This is the first time a collection of this kind has been published. It consists of two large sections: “Russian writers about the circus and circus art” and “When an artist takes up his pen.” Chronologically, the works cover approximately a century and a half of the history of the Russian circus, which coincides with the anniversaries of the first Russian stationary circuses. Artistic reflection was mainly given to clownery and training as the most popular and beloved genres of circus art by spectators. In the works of Dmitry Grigorovich, Anton Chekhov, Maxim Gorky, Alexander Kuprin, Stepan Skitalets, Boris Zhitkov, representatives of the Durov dynasty, the events of the circus arenas and the arena of the turbulent history of Russia are skillfully and sometimes uniquely compared: the bitter and sometimes tragic are combined, in turn , with funny, funny, exciting. Almost all the works have great educational value and together constitute a kind of textbook on the history of the Russian circus. The collection opens with a foreword by the People's Artist of the USSR, laureate of the USSR State Prize, trainer and writer N. Yu. Durova, and ends with an afterword by the book's compiler N. N. . Sotnikova. All texts are published in the author's editions. The publishing layout of the book is saved in PDF A4 format.