The Palace of Glass and the Gathering of the People. a Book for the Exhibition (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1815 Excerpt: ...and the pleasant union and amicable rivalry of our Gallic neighbours with ourselves in the present enterprise. Other Expositions followed, but the ninth, under Louis Philippe, in the magnificent Place de la Concorde, in the year 1839, eclipsed them all; and as the gratified monarch gazed on the trophies of French ingenuity and skill, he exclaimed, "These are the true victories which cause no tears to flow." Nor can we, while these imposing scenes in the French capital and its neighbourhood pass before us, forget the humble attempts made in our own country in connexion with our valuable Mechanics' Institutions, to exhibit in some of our large towns, especially Manchester and Leeds, the products of native industry. They are worthy of honourable and grateful remembrance, as indications of that indomitable and individual spirit of enterprise, which is one of the secrets of our commercial prosperity. The Exhibition is a great Bazaar. It is, to a considerable extent, based on the true principle of such establishments. That principle is one of classification, and therefore the term Bazaar is incorrectly applied to certain marts in the metropolis which are but heterogeneous clusters of shops under a common roof. The original principle is a classification of products according to the trades to which they belong; here it is a classification of products according to the countries from which they are received. The Bazaar, as essentially oriental, carries us away to Cairo and Constantinople, to Persian towns and Indian cities. We find ourselves in the crowded alley of some vaulted building, with shops of a similar kind presenting goods of the same general description, lining either side the way. Provisions, wares, and fabrics, both mean and gorgeous, rude and ...