The origin of the Crystal Palace may be stated in a few words. When in 1852 Government declined to purchase the building which had been so successfully raised in Hyde Park by the genius of Sir Joseph Paxton for the Great Exhibition of 1851, a few enterprising gentlemen stepped forward and rescued it from destruction, with the avowed purpose of rebuilding it on some appropriate site. These gentlemen, the original purchasers of the structure, were Messrs. T. N. Farquhar, Francis Fuller, Robert Gill, Harman Grisewood, Joseph Leech (the first mover in the matter), J. C. Morice, Scott Russell, Leo Schuster, and Samuel Laing. Mr., now Sir, George Grove, formerly Secretary to the Society of Arts, was the first Secretary. They decided that the building – the first example of a new and striking style of architecture – should rise again in increased grandeur and beauty, to form a Palace where, at all times protected from the inclement varieties of our climate, healthful exercise and wholesome recreation should be easily attainable. They appealed to the public for capital with success, and they obtained the valuable aid of Sir Joseph Paxton, Messrs. Owen Jones and Digby Wyatt, Mr. Joseph Bonomi, Professor Owen, Professor Edward Forbes, Dr. Latham, Professor Ansted, Mr. Waterhouse, Mr. Gould, and indeed of all the best available scientific and artistic talent. The building was transferred to its present site at Sydenham, on a fine estate of three hundred acres, which was purchased, and nearly seven thousand workmen were engaged in carrying out the designs of the Directors. The collections to be made or to be stored therein were to have a high educational character – to be educational not only by direct instruction but by refining influence. Arts were to be worthily represented, architecture and sculpture particularly, and all those {2} sciences an acquaintance with which is attainable through the medium of the eye were to be illustrated. While the building was being erected, Messrs. Owen Jones and Digby Wyatt were charged with a mission to the Continent, in order to procure examples of the principal works of art in Europe. How well they did their work, and how liberally they were supported with capital, are shown in the art collections of the Palace. England was also searched for copies of artistic antiquities, and neither labour nor expense was spared to carry out the noble design.
          Whilst Messrs. Jones and Wyatt were busy abroad, the authorities were no less occupied at home. Sir Joseph Paxton commenced operations by securing for the Company the extensive and celebrated collection of palms and other plants, brought together with the labour of a century by Messrs. Loddiges, of Hackney. The valuable assistance of Mr. Fergusson and Mr. Layard, M.P., was obtained for the erection of a court to illustrate the architecture of the long-buried buildings of Assyria;[1] and a large space in the Gardens was devoted to illustrating Geology and the animals, now extinct, of the pre-historic period. Dr. Latham was engaged in designing and giving instructions for the modelling of figures to illustrate the Ethnological department, whilst Mr. Waterhouse and Mr. Gould, aided by Mr. Thomson as superintendent and Mr.A. D. Bartlett as taxidermist, were collecting and grouping valuable specimens of birds and animals to represent the science of Zoology. This work, and much more, which there is no occasion to specify here, went on for nearly two years, and the Palace was opened on the 10th June, 1854, in the presence of Her Majesty and the late Prince Consort. During the 30 years which have elapsed since then, it has attracted nearly 57 millions of visitors.

          In taking, the structure of the Great Exhibition of 1851 – that type of a class of architecture which may fairly be called “Modern English” – as the model for the new building at Sydenham, the projectors found it necessary to make such modifications and improvements as were suggested by the difference between a temporary receiving-house for the world’s industrial wealth, and a permanent Palace of Art and Education. The difference of general aspect between the present Palace and its predecessor is visible at a glance. In the parent edifice the external appearance, although grand, was monotonous. In the Sydenham Palace an arched roof covers the {4} nave – raising it forty-four feet higher than the nave in Hyde Park. Three transepts were introduced into the structure instead of one, viz. the North Transept, which was destroyed by the fire of December, 1866, the Central Transept, towering into the air, and forming a hall of surpassing brilliancy and lightness, and the South Transept. A further improvement is the formation of recesses, twenty-four feet deep, in the garden fronts of all the transepts. These throw fine shadows, and take away from the monotony of plain glass walls.
          The design of the Crystal Palace is most simple: one portion corresponds with another; there is no introduction of needless ornament. Nor is this unity confined to the building. It characterises the contents of the glass structure, and prevails in the grounds. All the component parts blend, yet all are distinct: and the effect of the admirable and harmonious arrangement is, that any confusion in the vast establishment, within and without, is avoided. The “mighty maze” has not only its “plan,” but a plan of the most lucid and instructive kind, and the visitor is enabled to proceed from subject to subject at his discretion, and to derive useful information without the trouble and vexation of working his way through a labyrinth.

          All the materials employed in the Exhibition of 1851, with the exception of the glass on the whole roof, and the framing of the transept-roof, were used in the construction of the Crystal Palace. Two difficulties, however, which were unknown in Hyde Park, had to be provided against at Sydenham; viz., the loose nature of the soil, and the sloping character of the ground. Means were taken to overcome these difficulties at the very outset of the work. The disadvantage of soil was repaired by the introduction of masses of concrete and brickwork under each column, in order to secure breadth of base and stability of structure. The slanting ground was utilised by Sir Joseph Paxton with his usual sagacity, and converted from an obstacle into a positive advantage. The slope of the hill fell rapidly towards the garden, and Sir Joseph accordingly constructed a lower or basement story all along the garden front, by means of which not only increased space was gained, but a higher elevation secured to the whole building, and the noblest possible view; Behind this lower story, towards the interior of the building, is a capacious horizontal brick shaft, twenty-four feet wide, extending the whole length of the structure, and denominated “The Paxton Tunnel” (A). Leading out of this tunnel are the furnaces and boilers connected with the heating apparatus, together with brick recesses for the stowage of coke. This tunnel is connected with the railway, and is used as a roadway for bringing into and taking {5} from the Palace heavy materials and objects – an arrangement that leaves the main floor of the building independent of such operations.

          The building consists, above the basement floor, of a grand central nave, two side aisles, two main galleries, two transepts, and two wings. Above the level of the floor it is constructed entirely of iron and glass, with the exception of a portion of the vest front, which is panelled with wood. The whole length of the main building is 1,608 feet, and the wings 574 feet each, making a length of 2,756 feet, which with the 720 feet in the colonnade leading from the railway station to the wings, gives a total length of 3,476 feet, or nearly three-quarters of a mile of ground covered with a transparent roof of glass.
          The total length of columns employed in the construction of the main buildings and wings would extend, if laid in a straight line, to a distance of sixteen miles and a quarter. The total weight of iron used in the main building and wings amounts to 9,641 tons, 17 cwt., 1 quarter. The superficial quantity of glass used is 25 acres, and weighs 500 tons; if the panes were laid side by side, they would extend to a distance of 48 miles; if end to end, to the almost incredible length of 242 miles. To complete our statistics, we have further to add that the quantity of bolts and rivets distributed over the main structure and wings weighed 175 tons, 1 cwt., 1 quarter; that the nails hammered into the Palace increased its weight by 103 tons, 6 cwt., and that the amount of brick-work in the main building and wings is 15,391 cubic yards. From the end of the south wing to the Low Level Railway Station, as above indicated, is a colonnade 720 feet long, 17 feet wide, and 18 feet high. It possesses a superficial area of 15,500 feet, {6} and the quantity of iron employed in this covered passage is 60 tons; of glass 30,000 superficial feet.
          The process of raising the atmosphere in this enormous Glass Palace to the mild and genial heat of Madeira, throughout our cold and damp English winter, is simple but effective. The plan of heating by hot water is that which Sir Joseph Paxton adopted for the Crystal Palace. But simple as the method undoubtedly is, its adaptation to the purposes of the Palace cost infinite labour and anxious consideration, for in point of extent it left all previous efforts in the same direction far behind, and stands by itself unrivalled. The pipes for the conveyance of the hot water, laid under the floor of the main building, and around the wings, would, if placed in a straight line, and taken at an average circumference of 12 inches, stretch to a distance of more than 50 miles, and the water, in flowing from and returning to the boilers, travels one mile and three-quarters. By the mere propulsion of heat, a vast quantity of water is kept in constant motion throughout the Palace, continually flowing and returning, and giving out warmth that makes its way upwards, and disseminates a genial atmosphere in every part. To ensure pure circulation throughout the winter, ventilators have been introduced direct from the main building into each furnace, where the air so brought being consumed by the fire, the atmosphere in the Palace is continually renewed.

          The Brighton Company’s lines from London Bridge, Victoria, and Kensington, unite at the Low Level Station, in the grounds of the Crystal Palace. The station is connected with the south wing of the building by a glass-covered colonnade, the wall of which is adorned by luxuriant creeping plants and by statues. When the weather is fine, the visitor may cross the gardens from this railway station, direct to the central entrance on the upper terrace, while on cold, wet, or windy days, the colonnade affords easy access to the main building independent of weather.
          The High Level Line from Holbom Viaduct, Moorgate Street, Ludgate Hill, Victoria, and stations intermediate, delivers its passengers a little below the level of the Palace, close to the Central Transept, into which they proceed by a short covered subway. Visitors by road enter at once to the Central Transept, or by the South Transept. There are also entrances at the bottom of the gardens from Anerley, Penge, and Sydenham respectively.
          By whatever door the visitor has entered the Palace, it will be best for him to make his way at once to the Central Transept, without {7} stopping to examine anything that he passes. This position is so conspicuous, that a perfect stranger to the Crystal Palace – of whom there are few now – cannot mistake his way. He will then turn toward the north, having the great Orchestra and Organ on his left hand, and proceeding up the same side of the Nave, will commence his inspection of the Fine Art Courts. These are the most important and comprehensive series of Art illustrations of their kind in the world, and are designed to convey, as they do convey, a practical lesson not otherwise attainable by the very many Specimens of the various phases and developments through which the arts of Architecture, Sculpture, and Mural Decoration have passed, are here presented in chronological sequence of styles, commencing from the earliest known period down to modem times, from the remote ages of Egyptian civillisation to the sixteenth century after Christ – a period of more than three thousand years. Thus may we gain, in practical fashion, an idea of the successive dates of civilisation which have from time to time arisen in the world, have changed or sunk into decadence, have been violently overthrown, or have passed away, by the aggressions of barbarians, or the no less degrading agency of sensual and enervating luxury. Sculpture is the sister art of Architecture. The statues will generally be found as much as possible in or near the Architectural Courts of the periods and countries to which they belong. Vainly in any part of the world will be sought a collection so universal in its features, by means of which the progress of that beautiful art can be regularly traced. ... {79}

          The visitor must now, in order to systematically examine the collections in the galleries, return to the back of the Byzantine Court, and ascend the stairs next the entrance to the Reading Room, by which stairs he will enter

          The collections in this Museum are of exceptional interest and value; they exhibit the raw materials employed as food in the arts, manufactures, and for various economic purposes, and illustrate by means of specimens, the products of the several stages to which in most instances, they have to be submitted to render them of use to man. They convey, by the system of arrangement which has been adopted, not only a clear idea of the object of the processes, with their results, but they serve as a practical key to any written descriptive accounts. The collections are primarily arranged under the heads of animal, vegetable, and mineral. We will first very briefly describe the nature of the mineral division. It is arranged in the order in which these elements are generally treated in works on chemistry. Thus we commence with the non-metallic elements.
          The first cases are devoted to Carbon and products of the distillation of Coal, arranged in the order in which they are generally treated in works on chemistry [sic]. We find exhibited varieties of Carbon, products of the Distillation of Coal, Peat, &c. (Naphtha, Ammoniacal Salts, Paraffin, Dyes, &c.), and a beautiful series illustrating the manufacture of Sulphur; then Phosphorus, the varieties of Silica, under which head a rich case of English Agates from the Sussex coast must be particularly noticed. The Silicates embrace the different manufactures of glass, amongst which are some beautiful artificial gems. Etching upon glass is also illustrated here. The Alkaline metals succeed – Potassium, Sodium, and their {80} salts. The next are the minerals of the Alkaline earths – Barium, Strontium, Calcium (Lime), and Magnesium, and their sundry preparations. The cements come under this division. The cases that follow are devoted to Aluminous products, and in this class will be found complete illustrations of one of the most important and interesting of British manufactures – the Ceramic. The preparations of Alum by different processes, Emery, &c., are also shown here.
          We now come to one of the most important series in the collection, and one in which the greatness and importance of this country is most emphatically illustrated. These are the Metals, properly so called. The arrangement adopted is first to show the ores from each district, then the mode of smelting those ores, the metal procured, and generally the manufacture of the metal. Iron, of course, assumes the first importance. Pig iron is the first state in which the metal is obtained; it is then submitted to the refining and “puddling” processes; then rolled into bars, nails, and plates, or drawn into wire; we see it converted into steel, by various processes, including Bessemer’s; and this leads us to the manufactures of Sheffield. The series, of course, includes Copper (there is a beautiful collection of ores from the celebrated Burra Burra Mines), Zinc, Tin, Antimony, Gold, Silver, &c.
          Other stands are occupied by a collection of fossil fuels arranged in geological order, and in addition to types of every British variety, samples from many foreign coal fields, which at the present time are of particular interest to every householder and manufacturer, and a very extensive series of building stones of England, Wales, and Scotland, all ticketed with the buildings in which they have been employed, with a set of maps indicating the geological formation from which each is obtained. The peculiarly interesting specimens obtained from the deep-well sinking recently made at Messrs. Meux’s brewery, Tottenham Court Road, will not escape attention. These wonderful borings were made by the Diamond Rock Drill.
          Productions in the Vegetable Kingdom are arranged as follows:– Products used as food, in the arts, in manufactures, and in medicine. In the first class is a collection of British agricultural produce, made by Messrs. Peter Lawson & Son, of Edinburgh. The Cereals and Grasses will be found arranged in upright cases. Various growths and manufactures of Tobacco, of Hops, Spices, and aromatic Seeds, as well as Cocoa, Teas, Coffee, and their substitutes, and the articles used as food, should be specially noticed, being most completely illustrated. We shall find another set of cases wherein the materia medica is illustrated. The upper compartments contain the plants, while in the lower divisions the drugs, seeds, and applied parts are shown. Next come the Cork and other manufactures, {81} including Paper and Paper-staining; those of Fats and Oils, India-rubber and Gutta-percha, with their various applications; Resins, Dyes, and dye-woods, these being further illustrated, as with the materia medica, by the plants from which they are procured. The illustrations of the Cotton, Flax, Hemp, the Pine-apple, China grass, and other fibres that can be manufactured, will, with some other interesting articles in the cases opposite, conclude our rapid survey of the Vegetable division; although we must not omit to notice a rich collection of the various Woods, British, foreign, and colonial, especially the large polished sections from Tasmania, collected and presented by the Royal Society of the colony, some others presented by Messrs. Fauntleroy & Sons, and also the Hungarian, Greek, and Indian collections.
          Another part of the space is occupied with the last division of the Museum – the Animal. Here will be found curiosities of food. The Swallow’s nests, from which the celebrated soup is made in China. The Trepang, or Sea Slug – varieties of Isinglass, Gelatine, &c. Wools of British and imported varieties, Woollen and Worsted manufactures, Silks, illustrations of the preparations of different kinds of Leather, Feathers, Horn, Bone, and Tortoise-shell, Fats, Soap, the manufacture of Spermaceti, Wax, &c., &c.
          Facing the end of this gallery, nearest to the Central Transept, will be noticed a wonderful Map of great dimensions (24 feet square) to illustrate the past and present condition of Arctic exploration. On this gigantic chart the spectator is presupposed to look down on the pole, so that he can note most readily the approaches that the great voyagers have made to his fancied vantage-ground. Points of great present interest can be made out clearly. The new Siberian Route can be traced. This route involves the opening up of vast countries of Northern Russia, particularly the regions of the Yenessei and Lena rivers, mighty streams about which we have yet much to learn, but which may be destined to become great highways of a new commerce. We may watch, with increasing interest and anxiety, the expedition of Nordenskjold, now bravely pushing its way through the North-East Passage, which must be distinguished from that identified with the attempts and achievements of Franklin and Maclure in the North-West. The collections that accompany this map were all made to inform and interest the public in the latest Government expedition under Captain Nares. Many of the appliances provided for that expedition – sledges, cooking apparatus, &c., will be found to the left of the gallery, on one of the bays that project over the Fine Arts Courts.
          In this part of the museum, viz., close to the Arctic Map, is a {82} collection of absorbing interest, to which attention must be directed. It is of Flint Implements from the Drift, and it illustrates with truly admirable completeness those great facts concerning the extended antiquity of man upon this earth that have so stirred the thinking world of late. Flints worked by human hands into weapons – such as some tribes of men now use, as may be seen in the cases close by – indicate that men lived to work them, for no other animal practises such art. These worked flints are discovered in the Drift deposits, the geological age of which we can compute; and they are found also with various evidences in “bone caves” – rocky crevices wherein by accident or as a consequence of man’s residence or resort they have remained – in conjunction with the bones of the Mammoth and of other animals now extinct on the earth, with whom the men must have been contemporary. In the case before us are some of the finest specimens of the wrought flints that have been found, many of the fossilised animal remains with which the flints were discovered, and other objects illustrative or explanatory. But two of the specimens require particular attention. In these “ caves,” where the marks of man’s hand may be thus identified, the fragile bones of man himself have been very rarely found; only the hardest portions, such as teeth, &c., of the animals’ bones have remained. But in the remarkable bone cave at Neanderthal, near Dusseldorf, one hundred feet below the present surface of the ground, through which a rift communicates with the cave, the undoubted skull, or upper portion of the skull, and some other bones of a prehistoric man were found. A cast of the skull is here. It is of the lowest intellectual development, and more brutal than any skull we know of; but without doubt, Professor Huxley considers, it was the skull of an exceptional being, an idiot, perhaps, and possibly for that reason has remained. The skull next to it is that which was, in like manner, found in the Cave of Engis, on the left bank of the Meuse, near Liége [sic]. This relic lay with the bones of many extinct animals, and the most distinguished authorities rate it of the same age as the Neanderthal example, the abnormal character of which is made clear by the much more intellectual development of this. A cast of the great gorilla’s skull is also shown. As complementary to the illustrations in this case, are the interesting contents of the case in front of it. This presents the Breccia, or a portion of the actual floor of a bone-cave in the valley of the Dordogne, on the surface of which are some flint chips lying just as they fell from the hand of the prehistoric man. This most interesting object was presented to the Technological Museum by the late most eminent anthropologist Mr. Henry Christie, and M. Larbet. {83}
          The Tasmanian Collection exhibits the natural riches and resources, as well as the ornithology, of Tasmania. It has been collected and contributed by the Royal Society of Tasmania. Additions from the other Australian colonies are added from time to time. The collection from Modern Egypt is worthy of special notice, as it affords most complete illustrations of the customs of the present Egyptians, and in many instances shows how little these customs have changed from those chronicled in the hieroglyphics of the tombs and in the Biblical records. This comparison may here be readily followed out from the system of explanation which has been pursued in labelling the articles and placing close by the engraved hieroglyphics. But the contrast is saddening between the prosperity of Pharaonic times, and the arts that ministered to the refinements of its luxuriousness, with all that remains of those arts and industries among the modem Egyptians. Of late years, too, quick intercommunication by steam has brought a revolutionary tide of European ideas into the Valley of the Nile. The whole of this most valuable collection was made by Hekekyan Bey, of Cairo, by whom it was presented to the Crystal Palace, through the late Mr. Arthur Anderson.
          In connection with this collection we must not omit to notice that of the Palestine Exploration Fund, the Photographs and Chart of the Isthmus of Suez Canal, and the Illustrations of the Mont Cenis Tunnel.
           Models of lifeboats, and contrivances relating to the saving of life, are exhibited by that admirable society the National Lifeboat Institution, and a collection of the most approved methods of destroying life in war may also be noted in the case of munitions from Woolwich Arsenal. There is besides a collection of submarine telegraph cables, with maps illustrative of the lines in use.
          The visitor who enters this gallery by the stairs next the door of the Reading Room will find it convenient to first pass along the cases on the garden side of the gallery, then to explore those divisions of the collection that lie nearer to the Central Transept, and to return along the cases that face to the Fine Arts Courts below. This route will enable him to examine the whole contents of this interesting department, and as the objects are labelled he can do so with a reward for his attention that is hardly to be gained elsewhere. He will then see facing him, beyond the stairs by which he entered, the Thibet and Yarkund Court, devoted entirely to illustrate those regions on the plateau of Central Asia that were possibly seats of the most ancient of all the forms of human civilisation, and whence the progenitors of the Aryan races of men migrated to people the now most important lands of the world. The ethnological {84) figures are grouped naturally to display the costumes and at the same time to exemplify incidents of life. The scene presented has been painted specially by Mr. F. Fenton, and is copied strictly from a sketch made on the spot by Dr. Cayley. It represents one of the most remarkable of the Lama (Buddhistic) Monasteries, that of Chimray in Ladak. In the cases will be seen many most interesting specimens of the arts, manufactures, and ornaments of the Yarkundis, who are now not so remote from us, politically or actually, as they lately were. The specimens relating to Lama worship are particularly complete and. interesting. For all these examples we are indebted to the kindness of Sir Douglas Forsyth, K.C.S.I., Her Majesty’s Envoy in those regions, and to Dr. Cayley, long officially resident at Leh.
          The whole Museum has been arranged by Dr. David S. Price, who has care of this department. The collection has been enlarged by contributions from the International Exhibitions, 1862 (London) and 1867 (Paris), and is constantly increasing.
          We quit the Technological Museum by the gates of it, and continue our course past the back of the Great Stage and then of the Concert Room until we enter the South Eastern Gallery, on the garden side of the South Nave. Along this gallery are many industrial stalls, but when we near the further end of it we shall find on the right hand a most amusing series of scenes in Japanese life among the common people. The figures are life-size, and the faces, albeit somewhat caricatured, are modelled with remarkable vigour. They are the work of native artists, and the whole design as we see it here came from Japan. Passing on, we proceed through the South Gallery – pausing under the clock to take a general view, – to the other side of the building, where we find

which we enter at its southern end. It is a permanent exhibition[2] of high-class Paintings in Oil and Water Colours, opening with a fresh collection in the spring of each year. All the schools of contemporary European Art are exhibited; and pictures by the Old Masters are also admitted. Continental examples are always a particular feature in the Gallery. All works are subject to approval or rejection. The pictures are all of them for sale, and the arrangement is made that a work purchased may be removed at the option of the purchaser. New works are constantly added to replace those that are sold. Having passed {85} through the Picture Gallery, we shall find beyond that end of it, at the back of the grand Orchestra, a great number of most interesting busts, belonging to the very valuable collection known as the Portrait Gallery of the Crystal Palace. These records of the great men of all time are scattered throughout all the collections of the Palace where their presence is appropriate, and they are thus arranged mainly in chronological order, and classified as far as may be. An Investigation of them is full, not only of great interest, but of instruction. Continuing our course, on the other side of the Central Transept we shall find

          This remarkable museum, illustrative of animal life by its characteristic incidents as well as by the preserved specimens themselves, is arranged in the North-west Gallery, over the Fine Art Courts on this side; in fact, occupies the Northern portion of the Gallery, as the Picture Gallery does the Southern. It was accumulated at Württemberg, under the direction and by the earnest labour of M. Ploucquet, the distinguished naturalist, during twenty years, and was one of the famous sights that attracted tourists to the town. M. Ploucquet’s works in the Great Exhibition of 1851, some of them comical groups, notably those in illustration of Goethe’s “Reinecke Fuchs,” will be well remembered, and many others of similar character are preserved in the present collection. More than 1,500 various animals are arranged in this unique museum, which has been brought from Württemberg complete by its exhibitors.

          The Industrial display at the Crystal Palace is much larger and more important than most visitors would imagine. Nearly the whole of the southern half of the building, including a major portion of the galleries, is devoted to it. The Crystal Palace is one of the largest places of business in or near the metropolis, giving daily employment to several hundreds of hands. Shopkeeping, in a climate like ours, is largely carried on by favour of the weather. Here, at all seasons, under a lofty glittering roof, unconscious of fog, or rain, or wind, the visitor may saunter pleasantly through many shops filled with artistic, useful, and ornamental productions. There is no obligation to purchase because we come to inspect. Most things that minister to human wants will be found in the Industrial Courts, and the collections are designed not only for the casual visitor who buys because he encounters some beautiful or desirable {86} object haphazard, but for the needs of the great resident population close around and in easy connection with the Palace. The variety of the goods for sale is wonderful; but all the goods are not for sale on the spot. The Crystal Palace is the grown-up Exhibition of 1851 – the Hyde Park glass-house arrived at maturity; and it holds its place in the long series of industrial displays.
          The earliest national exhibition of industry on record – an exhibition organised with a view of “encouraging arts, manufactures, and commerce,” and in which prizes were awarded to the exhibitors of the best tapestry, carpets, porcelain, and other things displayed – was one held by the Society of Arts in the Year 1756, about the period when the Royal Academy first began its fine art exhibitions. A few years after this, France came forward, most probably without any knowledge of the English exhibitions, and founded the first of that long and successful series of national expositions which were only made international in Paris in 1855. The Marquis d’Avèze was the founder of these displays in the stormy days of the Directory, and the show, found to be moderately successful in 1797, was repeated with ever-increasing success at varying intervals from the year 1801 to the year 1849. During this period eleven expositions were held, and they undoubtedly paved the way for our International Exhibition of 1851.
          The great display in Hyde Park had other predecessors besides the French exhibitions. In 1828 an industrial display was got together at the King’s Mews, Charing Cross – a royal stable which stood on the site of Trafalgar Square, and which was pulled down in 1833. The promoters of this exhibition were well-known public men, but it had to encounter a good deal of opposition, ridicule, and prejudice. The Boltons, the Wedgwoods, the Strutts, the Arkwrights, and the Bramahs of the time were almost exhorted not to support such a scheme, which was stigmatised as a “foreign institution.” There were not wanting severe critics who were more personal than this, and who called the exhibition a “toy shop.” Protection, not competition, was then held to be the best thing for the public, and commercial superstitions, now happily exploded, were appealed to, to nip this, our first really national exhibition, in the bud. In the face of this opposition, the King’s Mews display, which was called the “National Repository,” could not boast of a very profitable existence. It held its ground during four exhibitions of decreasing merit, and finally died in 1833, in a room in Leicester Square, being called to the last “the exotic thing.” If it had not been for the faith and pertinacity of the Society of Arts at this period, England would probably never have seen an international exhibition. The annual industrial displays at the old and somewhat {87} gloomy rooms in the Adelphi served to keep the lamp burning, and they were followed by many local trade exhibitions of various degrees of importance throughout the country. The great Free Trade Bazaar, held in Covent Garden Theatre in 1845, gave a fresh impulse to the idea of periodical displays of industry in England on the French plan, and the weak financial position of the Society of Arts helped the idea on still further. That society was compelled in 1846 to do something to revive its dying strength and influence, and, acting under the advice of its president, the late Prince Consort, it took energetic steps to encourage the application of the fine arts to manufactures. A special prize fund was started, competition was invited, and annual exhibitions of “select specimens of British manufactures and decorative art” were opened from the year 1846 to the year 1849. The last exhibition, and that held in Paris in the same year, were so successful that they encouraged more extended efforts, and the result was the organisation of the first International Exhibition of 1851, and through that came the foundation of the Crystal Palace at Sydenham. The Cork Exhibition of 1852, the Dublin and New York Exhibitions of 1853, the Munich Exhibition of 1854, the Paris (the first French International) Exhibition of 1855, the Manchester Art Treasures Exhibition of 1857, the Florence Exhibition of 1861, the International Exhibition at Kensington of 1862, the French International Exhibition of 1867, were duly held; and since then the series of annual Exhibitions, opened in 1871 at South Kensington, were commenced and have ceased, the great Exhibition at Vienna was held in 1873, and the International Exhibition in Paris, 1878.
          The seven handsome Courts, exclusive of the Pompeian Court, that range on either side of the Nave, south of the Great Transept, and in corresponding position to the Fine Arts Courts, were all specially erected for the display of various manufactures. The series on our right hand, if we face the south, commences with the Entertainment Court, a very handsome structure designed and erected by Mr. J. G. Crace. The style adopted is composite, and may be regarded as the application of cinque-cento ornamental decorations to a wooden building. The Manufacturing Court, that comes next, was designed by the late Sir William Tite, who considered that its purpose might be best expressed by showing some of the principal ornamental uses of iron in architecture. The façade is a restoration in modern work, of the English ornamental iron enclosures of the 17th century, {88} which differed but slightly from those of the same period in France in the style of Louis XIV. Such work at that time was entirely wrought and hammered; that before the visitor is cast iron, finished on much the same principle as the old productions were. The pilasters are of enamelled slate; the ornamental and emblematical painting in encaustic was executed by Mr. Sang. In this court (as in the Machinery Department below, next the Terrace) many interesting processes of manufacture are shown, including scarf weaving fret-cutting, the making of Tunbridge ware, needle-making, and a process of printing cards without ink, &c. The last on this side, before we reach the Pompeian House, is now styled the Chinese Court, because it is filled by an unique collection of Chinese works; but it was originally built for a different purpose. The architect was Mr. G. H. Stokes. Although there is a considerab1e admixture of styles in the structure, the parts have been so well selected, and their blending is so excellently contrived, that the effect is very harmonious and pleasing. The materials used in the construction are plate-glass and iron. The panels on the outer walls are of plate-glass, enclosed within gilt mouldings; the pilasters and the frieze over the large panels are likewise of plate-glass. The iron columns above, forming an arcade, are in a composite Moresque-Gothic style, and elaborately ornamental in design.
          The contents of this Court are of the highest interest, both in regard to rarity in art, and to completeness in representing the manners and customs of the Chinese, of whom we are beginning to know more now personally and by national contact, so to speak, than we have for ages perceived through the mist of travellers’ stories – often interested travellers – and by hasty assumptions made in view of the curious products that came from the industrious, exclusive people of the wonderful land. All the objects here are kindly lent for exhibition by the Venerable Archdeacon Gray, who occupied twenty years of his residence at Canton, as well as his many opportunities of travel to the interior, in bringing together this magnificent collection. It is systematically arranged. We should commence our inspection with the case on the right hand of the entrance from the Nave, as we stand within the Court. The porcelain manufactures (which we call China) are here all exemplified by peerless specimens, such as are seldom met with singly, perhaps never before in so complete an art series. The collection of teapots, mostly metal, exhibits not only beautiful specimens, but those in use by every grade of the people; the series of shoes is wonderfully instructive, ranging from the little shoe we have all heard of, to the {89} huge covering for the very natural foot of the peasant; in like manner are arranged the hats, from the dress hat of the bridegroom – a sort of feathery and floral helmet – to the broad useful headdress, so well adjusted to the head to ensure shade and ventilation, that is worn by the worker in the fields. There are surprising grades in the shoes and hats. The embroidered fabrics are superb. But it is impossible here to enumerate the important series of instructive works and appliances, manufactures and products of art, for ornament or domestic use that are displayed. Archdeacon Gray has published a remarkable book on the subject of his sojourn in the Flowery Land, and the illustrations on its pages are by native artists, a fact that gives it enhanced value.
          We have already examined the Pompeian Court that is next, so we may pass to the departments on the opposite side of the Nave. There are four grand Courts here. First, the Costume Court. Messrs. Nicholson & Co. have on exhibition a great variety of ladies’ costumes, &c. The next Court will be found to contain a most interesting exhibition of works in china and glass, by Messrs. Cullum and Sharpus.
          In the third of the series of Courts on this side – the second from the Great Transept – there is a central pathway into that department from the Nave, dividing this Court into two. That on the right hand is devoted to scientific instruments and photography, and is in the occupation of Messrs. Negretti and Zambra. The famous Photographic Portrait Rooms of the Crystal Palace are here, and it must be very dark weather indeed when portraits cannot be obtained next the glass roof in the pure atmosphere of the altitude on these hills. Many exquisite photographic views, including all those that have been taken of the Crystal Palace and its gardens, as well as those of all the objects of art, &c., in the collections, can be seen and obtained here. In regard to scientific instruments and apparatus of all kinds, optical and meteorological, for the most ordinary as well as the most recondite uses, the collection and the means at command are quite exceptional, and of infinite convenience to the residents in the neighbourhood. The divisions on the left hand of the central pathway constitute the New Book Court and the Tourists’ Court. The first named of these is, in fact, an extension in connection with the Library Reading Room, where all the books in current sale by all publishers are systematically advertised, and can in turn be examined; here every such book can be purchased. The stock kept is very interesting, and is altogether probably more extensive in regard to the number of works presented than is to be found anywhere else, especially in the retail trade. The purchaser has quite exceptional means for selection. Generally {90) speaking, of the many books produced by the great publishers, only a few, chosen for reasons of supposed adaptability to the local trade, are ever to be met with together in the stock of one shop. To get an idea of what the publisher offers in current sale, one must go to the publisher’s own warehouse, or rely on his printed catalogue or advertisements. In this Court, however, the retail purchaser comes in contact with all the books, in current sale, of each publisher. The School and Educational books form a special department, whence most of the neighbouring establishments obtain the books they require; The Post Office, Money Order Office, &c., is in this Court. The Tourists’ Court is in that division on the garden side. Here will be found a most noteworthy Map of Europe, the largest ever made; it is 21 feet square, and was produced by Messrs. W. & A. K. Johnston, Geographers to the Queen, specially for this Court, and is all hand-work. It is designed to show the routes of European travel, so that a tourist or more serious traveller may be able to sit down and calculate how he can best get from one point to another, or even to select and determine where he shall go. Sectional maps with precise local information of all districts are available, as well as all guide books, and indeed every sort of information of the kind. Having made up his mind, he can obtain travelling tickets, passports, circular notes, &c., at the booking office at hand, be supplied with every information and all the means and appliances – even for his hotel expenses – for his journey to and sojourn anywhere. All the tickets of Messrs. Cooks’ famous system can be obtained in the office, just the same and at same prices as in their London offices; so whether the traveller desire to journey round the world, to Egypt or to Jerusalem, to the English Lakes, or to Brighton, he can, so to speak, start from the Tourists’ Court.
          The last on this side, before we reach the Concert Room, is the Art Furniture Court. At the back of these Courts will be found the Carriage Department, one of the most complete exhibitions of its kind to be found anywhere. It contains a great number of the best and newest carriages by all the great makers, and affords the most advantageous opportunity for selecting a vehicle, with ample range of choice and means for comparison. An office for conducting sales is on the spot. In the basement, next the Terrace, is another great space appropriated to second-hand carriages by the best makers. In both these departments a large trade is constantly going forward. Next the carriages in the Palace, the space is filled with manufactures, many of which are for sale on the spot. Furniture, Pottery and other mineral manufactures, patent stoves and domestic vessels, billiard tables, and a {91} thousand other objects will be found there. When we pass the back of the Entertainment Court and come to where the entrance from the High Level Railway Station is, we are in a great square place, between that point and the Nave, that has been aptly termed the marketplace of the Crystal Palace. This Industrial Court is filled with an infinite variety of manufactures, some exhibited merely, but most of them on sale. The beautiful Ivory Carvings and objects in Ivory – made in the Palace, in the Machinery Department – will not escape notice among the many interesting things to be found here. Exhibitors’ stalls are fitted in the galleries at the back of the stage at the garden end of the Central Transept, all down that gallery toward the south, and on the same level round the end of the Palace up to where the Picture Gallery commences. All the goods there are for sale. In the open corridor of the South Transept is placed a Camera Obscura. At the opposite end of that Transept, in a corresponding position, will be found the winding staircase leading to a Gymnasium that has been fitted in the gallery above.
          If we now descend to the Basement, by the stairs at the garden end of the Great Transept, we shall find many matters of interest. The space to the north is allotted for the supplementary Carriage Department, before referred to. That to the south contains several interesting exhibitions; amongst others may be seen Messrs. Charles Dickens and Evans’s Printing Machines, giving visitors an opportunity of watching many interesting processes connected with the Printing art. The vast amount of Printing required in the Crystal Palace, and all the Company’s Printing, is done in this department, in addition to general printing. Mr. Fentum’s ivory factory, with the interesting machinery for working and turning ivory, next claims our attention; and beyond it may be seen the process of printing on cotton or silk, as well as some of the many processes required in the manufacture of needles. The visitor can reach the South Wing through this department, and pass from thence down the Colonnade to the Railway Station; but he will most probably pass from the door under the Central Transept on to the first Terrace, and proceed in the inspection of the Gardens and Park.

[1] Author’s note: “Destroyed by the fire that broke out in the Tropical Department in 1866.”

[2] Author’s note: “The Descriptive Catalogue of Pictures, Drawings, &c., corrected to the latest Editions, can always be purchased in the Gallery.”