The Great Exhibition, 1851: A Sourcebook

249 Pages·2017·17.04 MB·English

by  Jonathon Shears

T
h
e
The Great Exhibition, 1851 is the first anthology of its kind. It presents a
G
comprehensive array of carefully selected primary documents, sourced from the
period before, during and after the Exhibition in Hyde Park in 1851. Drawing on r
contemporary newspapers and periodicals, the archives of the Royal Commission, e
diaries, journals, celebratory poems and essays – many of them reproduced in a
The Great
their entirety, and in the same place, for the first time – the book provides an t
unparalleled resource for teachers and students of the Exhibition alike, and a
E
starting point for researchers new to the subject.
x Exhibition,
h
The book is subdivided into six chapters – ‘Origins and organisation’, ‘Display’,
‘Nation, empire and ethnicity’, ‘Gender’, ‘Class’ and ‘Afterlives’ – that represent i
b
the current scholarly debates about the Exhibition. Critical introductions 1851
i
helpfully summarise the Exhibition and situate it within the discourse of the
t
‘material turn’ in Victorian studies, exploring the reasons why this particular i
o
event came to symbolise the age and why it continues to fascinate readers over
n A sourcebook
a century and a half later. Reams of material have been sifted through in order to
provide the best and most representative selection of texts. Part trade fair, part ,

festival, part shopping mall, part art gallery and museum: what was the Great 1
8
Exhibition and what did it mean? Readers of The Great Exhibition, 1851 will take
great pleasure in finding out. 5
1
This sourcebook will be an invaluable teaching guide, of interest to students
and lecturers in many disciplines within the humanities.
Jonathon Shears is Senior Lecturer at Keele University
S
h
e
a
r
s

(
e
d
.
)
Cover image:
ISBN 978-0-7190-9913-7
© The British Library Board. Dickinsons’
Comprehensive Pictures of the Great
Exhibition. Cup.652.c.33.
Edited by
9 780719 099137
Jonathon Shears
www.manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk
The Great Exhibition, 1851
MAD0452_SHEARS_v1.indd 1 16/03/2017 12:01
Series editors: Anna Barton, Andrew Smith
Editorial board: David Amigoni, Isobel Armstrong, Philip Holden, Jerome
McGann, Joanne Wilkes, Julia M. Wright
Interventions: Rethinking the Nineteenth Century seeks to make a sig-
nificant intervention into the critical narratives that dominate conventional
and established understandings of nineteenth-century literature. Informed
by the latest developments in criticism and theory the series provides a focus
for how texts from the long nineteenth century, and more recent adaptations
of them, revitalise our knowledge of and engagement with the period. It
explores the radical possibilities offered by new methods, unexplored contexts
and neglected authors and texts to re-map the literary-cultural landscape of
the period and rigorously re-imagine its geographical and historical param-
eters. The series includes monographs, edited collections, and scholarly
sourcebooks.
Already published
Charlotte Brontë: Legacies and afterlives Amber K. Regis and Deborah Wynne (eds)
Interventions: Rethinking the nineteenth century Andrew Smith and Anna Barton (eds)
MAD0452_SHEARS_v1.indd 2 16/03/2017 12:01
The Great Exhibition, 1851
A sourcebook
Edited by
Jonathon Shears
Manchester University Press
MAD0452_SHEARS_v1.indd 3 16/03/2017 12:01
Selection and editorial copyright © Manchester University Press 2017
All other matter © as acknowledged
The right of Jonathon Shears to be identified as the editor of this work has been asserted by him
in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
Published by Manchester University Press
Altrincham Street, Manchester M1 7JA
www.manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 978 0 7190 9912 0 hardback
ISBN 978 0 7190 9913 7 paperback
First published 2017
The publisher has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URLs for any external or
third-party internet websites referred to in this book, and does not guarantee that any content
on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate.
Typeset
by Servis Filmsetting Ltd, Stockport, Cheshire
MAD0452_SHEARS_v1.indd 4 16/03/2017 12:01
Contents
List of figures page vi
Acknowledgements viii
List of abbreviations ix
Introduction 1
1 Origins and organisation 12
2 Display 56
3 Nation, empire and ethnicity 77
4 Gender 119
5 Class 143
6 Afterlives 186
Bibliography 229
Index 236
v
MAD0452_SHEARS_v1.indd 5 16/03/2017 12:01
Figures
1 The colossal Bavarian lion. Courtesy of the Royal
Commission for the Exhibition of 1851 page 7
2 ‘The Industrious Boy’, Punch, 5 June 1850, p. 225.
© Punch Ltd 33
3 First sketch of the Great Exhibition building by Sir Joseph
Paxton. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London 44
4 Louis Haghe, The State Opening of the Great Exhibition (1851).
Courtesy of the Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851 49
5 Plan of Floor and Galleries at the Great Exhibition, 1851, from
Royal Commission, First Report (1852). Courtesy of the Royal
Commission for the Exhibition of 1851 58
6 Osler’s fountain. Courtesy of the Royal Commission for
the Exhibition of 1851 61
7 Pugin’s Medieval Court, from Dickinsons’ Comprehensive
Pictures (1854). Courtesy of the Royal Commission for
the Exhibition of 1851 71
8 Hiram Powers, Greek Slave. Courtesy of the Royal Commission
for the Exhibition of 1851 80
9 The Indian Gallery, from Dickinsons’ Comprehensive Pictures
(1854). Courtesy of the Royal Commission for the Exhibition
of 1851 97
10 ‘A Hint to the Commissioners’, Punch, 26 April 1851, p. 185.
© Punch Ltd 102
11 ‘Meeting of the Ladies’ Committee at Stafford House in Aid
of the Great Exhibition of Industry of All Nations, in 1851’,
Illustrated London News, 9 March 1850 125
12 ‘Her Majesty, as She Appeared on the First of May, Surrounded
by “Horrible Conspirators and Assassins.”’, Punch, 10 May 1851,
p. 192. © Punch Ltd 137
13 ‘The Ladies and the Police. – The Battle of the Crystal Palace’,
Punch, 17 May 1851, p. 192. © Punch Ltd 138
vi
MAD0452_SHEARS_v1.indd 6 16/03/2017 12:01
List of figures
14 ‘Mary Callinack, Aged 85, The Cornish Fish Woman, Who
Walked from Penzance to the Great Exhibition in Hyde Park’,
Illustrated London News, 25 October 1851 140
15 ‘Specimens from Mr. Punch’s Industrial Exhibition of 1850
(To be Improved in 1851)’, Punch, 13 April 1850, p. 144.
© Punch Ltd 154
16 Registration form for ‘artizan accommodation’ (RC/H/1/4120).
Courtesy of the Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851 160
17 Advertisement for a lecture on the Great Exhibition at Leigh
Mechanics’ Institute, 2 August 1850. Courtesy of the Royal
Commission for the Exhibition of 1851 168
18 Fire destroys the Crystal Palace in 1936. Photo by Topical
Press Agency/Getty Images 199
19 Plan of the South Kensington Estate, 1889, from Royal
Commission, Seventh Report (1889). Courtesy of the Royal
Commission for the Exhibition of 1851 220
vii
MAD0452_SHEARS_v1.indd 7 16/03/2017 12:01
Acknowledgements
There are a number of people that I would like to thank for their help in the
production of this book. At the head of the list is Amber K. Regis, with whom
I worked on the early stages of this project, particularly in compiling the mate-
rial that eventually ended up in Chapter 4. Angela Kenny was a godsend at
the archive of the Royal Commission, giving assistance on my research trips
and patiently and promptly responding to my many email requests (including
those asking for images that I’d already been sent). Thanks go to the Royal
Commission and the Victoria and Albert museum for generously allowing me
to reproduce some of the images included here free of charge and to Punch
magazine for some fee reductions. The Research Institute at Keele University
helped me cover other costs for image permissions and research trips for
which I am very grateful. The suggestions of the two anonymous readers
for MUP were important in prompting me to expand the range of sources
that the book presents. David Fallon and Anna Barton very kindly agreed to
read and provide suggestions on the content of some of the chapters: their
thoughts helped to keep me on track. The series editors were always available
to answer questions, as were the staff at Manchester University Press, and I
was extremely fortunate to have such a capable and conscientious copy editor
in Susan Womersley. I owe a special debt of gratitude to Geoffrey Cantor
who generously gave of his time and expertise in reading the near-completed
book. Geoffrey saved me from making several slips, particularly regarding
my reading of the various versions of the Exhibition Catalogues. Kimberley
Braxton and Hannah Scragg were so helpful in proofing the final manuscript,
while I am indebted to Ros Davies and Ellie Patient for getting me out of a
tight spot. As always I also thank my family, particularly Gill and Jessica, who
gave me the love and support to keep my spirits up when working long hours
transcribing and editing material.
viii
MAD0452_SHEARS_v1.indd 8 16/03/2017 12:01
Abbreviations
Minutes – Minutes of the Proceedings of Her Majesty’s Commissioners for the
Exhibition of 1851, 11 January 1850 to 24 April 1852 (London: William
Clowes & Sons for HMSO, 1852)
NLS – National Library of Scotland
Official Catalogue – Official Descriptive and Illustrated Catalogue, 3 vols
(London: William Clowes & Sons, 1851)
RC – The Archive of the Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851,
Imperial College London
Victorian Prose – R. J. Mundhenk and L. McCracken Fletcher (eds), Victorian
Prose: An Anthology (New York: Columbia University Press, 1999)
Tallis’s History – John Tallis, Tallis’s History and Description of the Crystal
Palace, and the Exhibition of the World’s Industry in 1851, 3 vols (London:
John Tallis, 1851–52)
ix
MAD0452_SHEARS_v1.indd 9 16/03/2017 12:01