Palace of the people : the Crystal Palace at Sydenham, 1854-1936 / J.R. Piggott.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Piggott, Jan.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Crystal Palace (London, England)--History.

Crystal Palace (London, England).

Exhibition buildings--England--London--History.

Exhibition buildings.

History.

Sydenham (London, England)--History.

Sydenham (London, England).

England--London.

Physical Description:

ix, 230 pages : illustrations (some color) ; 25 cm

Place of Publication:

Madison, Wis. : University of Wisconsin Press, [2004]

Summary:

Built for the Great Exhibition of 1851, the Crystal Palace originally graced London's Hyde Park with Joseph Paxton's remarkable geometric design and groundbreaking use of glass elements, prefiguring the modern movement in architecture. After the exhibition a group of bankers, railway directors, and men of influence moved the structure to a new site in south London, rebuilt it to an even grander scale, and set about its promotion as a "palace for the multitude." Here were exhibitions, concerts, and spectaculars to fill a splendid day out for Londoners of all classes and interests. Filled with plaster casts of great art treasures, life-sized models of dinosaurs, waterworks, and gardens, the Crystal Palace became a center of both education and entertainment from the Victorian era through its destruction by fire in1936. Copublished with C. Hurst & Co., London Wisconsin edition for sale only in North and South America, U.S. territories and dependencies, and the Philippines.

Contents:

1. The 'Parent Building': The Crystal Palace in Hyde Park and the Great Exhibition, 1851 1

2. 'What is to be Done with the Crystal Palace?' 31

3. The Fine Arts Courts, I: Owen Jones 67

4. The Fine Arts Courts, II: Matthew Digby Wyatt and James Fergusson; Sculpture 97

5. The Interior: Botany, Natural History, the Industrial Courts, the Picture Gallery, Photography 123

6. The Exterior: The Park and Waterworks; the 'Geological Illustrations' and the 'Extinct Animals' 138

7. The People: Events and Entertainments 166

8. The Fire and After 206.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 223-227) and index.

ISBN:

0299200949

OCLC:

54818985