Catalogue of a Collection of Works on or Having Reference to the Exhibition of 1851

Privately published in 1855, this catalogue lists several hundred contemporary publications that testify to the impact of the Great Exhibition.

This catalogue, privately published in 1855 by one of the organisers of the Great Exhibition, documents his substantial collection of books and pamphlets from Britain and abroad relating to that event. It includes guidebooks, essays, letters, poetry, songs and engravings, and is indispensable for those researching the exhibition's global impact.C. Wentworth Dilke (1810–69), an influential figure at the Society of Arts, was one of the key organisers of the Great Exhibition of 1851. He played a leading part in planning the event and the catalogue, overseeing the installation of exhibits and managing the PR. The exhibition generated an enormous number of publications, official and unofficial, both in Britain and abroad, ranging from vistors' guides to London and descriptions of individual exhibits to discussions about the long-term future of the Crystal Palace, together with essays, sermons and poems. Dilke acquired several hundred such books and pamphlets, in various languages, and in 1855 privately published this catalogue of his collection, noting that it omits 'mere trade pamphlets' and that his 'departments' of relevant music and engravings are not comprehensive. Alphabetically organised and thoroughly cross-referenced, Dilke's catalogue remains an invaluable research resource for those studying the Great Exhibition and its global impact.