The Sun.
London, England, 1851-07-18 00:00:00

THE CRYSTAL PALACE.
FIRST AND SECOND EDITIONS OF THE

OFFICIAL CATALOGUE.

The remarks which have been indulged in by some
of our contemporaries, with respect to the Official
Catalogue of the Great _Exhibition, together with a
re-perusal of the " Second corrected and Improved
Edition," induce us to make a few observations upon
the work and its predecessors. The world is gene-
rally pretty critical upon catalogues, and every one
feels quite competent to judge of what no one can
produce to the satisfaction of any human being, him-
self not excepted.
The first edition of the catalogue was produced on
the morning of the opening of the Exhibition, and was
hailed as one of the wonders of that eventful day.
It was soon discovered that it contained a consider-
able number of errors, and it was as mercilessly criti-
cised as it had before been liberally praised. How
many of those who were most for ward to complain,
knew anything of the difficulties that had been over-
come, as compared with those which had defied the
compilers, and remained, in their effects, stubborn
witnesses of their own indomitable character We
will not attempt to answer our own question, but
briefly state a few of the peculiar circumstances
which
affected the work. In the first place, it wasat
mpraensys
before the goods were in their places---nay, before
of them had arrived. Why such haste, a reader may
urge ; would it not have been preferable to wait a
month rather than produce an imperfect work a To
this we reply, in the first place, that if the ira_
perfect work had not been produced, the improved
edition would never have seen the light; and, in the
second place, had the Exhibition been opened and
the catalogue not ready, the outcry would have been
loud and continuous against all concerned in the ma-
nagement. The first edition was a necessity, and
must be regarded as produced under pressure. We
live in a railroad age, every thing is expected to be
great, rapid, and cheap. ' We grumble every day that
London is so large that it wears us out in body or
ruins us in cab-hire, yet who is there that writes
" London" in his address that does not boast and feel
proud of its miles and millions. We complain loudly
enough when we are obliged to scamper across the
mud to save our lives or our clothes, from a cab steal-
ing over M'Adam at the rate of twelve miles an hour ;
yet we know that society does and will go at that
pace, all the gouty old gentlemen, " unprotected fe-
males," and helpless children in ie " Great Metro-
polis" notwithstanding. We cry out every day of
our lives that things are too cheap to be good ; and
yet it is perfectly well known that, except the most
extraordinary talent or the most admirably managed
puffing be employed, nothing will sell that costs more
than a shilling. In accordance with these undeniable
facts, the catalogue of the largest and most various
collection that was ever brought together since the
world began was brought out with unheard of cele-
rity—so large almost to require a page to carry it,
and at about the price per pound that we give for our
butter.
Of course, every one knows how to make a cata-
logue. The thing is simple enough_; the objects are
carefully examined, and their relative position accu-
rately ascertained; the descriptions are then put
down in precisely the same order in the manuscript,
which is serit to press, carefully set up, and carefully
revised, an afterwards carefully put together by the
binder, and then issued to the world, or rather to the'
1
trade, with Out a single error, as we know catalogues
always are, or should be, if they did but follow the
simple rule of their nature. There were a few points,
however, in the compilation of the 1 i xhibition cata-
logue that did not exactly coincide with this sim-
plicity. In the first place, there were about sixteen
thousand exhibitors, who dated from all parts of the
world, and had determined to send some contribution
to the exhibition ; to this small body of contributors
the compilers had to look for their materials, the
officers of the executive committee supplied the
numbers to be attached to these interesting para-
graphs, and we believe that the greatest pains were
taken by all concerned to make the arrangement
systematic and convenient : the numbers were to run
from left to right, like books upon a shelf, so that
the visitor would have nothing to do but to walk in
the prescribed course and find number two next to
number one, number three next to number two, and
so on from Alpha to Omega. We doubt not it looked
most complete upon paper, and would have been
highly satisfactory but for a few trifling and unfore-
seen accidents, which we shall point out.
Some few hundred of the exhibitors sent in no de-
scriptions at all, either in groundless apprehension of
being charged for their insertion, or in obedience to
the laws of procrastination and forgetfulness. Others
sent descriptions, but were not equally punctual with
regard to the goods themselves. The former were
astonished, when the catalogue appeared, that the
officials had not supplied above four-fifths of their
omissions, and the public were equally surprised that
one steam-engine, a brass saucepan, an aerial machine
to carry forty people, a sample of treacle soap, a
newly-invented patent lucifer match-box, and a glass
walking-stick, were to be found, like the carpenter's
nails in `$ Joe Miller" "in the bill," and no-
where else. Again, when the goods arrived,
they most obstinately refused to fit the
places assigned to them on the plan. A
" specimen 'of granite" arrived in state, with
a train of horses nearly as long as the Crystal Palace
itself. Once" specimen of copper ore," took ten men
to get it out of its carriage, while another came in the
waistcoat pocket of a celebrated professor ; some
specimens of crystalised salts were mistaken, on their

arrival, for
Derbyshire
came in a
could be fur

models, on a large scale, of the great
caves ; and a sample of hops certainly
' pocket," but it weighed .5001b5., and
ther compressed. Six feet four could not

be placed next in the rank to four feet six, so number
one was put on the floor and number two at the top of
the wall, just as pictures are arranged in every ex-
hibition in the United Kingdom, and, doubtless,
everywhere else ; but human work, which passes
well enough under ordinary circumstances, looks ter-
ribly rough and clumsy when brought under the
microscope ; and this fact never was more strongly
illustrated than in the case in question—fifty irregu-
larities, which involve a walk of half a quarter of a
mile each, take off the edge of a man's good temper,
eat considerably into the longest day, and call down
upon the unfortunate catalogue-maker epithets nei-
ther laudatory nor complimentary.
No wonder then that the first, and even the second
issue of the catalogue was imperfect, and that com-
plaints were not, like angel-visits, few and far be-
tween. The compilers set to work to remedy the
evil, and the second issue was a decided improve-
ment on the first ; but down to the time of the issue
of this latter edition, some parts of the collection
were still unarranged, and the pressure upon those
who did the work of the Exhibition was still so en-
grossing, that it was almost impossible to attain to
anything like a satisfactory result. During the last
few weeks, however, matters have assumed a settled
aspect, and the effect of this is evident in this new
and really corrected edition, which has been revised
with very great care. It also contains a large amount
of new matter, the whole of Turkey and India being
additional, besides numerous items in the French,
American, and other departments.
The table of contents has been entirely remodelled
and much extended, and will be found to furnish a
complete guide to the various parts of the Exhibition,
as well as a key to the catalogue. I say confidently,•
that if visitors will look through the contents, and
will take the trouble to read the introductory re-
marks with which Mr. Yapp has prefaced the work,
they will find the plan of the catalogue simple, and
its execution satisfactory ; but if they will look for
No. 10 of Class 20 in Class 10, and laboriously
persist that the Russian vases are not in the cata-
logue, because they cannot find them, either in
Tunis, America, or Florence, they will themselves
be great losers in point of information ; and will
commit a great injustice on the contractors and all
engaged in the production of the catalogue, if they
condemn before they have taken the trouble to make
an examination, which will cost them at the utmost
ten minutes time, and amply repay them for its dis-
bureement.

THE EXHIBITION IN HYDE-PARK;A meeting of
the Manchester local committee was held on Thursday af-
ternoon to petition the Legislature to continue the Crystal
Palace, in Hyde-park. The meeting was not very nume-
rously attended. Mr. John Potter, the Mayor of Manchester,
presided. A petition, drawn up for the purpose, was agreed
to, and will be forwarded to both Houses of the Legislature
immediately.

[ADVERTISEMENT]..—THE GREAT EXHIBITION.
A valuable, newly-invented, very small powerful waistcoat
pocket glass, only the size of a walnut, to discern minute ob-
jects at a distance of from four to five miles, which is found to
be invaluable at the Exhibition, and to Sportsmen, Gentlemen,
and Gamekeepers. To be had at 39, Albemarle-street,
Piccadilly, opposite the York-hotel. Opera and Race-course
glasses with wonderful powers—a small object can be clearly
seen from ten to twelve miles distant. Telescopes—a new and
most important invention in Telescopes, possessing such extra-
ordinary powers, that some, 3i inches, with an extra eye piece,
will show distinctly, Jupiter's Moons, Saturn's Ring, and the
Double Stars. They supersede every other kind, and are ::
all sizes, for the waistcoat pocket, shooting, military, and
have
purposes. Messrs. S. and B. SoLomoNs, Opticians,
indiately
invented invaluable preserving Spectacle Lenses
they are placed before imperfect vision, every objectim appears
clear and distinct, the most aged defective sight
l and original
becomes bright
and brilliant, is brought to its youthful, natural
state. The Invisible Organic Vibrator, and all kindsa of acoustic
instruments for relief of extreme deafness. 39, Albemarle..
street, Piccadilly, opposite the York Hotel.,
s!aysolnttrieti d.
[ADvEnnsEmENT.]
ale South.
letter
t 0
Foot.—Mr. Henry Knenn
Pills.—Extraordinary Cure--oflia
Bolaldo
hAedewlaaisdee,onithpaetlliendhtios jour-
neynewell, son of the late much respeLeotenddosunr:setyaotredofint
ampton District of St. Pancras,
his mother from BuirrroamßuArdralPidoer,t
v,alk
and,. in doing so, he grazed, and
to those mines
for want of a conveyance,
afterwards poisoned his foot, which became so bad that he was
under a surgeon's care for more than two months without ob-
taining any relief; he was then induced to try Holloway's Oint-
ment and Pills, which, in three weeks, completely cured his
foot, and he was enabled to commence work without incon-
venience.—Sold by all druggists, and at Professor Holloway's
Establishment, 244, Strand, London.