University of Alberta Print Culture in Victorian England: The Ottoman Empire at the Great Exhibition of 1851 by Tessa Christine Hawkins A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in History of Art, Design, and Visual Culture Department of Art and Design ©Tessa Christine Hawkins Fall 2013 Edmonton, Alberta Permission is hereby granted to the University of Alberta Libraries to reproduce single copies of this thesis and to lend or sell such copies for private, scholarly or scientific research purposes only. Where the thesis is converted to, or otherwise made available in digital form, the University of Alberta will advise potential users of the thesis of these terms. The author reserves all other publication and other rights in association with the copyright in the thesis and, except as herein before provided, neither the thesis nor any substantial portion thereof may be printed or otherwise reproduced in any material form whatsoever without the author's prior written permission. This thesis is dedicated to my Nana and Granddad. You gave me a childhood filled with animal-shaped pancakes, and never-ending love and support. You inspire me every day. Abstract This thesis provides a study of the Ottoman Empire’s display and citizens at the Great Exhibition of 1851 as represented by British print culture. Using official and satirical sources, it examines mediated images of the “Turk,” identifying and interpreting differences between English and Turkish cultures as represented before, during, and directly after the exhibition in primary sources such as the Official Descriptive and Illustrated Catalogue and Punch magazine. Using Western preconceptions and stereotypes, a “Turkish Other” character type was created and disseminated throughout British print media. This character type illustrated Turkish reforms instigated in the nineteenth-century which merged European ideals with Turkish cultural traditions; in doing so, the Ottoman Empire infringed on British national identity. To protect this cultural identity, British satire depicted exaggerated “Turkish Other” characters which, according to Freud’s theory of the narcissism of minor differences (as interpreted by Anton Blok), prevented violent physical conflict between these cultures. Acknowledgements I would like to thank my supervisor, Joan Greer, who challenged me as an invaluable mentor during the lengthy process of completing this thesis. She has been very understanding and was consistently ready with advice or questions to provoke new dialogue or research; I always left our meetings inspired. I would like to also thank my committee members, Betsy Boone and Jocelyn Hendrickson, for their time and involvement on this project. Thank you to my friends, Ho-yan, Troy, Whitney, and Stephanie, who were there for me when I needed a friend. Most of all, I want to thank my family – Mom, Dad, and my brother, Joe – for their support, love, and understanding during the highs and lows of this degree. They have been my cheerleaders, allies, and protectors, and never let any obstacle prevent me from pursuing my goals. Their never-ending love has been awe-inspiring, and I will never be able to fully thank them for it. Table of Contents 1. Dedication …i 2. Abstract …ii 3. Acknowledgements …iii 4. Table of Contents …iv 5. Introduction …p 1 - Research Statement …p 2 - Outline …p 3 - Definitions …p 5 - Conclusion …p 8 6. Chapter 1: The Turkish Display at the Great Exhibition …p 9 - Nineteenth-Century Museums: European and English Standards …p 10 - Trade Relationship between Turkey and Britain in the Mid-nineteenth Century …p 13 - “Modernization” in Nineteenth-Century Turkey …p 15 - Creating and Organizing the Great Exhibition: Joseph Paxton’s Crystal Palace …p 18 - The Turkish Court in the “Torrid Zone” of the Crystal Palace …p 24 - A History of Turkish and Oriental Displays …p 29 - The Ottoman Empire on Display …p 30 - Gottfried Semper: Architect and Interior Designer …p 31 - The Emerging Print Industry …p 34 7. Chapter 2: Representation of the Ottoman Empire in British Catalogues, Handbooks and Guides, Journals, and Newspapers …p 36 - Print Media Produced for the Great Exhibition: Official Catalogues …p 38 - Handbooks, Guides, and Printed Descriptions of the Exhibition …p 42 - Journals …p 48 - Newspapers …p 50 - Media Coverage of the Ottoman Empire at the Great Exhibition …p 53 - Terminology and Text Associated with the Creation of a “Turkish Other” …p 57 - “Nomadic” …p 58 - “Luxurious” …p 59 - “Oriental” …p 61 - Images Associated with the Creation of a “Turkish Other:” Design of the Turkish Court …p 63 - Creating the “Turkish Other:” Objects in the Turkish Court …p 64 - The Canopy …p 64 - The Tughra …p 66 - Raw Materials …p 67 - Manufactured Objects …p 68 - The “Turkish Other” and the “Arabian Other:” Men and Women in the Turkish Court …p 71 - Attire …p 73 8. Chapter 3: Satirical Publications: Depicting the “Turk” at the Great Exhibition …p 76 - Satire: Humour in Printed Media …p 78 - “Mr. & Mrs. John Brown’s Visit to London to See the Grand Exposition of All Nations” …p 80 - “Punch, or the London Charivari” …p 83 - Representation of the “Turkish Other” and the “Arabian Other” in British Satire from 1850-1851 …p 90 - The Turban and Crescent on the “Turkish Other” in “Punch” …p 91 - The Fez on the “Turkish Other” in “Mr. & Mrs. John Brown’s Visit to London” and “Punch” …p 92 - The “Arabian Other” in “Mr. & Mrs. John Brown’s Visit to London” and “Punch” …p 94 - Normalizing the “Turkish Other” in Punch …p 96 - The Narcissism of Minor Differences: Culture as Boundaries …p 97 9. Bibliography …p102 10. Illustrations - Introduction …p112 0.1 Jean-August-Dominique Ingres, Odalisque with a Slave - Chapter 1 …p112 1.1 Egyptian Hall, Liverpool (c. 1906). Kate Hill, Culture and Class in English Public Museums, fig. 6.14 1.2 “The Whale-bone Lounge at Charing Cross, 1831,” Barbara J. Black, On Exhibit: Victorians and their Museums, 25. 1.3 “Mr. Wyld’s Model of the Earth,” Barbara J. Black, On Exhibit: Victorians and their Museums, 35. 1.4 Crystal Palace, exterior, calotype photograph, John Langdon-Davies, The Great Exhibition, 1851: A Collection of Contemporary Documents. 1.5 Court of the Myrtles, Alhambra, Alhambra de Granada.org 1.6 Display of Egypt and Turkey, calotype photograph, Patrick Beaver, The Crystal Palace, 1851-1936: A Portrait of Victorian Enterprise, 43. 1.7 Canada and Egypt-Turkey courts, Pieter van Wesemael, Architecture of Instruction and Delight: A Socio- Historical Analysis of the World Exhibitions as a Didactic Phenomenon (1798-1851-1970), Plates 30, 31. 1.8 Denmark court, Dickinson’s Comprehensive Pictures of the Great Exhibition of 1851 Vol. 1, 35. 1.9 “The Caraib Hut,” Gottfried Semper, Der Stil Vol. 2, 263, in Mari Hvattum, Gottfried Semper and the Problem of Historicism, 36. 1.10 “Indian Howdah in Ivory and Richly Wrought Silk,” Tallis’s History and Description of the Crystal Palace - Chapter 2 …p119 2.1 Cover, Official Descriptive and Illustrated Catalogue 2.2 Title Page, Official Descriptive and Illustrated Catalogue 2.3 Frontispiece, Official Descriptive and Illustrated Catalogue 2.4 Ornamented Hookahs Turkey and Egypt. Official Descriptive and Illustrated Catalogue Vol. 3 2.5 Canadian court, Dickinson’s Comprehensive Pictures of the Great Exhibition of 1851 Vol. 2, 23. 2.6 General View from the Turkish Court, Dickinson’s Comprehensive Picture s of the Great Exhibition of 1851 Vol. 1, 45. 2.7 Corner View of the Turkish Court facing the North Transept. Dickinson’s Comprehensive Pictures of the Great Exhibition of 1851 Vol. 1, 43. 2.8 Untitled. Dickinson’s Comprehensive Pictures of the Great Exhibition of 1851 Vol. 1, 3. 2.9 Title page. Tallis’s History and Description of the Crystal Palace Vol. 1 2.10 Title page. Tallis’s History and Description of the Crystal Palace Vol. 3 2.11 Arab Merchants Halting in the Desert. Tallis’s History and Description of the Crystal Palace 2.12 H. Bibby, “The Opening of the Great Exhibition by Her Most gracious Majesty Queen Victoria, May 1, 1851.” Tallis’s History and Description of the Crystal Palace Vol. 1 2.13 Title page, Hunt's Hand-Book to the Official Catalogues: An Explanatory Guide to the Natural Productions and Manufactures of the Great Exhibition of the Industry of all Nations, 1851, ed. Robert Hunt 2.14 “Persia and Turkey,” Hunt's Hand-Book to the Official Catalogues, 942-943. 2.15 Cover, Robert Hunt, Synopsis of the Contents of the Great Exhibition of 1851. Companion to the Official Catalogue 2.16 “Turkey,” Robert Hunt, Synopsis of the Contents of the Great Exhibition of 1851, 92. 2.17 Cover, Prior et al. London as it is To-day: Where to go, and What to see, During the Great Exhibition, 2.18 Cover, The Art Journal Illustrated Catalogue: The Industry of all Nations 2.19 Frontispiece, The Art Journal Illustrated Catalogue 2.20 Title page, The Art Journal Illustrated Catalogue 2.21 “Entrance to the Turkish Department,” in History of the Great Exhibition [essay, xi-xxvi]. The Art Journal Illustrated Catalogue, xxiii 2.22 Edward Ferenbach. “View of the Turkish Court – From a Photograph by Ferenbach.” The Illustrated Exhibitor Vol. 18 (October 4, 1851): 329. 2.23 Detail, Edward Ferenbach. “View of the Turkish Court – From a Photograph by Ferenbach.” The Illustrated Exhibitor Vol. 18 (October 4, 1851): 329. 2.24 “The Main Eastern Avenue – From a Photograph by Fehrenbach.” The Illustrated Exhibitor No. 22 (November 1, 1851) 2.25 Detail – “The Main Eastern Avenue – From a Photograph by Fehrenbach.” The Illustrated Exhibitor No. 22 (November 1, 1851) 2.26 “Group of Silver Plate.” The Illustrated Exhibitor No. 5 (July 5, 1851): 87.