversary of Edison’s birth.
In his physical prime… from about 1886 to about 1904, Sandow served as the life model for many leading anatomists, sculptors, artists, photographers, et cetera. A few of the noted persons he modelled for were: Professor Virchow, a noted sculptor and anatomist, in Berlin; Prof. Krauk, a sculp- tor, in France; for Jef. Lambeaux and Charles Van Der Stap- pen, noted sculptors in Belgium; for Aubrey Hunt, R.A. a great English Painter, in Italy; for Messrs. Brucciani, the famous cast-makers of the British Museum, in England; and for such leading photographers as Van Der Weyde, H. Roland White, B. J. Falk, Napoleon Sarony (the famous official photographer of the Metropolitan Opera House, New York City), Warwick Brookes, George Steckel, et cetera.
In the London Daily Telegraph of November 4th, 1889 lafter Sandow’s sensational victories over Cyclops and Sam- son in feats of strength, to acquire recognition to the titles:
“The Strongest Man on Earth”, and “The Strongest Man Living”,) appeared this fine description of Sandow, and 1 quote: “Personally he (Sandow) is a short, but perfectly- built young man of twenty-two years of age, with a face of somewhat ancient Greek type, but with the clear blue eyes and curling fair hair of the Teuton. When in evening dress there is nothing specially remarkable about this quiet-man- nered, good-natured youth; but when he takes off his coat and prepares for action, the extraordinary development of the arms, shoulders and back muscles is marvellously strik- ing. It is no exaggeration to say that the statue of the ‘Farnese Hercules’ (see illustration) is not more powerfully modelled; the muscles stand out under a clear white skin in high relief, and suggest the gnarled roots of old trees.”
The great book entitled “Sandow’s System of Physical Training”, is authoritative for this statement, and I quote: “Anatomists of world-wide fame lovingly dwelt on his won- derfully developed frame before delighted students in the dissecting room, and the sculptors and artists eagerly bid against each other to secure him as a model.
“Nor are we without accredited testimony, from notable savants, as to the physical endowments of the great athlete. Professors Virchow, of Berlin, Rosenheim, of Leyden, and Vanetti, of Florence, have expressed this opinion, that Sandow, from an anatomical point of view, is one of the most per- fectly-built men in existence. This judgment has been au- thoritatively endorsed by scores of English medical men, of high repute in their profession, as well as by hundreds of professors and well-known experts in the science of physical education.”
Chapters galore can be written about Sandow’s physical characteristics and mental and physical achievements… and that if God be willing may be another work for future publication.
