Crystal Palace 1854 guides available from Euston Grove Press

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Crystal Palace guides

After the Great Exhibition in 1851, the famous Crystal Palace was dismantled, then moved to Sydenham, south of the Thames. The glasshouse was expanded and set within a beautiful 200 acre, fountain-filled pleasure park. It re-opened in 1854.

Education and entertainment combined at Crystal Palace. The Crystal Palace Company published a series of guides – official handbooks – describing the park’s themed courts, special features, and art and sculpture galleries. These helped visitors interpret key features. They also provided background information. The effect was to add an air of authenticity to the visitor’s experience. They also helped justify the intricate attention to detail (and its expense). More than a dozen guides were produced.

The “Crystal Palace Guides” series offers facsimiles of the original guides. Our aim is to honour the effort put into those famous themed sections of the park.

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		Newest in the series
		15. Geology and Inhabitants of the Ancient World Owen, Richard. 1854. Geology and Inhabitants of the Ancient World 2010 facsimile edition paperback GBP£5.00 \| USD$8.75 \| Euro€6.50 Purchase direct from Lulu.com (order) Purchase from Amazon.com (US \| UK) 48 pages, size A5 \| sample pages (pdf) ISBN: 978-1-906267-14-8 (pbk) The original guide to the Crystal Palace dinosaurs (and the other beasts in the park)! Owen’s official guide to Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins’ life-sized sculptures of prehistoric ‘monsters’ in Crystal Palace park, Sydenham, including dinosaurs, mammals, marine reptiles, and other antediluvian beasts. The Hunterian Professor and Conservator at the Royal College of Surgeons and soon to be Superintendent of the Natural History Department at the British Museum, Owen was a consultant on Hawkins’ designs. His guide gave visitors technical descriptions of underlying biology and geology. The goal was to move beyond mere sensational display to create accurate and sophisticated ‘visual education’ for visitors to the park. The result is a celebration of British geology at the very height of its expertise. Complete facsimile of 1854 edition. keywords: monsters, dinosaur, dinosaurs, geology, fossils, Jurassic, Triassic, Cretaceous, Dicynodon, Labyrinthodon, plesiosaur, ichthyosaur, Teleosaurus, Hylaeosaurus, pterodactyl, Mosasaurus, Iguanodon, Megalosaurus, Palaeotherium, Anoplotherium, Megatherium, sculpture, Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins, Joseph Paxton, Victorian pleasure garden, paleontology, palaeontology, Diornis, moa, geological formations, model, prehistoric animals
		Now published in the series
		1. Guide to the Crystal Palace and Park Samuel Phillips. 1856. Guide to the Crystal Palace and Park 2008 facsimile edition paperback GBP£12.95 \| USD$18.95 Purchase direct from Lulu.com (order) Purchase from Amazon.com (US \| UK) 205 pages, size A5 \| sample pages (pdf) ISBN: 978-1-906267-09-4 (pbk) Detailed descriptions and many illustrations make this Guide a comprehensive overview, together with descriptions of the special courts and galleries. It also offers a walking tour around the park’s thematic gardens. The Geological Illustrations and Extinct Animals are described, including the famous dinosaurs of Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins. Maps include both palace and park. Facsimile of 1856 edition. Complete. Why the 1856 edition? The general guide was first published in 1854 with the opening of the park. It quickly went through several printings in 1854 and 1855, which the publisher called "editions". When the 1854 edition first went to press, however, the palace and park were still coming together. (For instance, the fountains weren't yet working!) The 1854 guide is more about hopes than reality. We chose to reprint the 1856 edition because the information accurately describes the park as visitors actually experienced it. Compared with the 1854 edition, the 1856 guide has more maps and floorplans, more drawings of exhibits, and far better descriptions of the gardens. The differences show how quickly exhibits evolved in the palace and park during its first few years. Later editions, such as for 1860 and 1862, were substantially revised. The 1860 edition uses most of the same images, though their quality is reduced; others are simplified, such as Map03 (above). Some important historical information was removed. Compared with other versions of the guide, the 1856 edition is special. Maps available separately as downloads. > Map01 - Transport Links to Crystal Palace. 1856 (8"x10") - view or order > Map02 - Ground Plan of Crystal Palace. 1856 (11"x14") - view or order > Map03 - Crystal Palace Park. 1856 (8"x10") - view or order
		2. The Portrait Gallery Samuel Phillips. 1854. The Portrait Gallery of the Crystal Palace 2008 facsimile edition paperback GBP£12.95 e-book FREE Purchase direct or download for free from Lulu.com (order) 238 pages, size A5 \| sample pages (pdf) ISBN: 978-1-906267-10-0 (pbk) This Portrait Gallery guide lists names of those chosen for display, plus biographical information. In effect, this offers a directory of those held in high esteem by mid-Victorian society. It’s a roll call of Britain’s heritage. Listed are artists and musicians, poets and dramatists, scientists, soldiers, statesmen, theologians, and royalty. Portraits were organised by nation: Greek and Roman, Italian, French, German, and English (notably, not ‘British’).
		3. The Alhambra Court Jones, Owen. 1854. The Alhambra Court in the Crystal Palace 2008 facsimile edition paperback GBP£12.95 Purchase direct from from Lulu.com (order) 124 pages, size A5 \| sample pages (pdf) ISBN: 978-1-906267-06-3 (pbk) Included as appendices (also from the 1854 guide): - Pasqual De Gayangos. An Historical Notice of the Kings of Granada, From the Conquest of that City by the Arabs to the Expulsion of the Moors [Reprinted from M. Jules Goury. 1842. Plans, elevations, sections, and details of the Alhambra : from drawings taken on the spot in 1834 by the late M. Jules Goury and in 1834 and 1837 by Owen Jones. With a complete translation of the Arabic inscriptions and an historical notice of the Kings of Granada from the conquest of that city by the Arabs to the expulsion of the Moors, by Mr. Pasqual De Gayangos (London: Owen Jones)], pp. 91-117. - Anonymous. The Flight from Granada [Reprinted from John Gibson Lockhardt. 1853. Ancient Spanish Ballads: Historical and Romantic, 4th edition (London: Murray)], pp. 118-119. - [Directory of staff] Fine Art Department. Western Division, p. 120.
		4. The Byzantine and Romanesque Court Wyatt, Matthew Digby and Waring, John Burley. 1854. The Byzantine and Romanesque Court in the Crystal Palace 2009 facsimile edition paperback GBP£12.95 Purchase direct from from Lulu.com (order) 120 pages, size A5 \| sample pages (pdf) ISBN: 978-1-906267-13-1 (pbk) Detailed description of this exhibition, together with a brief survey of architectural and design history of Byzantium and other parts of Christian Europe, including German and French Romanesque. Additional notes are provided on Irish art (550-1000AD), described as superior to Anglo-Saxon work in the same age, and on the effigies found in Temple Church, London belonging to the Order of the Temple, or Knights Templar. Facsimile of 1854 original edition.
		7. The Italian Court Wyatt, Matthew Digby and Waring, John Burley. 1854. The Italian Court in the Crystal Palace 2009 facsimile edition paperback GBP£12.95 Purchase direct from from Lulu.com (order) 91 pages + 2 maps, size A5 \| sample pages (pdf) ISBN: 978-1-906267-15-5 (pbk) Catalogue for one of the great courts in the 1854 Crystal Palace at Sydenham. Detailed description of the exhibition’s sculpture, facades, and paintings. Wyatt and Waring give a synoptic history of the Italian Renaissance and its main influences across Europe, providing a rationale and walking tour for the exhibition. This was more than a lesson in history and art: Michelangelo, Raphael, Titian, da Vinci, Cellini, and many more. It also was an effort to train visitors to feel continuity between Renaissance and the innovations to be found everywhere around them in Victorian Britain. Facsimile of 1854 original edition.
		14. Courts of Modern Sculpture Jameson, Anna B. 1854. A Hand-book to the Courts of Modern Sculpture 2008 facsimile edition paperback GBP£12.95 Purchase direct from from Lulu.com (order) 91 pages, size A5 \| sample pages (pdf) ISBN: 978-1-906267-11-7 (pbk) An inventory for the statues and sculptures displayed in the Crystal Palace and Park. It’s a celebration of modern sculpting, 17th to 19th century, with English work set alongside French, German, and Italian masters. Individual items are described. Biographies of sculptors are given. Mrs Jameson’s introduction provides a rationale for selection and an instruction to visitors: what should they be seeing? Complete.

		Crystal Palace Guides series - complete set A facsimile series published by Euston Grove Press. This is a continuing publishing project, with another handbook always in production. 1. Guide to the Crystal Palace and Park* ..........by Samuel Phillips (order) 2. The Portrait Gallery of the Crystal Palace* ..........by Samuel Phillips (order) 3. The Alhambra Court in the Crystal Palace* ..........by Owen Jones (order) 4. The Byzantine and Romanesque Court in the Crystal Palace* ..........by M. Digby Wyatt and J. R. Waring (order) 5. Description of the Egyptian Court in the Crystal Palace ..........by Owen Jones and Joseph Bonomi 6. The Greek Court Erected in the Crystal Palace ..........by George Scharf and Owen Jones 7. The Italian Court in the Crystal Palace* ..........by M. Digby Wyatt and J.B. Waring (order) 8. The Mediæval Court in the Crystal Palace ..........by M. Digby Wyatt and J. R. Waring 9. The Nineveh Court in the Crystal Palace ..........by Austen Henry Layard 10. The Pompeian Court in the Crystal Palace ..........by George Scharf 11. The Renaissance Court in the Crystal Palace ..........by M. Digby Wyatt and J. R. Waring 12. The Roman Court ... Erected in the Crystal Palace ..........by George Scharf and Owen Jones 13. The Natural History Department of the Crystal Palace ..........by Robert Gordon Latham (Ethnology) ..........and Edward Forbes (Zoology and Botany) 14. A Handbook to the Courts of Modern Sculpture* ..........by Anna B. Jameson (order) 15. Geology and Inhabitants of the Ancient World* ..........by Richard Owen 16. An Apology for the Colouring of the Greek Court in the Crystal Palace ..........by Owen Jones -now available through Euston Grove Press. More handbooks coming soon. Nb: Lists identify two other books in the guide series. The Industrial Directory of the Crystal Palace* (London: Crystal Palace Library and Bradbury and Evans) was published in 1854. A volume, "How to See the Sculpture in the Crystal Palace," by Raffaele Monti , was never completed. Thus, the total number of original guides - handbooks - was 18.