I was researching famous elephants last night and found out that the Van Amburgh Circus had a colossal elephant named Hannibal who stood 11'8" back in the mid 19th Century. He was a large elephant, but what did he look like? Based on the fact that many circuses and menageries tended to exaggerate the appearance of their animals in posters and other propaganda before they came into town, is there any way that we can get an idea on how him and other historic elephants looked before photography became popularized?
