2-706-052 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

'Dreadful Accident to Scott the Diver at Waterloo Bridge', 1841, (1948). American daredevil and stuntman Sam Scott (c1813-1841) made his living by jumping from cliffs, top masts of ships, bridges and other tall structures. This poster announces his death during a jump from Waterloo Bridge in London into the River Thames, in 1841. The noose slipped and tightened around Scott's neck, and by the time the crowd realised this was not part of the act, Scott had been asphyxiated. From "The Saturday Book", Eighth Year, edited by Leonard Russell. [Hutchinson, London, 1948]