CORNELL UNIVERSITY;.. LIBRARY Cornell University Library T 690.B1T14 Tatlis'sMis s history anc 3 1924 021 897 255 *, Cornell University <m Library S3 The original of this book is in the Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924021897255 DEDICATED TO HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS PRINCE ALBERT, KG., ETC. fc-s*-„a. ^ij ii jj i riai ; DEDICATED TO H.E.H. PRINCE ALBERT, K.G-, etc, etc., etc. TALLIS'S HISTORY AND DESCRIPTION OF THE CRYSTAL PALACE, AND THE Cxtjitiitk of tip WmW% Mefq in i85i ILLUSTEATED BY FBOM OEIGIITAI, DEAWIWGS AND DAGUEEEEOTYFES, BY BEARD, MAYALL, ETC., ETC. PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY JOHN TALLIS AND CO., LONDON AND NEW YORK. TALLIS'S HISTORY AND DESCRIPTION THE CRYSTALOP PALACE INTEODUCTION. The fame of the Crystal Palace has gone forth to the utmost bounds of the civilized world". The extent of its aim, as an Exhibition of the natural productions, the arts, sciences, manufactures, and fine arts of all nations,—the ingenuity of its plan, the vast- ness of its departments, its exactness in particular, its beauty as a whole, its success in all the objects for which it was undertaken, the feelings of amity and benevolence it called forth, the enlargement of mind it gave rise to, the practical benefits necessarily springing out of the scientific contemplation of its contents, the unceasing source of delight it afforded to the thousands upon thousands who flocked, day after day, to behold its treasures, the brilliancy of its opening, the harmony of its close, the thankfulness and gratitude inspired in every reflective mind, during months of peaceful and rational enjoyment, undisturbed by any painful accident or jarring feelings,—all these are chronicled in such variety of form and language, as to defy the power of oblivion,—and we may safely pronounce that the House of Glass will exist in the annals of history, long after the vaunted pyramids of Egypt, of which the builders and the object are already alike unknown, shall have crumbled into dust. In contributing yet another to the almost countless number of publications that have already appeared on this apparently inexhaustible subject, some statement of the grounds upon which the proprietors rest their hopes of success, in a field wherein they have to meet so many competitors, beforehand with them in the lists, may be reasonably expected. Those grounds, they flatter themselves, will be found, without any necessity of more laboured explanation on their part, in the superior excellence of the engravings, which they were unwilling to endanger by hurrying the execution of them ; and in the taste and acumen of the descriptions, which emanate from an artist equally skilled in the use of the pen as the pencil, and whose productions in both those departments have frequently elicited the admiration of the public. In order that the engravings should be faithful transcripts from the actual objects they profess to delineate, the proprietors have been at the expense of having all those objects taken on the spot by the Daguerreotype, with a patience and exactitude that would not pass over the smallest imperfection or deficiency, and whatever was not fortunate in the first instance was reproduced, till complete success was obtained. The labour of rendering upon steel facsimiles of these minute creations was immense, ; iv INTRODUCTION. pro- as will be readily believed upon inspection of them : the expense was of course as it has been, portionate ; but tbis expense, great-=-dt may almost be said enormous— the proprietor's have willingly taken upon themselves, in the full confidence that they shall ultimately be remunerated by the generosity of an enlightened Public, alike quick will to discover excellence, and liberal in rewarding it ; and which they flatter themselves regard these exquisite gems of Art with feelings somewhat akin to those inspired by the skilfully pourtrayed features of a valued friend, delighting equally from the truth of the resemblance, and the pleasing remembrances they call forth. With regard to the account of the rise and progress of the Crystal Palace itself} the ensuing pages will be found to present rather the. lively and graphic description that might be given in the course of social converse, thap, the detailed statistical statements which, however desirable they might be, while it was yet in its infancy, and advancing step by step towards the maturity to which the public so anxiously looked, watching its growth through every step of its intermediate stages, would now, on a retrospective view, appear unnecessarily minute, and even tedious to general readers. From the same consideration the objects selected for representation are chiefly such as. will always continue to gratify the lovers of beautiful forms and elegant designs j and of which the descriptions will be found permanently useful, in guiding the taste, and inciting to excellence in whatever branch of ingenuity or of the fine arts it may be sought. !" " A thing of beauty is a joy for ever says the poet ; and we fully agree with one of our contemporaries, who, in happy illus- tration of the sentiment says, " We would have every thing in a house touched by the divining rod of the poet. An inkstand, instead of being a literal glass bottle, or a fine piece of or-molu, or bronze, significant of nothing but costliness, might be fashioned to represent a fountain, with a Muse inspiring its flow ; our goblets might bubble over amongst hop- leaves, and stems of blossoms ; our decanters be composed of transparent vines, cluster- ing in wild confusion, or drqoping over trellis-work, as we see them in the sunny south our bell-ropes, that carry more messages than the electric wires, might be converted into hanging garlands '; pur water-jugs be made to flatter the palate with their look of coolness ; snow creaming over the edges, and harts drinking at brooks, in the shadows down the sides : lively colours, tastefully toned and harmonized, might be scattered over our rooms, under a thousand pretences of necessity ; and in every article of furniture the forms of a classical antiquity, which always possessed the charm of innate grace, delicacy, and refinement, might be successfully revived." There is no doubt that the Crystal Palace has done much already, to further so desirable an end, and as every effort to perpetuate the remembrance of its contents must be regarded as conducing to the general advancement of taste, and the promotion of the beautiful, the proprietprs trust that theirs will come in for its full share of the approba- tion which it will be their endeavour to deserve. CONTENTS.. VOL. I. PAGE PAGE Achilles Wounded (illustrated) .... 244 Ceylon, Contributions from 49 Adam and Eve, by Jerichau 40 Chance, Brothers, and Co., Stained Glass . 98 Albert (H.R.H. Prince), Speech at the Lord Mayor's Charge of Admission 28 Banquet . .13 Chaucer's Dream 43 : — Speech at the Opening . 23 Chinese Nick-knacks . .118 — Equestrian Portrait of (il- Church Ornaments 231 lustrated) . .31 Coat of a Sikh Chief . • . .31 — Model Houses . 206 Colonial Departments 31 : Amazon attacked by a Tigress, by Kiss (illustrated) 385 Council Medals 241 Grandeur American ......' 161 Couteau de Chasse . 170 " Apostrophe to the Far West" . .161 Cradle, Royal, by Rogers (illustrated) . 204 Arab Merchants, Centre-piece, by Nicholson ^illus- Cruikshank's great Etching 255 trated) 141 Crystal Palace by Moonlight 60 Archbishop of Canterbury, Prayer at the Opening . 23 Crystal Fountain 80 Arethusa, by Thrupp 246 Cupid, by Geefs 124 Ariadne, by Kirk 124 by Jennings ...... 244 Artificial Light .133 and Psyche, by Benzoni . .43 Australia, Contributions from . .53 Daguerreotype 134 Austrian Carvings 75 application of, to Meteorological Science 136. Babes in the Wood, by Bell 43 of Clouds, Falls of Niagara, &c. 136 Bacchus, Statue of 123 adopted at Greenwich Royal Observatory 139 Barberi, Chevalier, Mosaic Table . .94 Daily Number of Dinners calculated . .26 Barbetti, Carvings by 76 Dancing Faun, by Lechesne (illustrated) . .171 Basins, Ewers, and Sherbet-Cups, from Turkey . 184 Dante and his Thoughts (illustrated) . 193 Bavarian Lion ,169 Davy, Sir Humphrey 135 Bedstead, Austrian 75 Debay, le premier Berceau ..... 243 Bees 57 Deer-stalking in the Highlands .... 181 Belgian Department ...... 64 Diamond from Lahore 32 Belgian Smuggler's Dog 65 Mines 85 Bertini, Window in Stained Glass . .193 Dorothea, by Bell 43 Blanqui, Letters, 1 and 2 195 Dreaming on the Thames, from St. Paul's to Chelsea 259 , 3, 4, and 5 234 Drunken Faun, by Hogan 244 Boarding-school Visitors 157 Duke of Wellington, Anecdote of . 256 Bookbinding 220 Duvelleroy 63 Book-Case, by Holland 73 Eagle-Slayer, by Bell (illustrated) . .169 Boy attacked by Serpent, and Companion (illustrated) 40 Early Morning Visit to the Crystal Palace . 99 British Machinery 234 Earth, a Living Creature 117 British Amenity 147 Ecclesiastical Robes ...... 66 Bute, Marquess of, by Thomas .... 123 Elaborate Corkscrew 119 Eldon and Stowell, Lords, group (illustrated) . Cain, by Jehotte . .126 .123 Telegraph in the Crystal Palace . Cain and his Family, by Etex (illustrated) . , 243 Electric .157 . Elizabethan Contributions by Duchess of Sutherland 74 Campbell and the Quarterly Review . 258 — Camp Equipage, from Turkey .... 184 England's Share of the Exhibition " penitus toto Canada, Contributions from 51 divisos orbe Britannos" 149 English Machinery 159 Canadian Timber Trophy (illustrated) . .52 ...... Cape of Good Hope 55 Engraving on Stones 89 Eurydice 41 Cardinal Wiseman at the Exhibition . .66 Eve after her Fall 41 Carved Buffet, by Fourdronois . .72 Eve, T)y Du Bay ,62 Carved Ivory Chair (illustrated) . .31 Carved Panels, by Lienard 73 Exterior of Palace described 19 Fairies, the, and' the Fair Ones of France .