Most of these bibliographical items and their descriptions have been taken from Charlotte Crack Green's 1978 Ohio State University Ph.D. dissertation, "The Great Exhibition of 1851 and the Mid-Century Works of Dickens, Kingsley, and Carlyle."
An Address to Foreigners Visiting the Great Exhibition of Arts in London 1851. The Scriptures and the Sabbath in England. London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1851.
According to Green, this "12-page tract urges foreigners visiting the Exhibition to keep the Sabbath" and specifcally to "avoid traveling or arriving on Sunday-schedule meals so as not to prevent waiters from attending services; avoid doing errands on Sunday." Copy in British Library, London.
"All the World and His Wife; or, What Brought Everybody to London in 1851." The New Monthly Magazine and Humorist. n.s. Serial beginning March 1851, p. 269. Copy in Ohio State University Library.
Alphabetical Epitome of the Great Exhibition, 1851. London, 1861.
Introductory note states "The following Alphabetical Epitome of the principal events of the first Great Exhibition year, 1851, was written soon after their occurrence and was not intended for publication, but it is not without interest now that another Exhibition is in the course of formation after the interval of a Decade." Copy in British Library, London.
Art and Faith, In Fragments from the Great Exhibition. Partridge and Oakey, 1851. Copy in British Library, London.
Babbage, Charles, esq. The Exposition of 1851, or Views of the Industry, the Science, and the Government of England. London: John Murray, 1851. Copy in Ohio State University Library.
Baring, Thomas, Esq., M.P. Illustrations of the Great Exhibition of the Industry of All Nations: Presented to the Library of The London Institution, by Thomas Baring, Esq., M .P., President. (no publishing information).
An eight-page printed listing of historical and official documents; catalogues and guides; pictorial illustrations; collections of illustrations; and miscellaneous publications. Copy in British Library, London.
Baxter, John. A Brief Description of Two Models of Improved Farm-Yard and Buildings, with Their Advantages. Shown at the Indistrial Exhibition in 1851. (now added to the Library of Agricultural Knowledge). London: Simpkin and Marshall, 1852.
Planned for the author's farm at Oaklands, near Lewes, Sussex, to create a more efficient, healthful, and comfortable farm for both man and beast. Copy in Victoria and Albert Museum library, London.
Brother Jonathan's epistle to his relations on both sides of the Atlantic, but chiefly to his father, John Bull, Brother Jonathan being a leetle riled by the remarks made by John Bull at his small wares displayed at the opening of the Grand Exhibition. Boston: White and Potter, Printers, 1852.
The John Hay library for special collections at Brown University has a copy of this 25-page doggerel poem. Call number: FH/B6/00088.1.
Burnet, Richard. To Her Majesty's Commissioners For the Exhibition 1851. (Letters published in the Devonport Telegraph, 1841). London, 1850.
To establish that the Devonport Mechanics Institute had conceived of such an exhibition 3 or 4 years before Mr. Scott Russell or Mr. Whishaw. Copy in Victoria and Albert Museum library, London.
Chaff; or, The Yankee and Nigger at the Exhibition. A reading Farce in two Acts. London: Edward Stanford, 1853.
A "nigger-hating" Yankee rents a room in London, only to discover that he is to share the room with Gumbo Jumbo, a black missionary fled from the South to the happy climate Exeter Hall. Copy in Victoria and Albert Museum library, London.
Clayton, George. "Encouragement and Advantages Connected with the Great Exhibition" in [Three] Sermons on the Great Exhibition. Preached in York St Chapel, Walworth. London: Benjamin L Green, [1851]. pp. 36.
Nicholas Fisher, Director, Cultural History, University of Aberdeen, provided the electronic version linked to the title above.
The Crystal Hive; or, the First of May. By C.T.W. London: W. H. Dalton, 1852.
A twenty-page poem on the opening of the Exhibition, giving an especially good account of the fears that preceded it. Copy in Victoria and Albert Museum library, London.
Downes, Charles, and Charles Cowper. The Building Erected in Hyde Park for the Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations, 1851. London: n.p., 1852.
The Crystal Palace. The London Season. Two Satires for 1851. By E.G.M. London: John Ollivier, 1851.
Satirical poems (13 pp. and 7 pp.) using the formulas of eighteenth-century satire to cut through the hypocrisies of the time. Makes fun of the cranks who opposed the Exhibition. Copy in Victoria and Albert Museum library, London.
The Crystal Palace. A Story for Boys and Girls. In The Young Emigrants; Madelaine Tube. The Boy and the Book, and Crystal Palace. New York, 1851, pp. 225-279.
A separately-printed child's story, which has been subsequently bound with three other stories, with one title page. Copy in Ohio State University Library.
The Crystal Palace and Its Contents; Being an Illustrated Cyclopaedia of the Great Exhibition of the Industry of All Nations, 1851. Embellished with Upwards of Five Hundred Engravings with a Copious Analytical Index. London: W.M. Clark, 1852. Copy in British Library, London.
Dickinson's Comprehensive Pictures of the Great Exhibition of l851 From the Originals Painted for H.R. Prince Albert, by Messrs. Nash, Haghe, and Roberts, R.A. Published under the Express Sanction of His Royal Highness Prince Albert, President of the Royal Commission, To Whom the Work is, by Permission, Dedicated. London: Dickinson Brothers, 1854. Copy in British Library, London.
Dilke, C. Wentworth. Catalogue of a Collection of Works on or Having Reference to the Exhibition of 1851, in the Possession of C. Wentworth Dilke. London: W. Clowes and Sons, 1855. Printed for Private Circulation.
Valuable 116-page catalogue of most of the Crystal Palace documents which were extant in l855 in Dilke's collection. Gives full publishing information and frequent annotations ant kernel extracts. Victoria and Albert Museum library, which has a copy, holds many of the items listed.
An Elegy for the Crystal Palace, Adapted from Gray. Supposed to be written in Hyde Park, 31st May, 1852. London: Houlston and Stoneman, 1852.
A nine-page poem. According to the Preface: "The only apology for attempting to parody Gray's beautiful Elegy, must be the anxious desire of the Author to assist in preserving that useful and splendid building--The Crystal Palace, for the benefit of the public." Copy in Victoria and Albert Museum library, London.
Excelsior. The Dial of the World, 1851. London: Ward and Co., 1851.
A religious pamphlet in 26 pages, whose main argument is summed up in the sentence: "The Inexhibitable, then, must never be forgotten, amidst all the attractions and wonders of the Exhibited or Exhibitable." Copy in Victoria and Albert Museum library, London.
The Exhibition Lay. Loudon: Groombridge and Sons, 1852.
Poem of 32 pages in a small bound volume. Copy in British Library, London.
The Exhibition of 1851. The Palace of Industry: A brief History of Its Origins and Progress; with a Descriptive Account of the Most Interesting Portions of the Machinery Employed in its Construction. London: John Ollivier, 1851.
Under the title, in ink, is written: "Wrltten by Mr. Ollivier himself." Copy in Victoria and Albert Museum library, London.
Fireside Pacts from the Great Exhibition. Object Lesson on the Food and Clothing [of] All Nations. Object Lessons from the Exhibition of the Industry of All Nations. London, 1851.
The Introduction mentions that the same author wrote "Little Henry's Holiday," also about the Exhibition. Page 16 mentions "Pleasant Pages" by the same author. The book takes the form of a conversation between Papa and children -- ln which he explains displays in the Exhibition, asking them to figure out more facts and explanations by reasoning from what he tells them and from what they already know. Together they classify (for example) the types of food by climate (tropical, temperate, arctic) and by family (corn plants, spices, legumlnous plants, meats, etc.). After each discussion a child summarizes all facts into an "Object lesson" to be memorized. This work demonstrates popular attitudes towards the educational role of the Exhibition. Copy in British Library, London.
First Report of the Commissloners for the Exhibition of 1851, to Right Hon. Spencer Horatio Walpole, etc.etc., One of Her Majesty's Principal Secretaries of State. London: Spicer Brothers, 1852. [Copy in British Library, London]
Franklin, Robert. Wanderings In the Crystal Palace. London: Houlston and Stoneman, n.d.
A poem of 24 pages by an author from Barton-on-Humber, Lincolnshire. In preface, the author claims to be a "very humble working man" and craves the public's indulgence for his "present effuslons" which have been "written from the best and purest motives." Copy in Victoria and Albert Museum library, London.
O Ful, Tru, un Pertikler Okeawnt o Bwoth Wat Aw Seed un Wat Aw Yerd, We Gooin too Th' Greyt Eggsshibishun, e Lundun, Un o greyt deyle o Hinfurmashun besoide, wele kalkilated fur to giv thoose foke o Gradely Hinseet Hinto things, us Hassent ad Nothur Toime Nur Brass Fur to Goo un see fur thersels, be o Felley fro Rachde. Thurd Edishun. Rachde: Wrigley un Son, 1856. (lst ed. 1851)
A story in 82 pp., entirely in phonetic spelling. As much about the trip to London as about the Exhibition. Copy in Victoria and Albert Museum library, London.
Gascoyne, Mrs. M. Belgravia. A Poem. London: Charles Westerton, 1851.
A 79-page poem in high-style heroic couplet. Mostly about Belgravian life: the rise of the rich neighborhood; comparison of the gracious old gentry with the crass nouveau riche; satire about girls setting their fashionable caps for dukes and earls; a long panegyric against Popery as the priests invade the secure English fold; the money-hungry renting out of rooms during the Exhibition year. Copy in Victoria and Albert Museum library, London.
Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of all Nations, 1851. Official Descriptive and Illustrated Catalogue. By Authority of the Royal Commission. In Three Volumes. London, 1851. Copy in British Library, London.
The Great Exhibition Pictorial Alphabet. London: H. Beal, 1851.
A 9 x l2 fold-up sheet, with the individual letters in separate squares. Bound in a volume entitled Useful Arts, 1861. Copy in British Library, London.
Exhibition 1851--Tickets, Songs, etc.
A scrapbook volume devoted to Exhibition material s. A note on the first page, signed by Sir C. Wentworth Dilke, reads "A few more papers connected with the Exhibition of 1851." 55 pages. Includes views of the Exhibition printed on transparent blue and red plastic cards; views printed on heavy paper cards; 9 different styles of stationery em, bossed with Crystal Palace designs; woven silk-like mementos of the Exhibition; and twenty different street ballads (some in 3 or 4 editions from different cities). Copy in Victoria and Albert Museum library, London.
"The Green House of 1851. A Sling and a Stone for the Giant Exhibition," from Mirror of the Time--A Weekly Magazine and Journal, No. 4, Sat., August 24, 1850, pp. 49-53. Copy in Victoria and Albert Museum library, London.
Industrial Exhibition Remembrancer. London, 1851.
A card, 2 7/8 x 4 inches, issued as a memento. Has a map of the ground plan of the Crystal Palace, noting stairs, entrances, and exits. On the reverse, it has space for noting Lodging, traveling expenses; month and date of attendance; and articles which attracted the holder's particular attention. The same card is also represented in German and in French. Copy in British Library, London.
Leathes, E. Fragments from the Crystal Palace. London: Hope and Co., 1852.
Saccharine poem in 18 pages. Copy in Victoria and Albert Museum library, London.
Love and Loyalty. No publishing information given).
A strong pro-British poem in 32 pages. Cautions Britain against the wiles of Popery. Claims that Britain is indebted to the Protestant Religion for the prosperity evident in the Exhibition. Copy in Victoria and Albert Museum library, London.
Martin. The Exhibition Poem (published by the author at his residence, Rose Cottage, Grove St., Hackney)
grandiose poem in twenty pages, in praise of the Exhibition. Copy in Victoria and Albert Museum library, London.
Mayhew, henry, and (George Cruikshank. 1851: or, The Adventures of Mr. and Mrs. Sandboys and Family, Who Came up to London to "Enjoy Themselves," and to See the Great Exhibition. London: David Bogue Co., 1851.
Lively novel in 242 pages, with 9 engravings by George Cruikshank. A yeoman sheepfarmer from Cumberland reluctantly takes his wife and two children to London to see the Exhibition after discovering the difficulty of village life without any shopkeepers (all had gone off to London). He has every misadventure imaginable--catching wrong trains, losing tickets, falling victim to con men, losing money, lodging among shocking Frenchmen. This is the best and most complete account of the Exhibition in fiction. Copy in Ohio State University Library.
A Memorial of the Great Industrial Exhibition of All Nations in London, 1851: Consisting of a Sentence from Holy Writ in Above One Hundred Languages. (no publishing information given).
Copy in British Library, London.
Murray, Rev. T.B. A Day in the Crystal Palace. 2nd ed. London: SPCK, 1852.
A poem of about 10 pages, in praise of the Exhibition. Copy in Victoria and Albert Museum library, London.
Napier, Mrs. The Lay of the Palace. London: John Ollivier, 1852.
Fourteen-page poem in magniloquent style, praising the Crystal Palace. Cloying. Copy in Victoria and Albert Museum library, London.
Origin of the Great Exhibition (From "The Mining Journal," November 1, 1851). London, 1851. Copy in British Library, London.
The Palace of the Glass and the Gathering of the People. A Book for the Exhibition. London, 185l.
Well-written, especially in the first 3 chapters. The last chapters become increasingly didactic. Copy in British Library, London.
Placards Exhibited in Conspicuous Places Within the Crystal Palace, designed to Forward one of the Grand Objects of the Royal Commission--Warmly Responded to by The Queen, and Suitable dwelt Upon by the Archibishop, viz:--"The Strengthening the Bonds of Peace and Friendship Among All Nations of the Earth." London, 1851.
Poems are unsigned, but the Catalogue of the British Library attributes them to John Harris. Copy in British Library, London.
Plans and Suggestions for Dwellings Adapted to the Working Classes, Including the Model Houses for Families Built by Command of His Royal Highness the Prince Albert, K.G., in Connection with The Exposition of the Works of Industry of All Nations. London: Society for Improving the Condition of the Labouring Classes, 1851.
Ten pages of text, with added diagrams of seven different styles of cottage designed for different needs, includlng the one for four families on display in Hyde Park. Copy in Victoria and Albert Museum library, London.
The Prophecie of Pierre Reillor, An Heretique Friere of Ye Abbey of Holie Crosse by Waltham. In Ye Whiche is Dimlie Foreshadowedde Ye Great Exhibitionne of Eighteene Hundrede and Fiftie-One. London: Houlston and Stoneman, 1851. Copy in Victoria and Albert Museum library, London.
Punch's Comic Guide to the Exhibition, Showing how to see Everything that is in London, as well as a great deal that is not. An Immense number of Comic Engravings. London: W. S. Johnson, 1851.
A comic take-off on history, filled with puns and with gibes at English ways. The book includes a guide to things to see in the city, along with satirical comment. Copy in British Library, London.
A Short Statement of the Nature and Objects of the Proposed Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations Appointed to take place in London in 1851, and of its Interest to All Classes of the People. London: Harrison and Son, 1850.
A pamphlet of 7 pages. Copy in British Library, London.
The Theology and Morality of the Great Exhibition, As Set Forth in Certain Leading Articles Which have Lately Appeared in "The Times" and "Record" Newspapers. By a Spiritual Watchman of the Church of England. London, 185l.
A bound pamphlet of 18 pages, carrying as headnote the description of "Vanity Fair" from Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress. It describes the goods in the Crystal Palace as vanities, and complains that the "ware of Rome" is greatly promoted in this fair (particularly in the Medieval court). Copy in British Library, London.
The Trip to the Great Exhibition. (no publishing information).
A story in 28 pages of the trip to the Exhibition made by Barnabas Blandydash, his wife, and daughter Leonora, in their pony cart--a journey of 70 miles. It is a satlrical view of the proud country bumpkin/gentleman who came to the Exhibition, revealing his plans, his primping, his pride at taking his own cart rather than the railroad. It contains self-righteous ranting about Popery, and foreigners. Copy in Victoria and Albert Museum library, London.
Visit to the Great Exhibition. By One of the Exhibitors. London: Cundall and Addey, 1851.
A brief guide to things to see in the exhibition. Copy in Victoria and Albert Museum library, London.
Warren, Samuel, F.R.S. The Lily and the Bee — An Apologue of the Crystal Palace. New York, 1851.
A free-verse prose-poem in 192 pages. Highly emotional, with liberal use of exclamation points; full of visions ant greatly over-wrought moral analogies. Rich in social context minutiae, with references to popular science, Lyell's geology, fundamentalist religion, etc. Copy in Ohio State University Library.
The World's Great Assembly. English Monthly Tract Society, London: J F Shaw [1851].
Nick Fisher, Director, Cultural History, University of Aberdeen, provided the electronic text of this tract.
The Year 1851. London: T.F.A. Day, 1852.
A poem in 84 pages, the last four of which give a good poetic summary of the unbounded pride and faith in the Exhibition. Copy in Victoria and Albert Museum library, London.
Last modified December 2001