508
have their objects and goods photographed, using a
special form.
The allocation and geographic distribution of copies
is signifi cant. Some 50 copies were presented to British
individuals associated with the Great Exhibition; Royal
Commissioners, members of the Executive Committee
and seven offi cers of the Royal Engineers who had been
key players in the organisational operations. Some Brit-
ish institutions, such as the British Museum, the School
of Design and the Society of Arts received copies as
did the ‘national’ libraries in Dublin and Edinburgh.
Some parts of the British Empire were favoured with
copies; Malta, the ‘Cape of Good Hope,’ ‘Barbadoes’
[sic], Trinidad, British Guiana, Canada, Nova Scotia,
New South Wales and New Zealand. It seems that nine
Indian Maharajahs and rulers received copies presented
directly by the East India Company.
The remainder of presentation copies were presented
to foreign governments. Some ‘countries’ fared better
than others. In 1851 Germany was made up of a con-
federation consisting of thirty-eight sovereign states
and four free cities. Twenty-seven of these were listed
to receive presentation copies, probably refl ecting the
connections of Prince Albert with the country of his
birth and his close interest (if not direct involvement)
in the creation of the photographically illustrated copies
of the Reports.
The presentation sets were produced by a joint
venture of Spicer Brothers, a mayor wholesale paper
company in London, and the printing fi rm of William
Clowes and Sons. Together they had been responsible
for all the offi cial printed matter for the Great Exhibi-
tion. The volumes were bound by Robert Rivière, one
of the foremost bookbinders in London. The production
and the distribution of the presentation copies points to
a signifi cant period of elapsed between the decision by
the Royal Commissioners in January 1852 as to who
would be presented with copies and their actual delivery.
This delay was partly caused by a fi re at the printers,
which destroyed the complete production of the printed
texts. The fi rst copies were ready in January 1853 and 44
copies were dispatched the following March. However,
Talbot received his 15 copies in April 1854.
A full evaluation of the impact of the photographi-
cally illustrated copies of the Reports by the Juries has
yet to be undertaken and the location of all extant copies
is as yet unknown.
Anthony Hamber and Saskia Asser
See also: Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry
of All Nations, Crystal Palace, Hyde Park (1851);
Daguerreotype; Beard, Richard; Mayall, John Jabez
Edwin; Kilburn, William Edward and Douglas T.;
Delamotte, Philip Henry; and Talbot, William Henry
Fox.Further Reading
Asser, Saskia, “A handsome & highly fi nished present. Foto’s voor
de juryrapporten van de Great Exhibition, 1851,” Bulletin van
het Rijksmuseum, Jaargang 53, Nummer 2, 2005, 141–176.
Hamber, Anthony, A Higher Branch of the Art, Gordon & Breach,
Amsterdam, 1996.
Keeler, N.B., “Illustrating the ‘Reports by the Juries’ of the Great
Exhibition of 1851; Talbot, Henneman, and Their Failed
Commission,” History of Photography, vol. 6, no. 3, July
1982, 252–272.EXHIBITIONS OF PHOTOGRAPHY
Nineteenth century exhibitions of photography were
held by a wide range of groups, from national govern-
ments, mechanics’ institutes, and museums to com-
mercial studios and amateur photographic societies.
The purposes and audiences for photographic exhibi-
tions were similarly diverse. Exhibitions were used to
promote the political and economic interests of imperial
nations, to entertain and educate the public, to publi-
cize commercial studios, and to promote the practice
of photography as an art form, among other reasons.
Exhibitions of photography had an impact on social
conventions and cultural practices and, at the same time,
ideas about photography were shaped by exhibitions.
World’s Fairs, also known as Great Exhibitions and
Expositions Universelles, were the largest of the early
major venues for the public circulation of photography.
These international exhibitions were celebrations of
industrial production and imperial expansion, where the
products of industrial nations were displayed to mass
audiences. While the fi rst exclusively photographic
exhibition was held at the Society of Arts in December
1852, photography was included in the fi rst Great Ex-
hibition at London’s Crystal Palace in 1851. Included
major contributions of from Britain, France, Germany,
and the United States. Commercial photographers, who
exhibited work that promoted their studios, showed
portraits, genre scenes, city views, and landscapes. At
the 1876 Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition, photog-
raphy and related goods were displayed together in
their own building for the fi rst time. However, at all
of the international exhibitions, photographers also
submitted contributions to other sections. For example,
photographs of anthropological specimens and racial
types were part of colonial exhibits, and photographs of
public works projects, historic monuments, and urban
views were shown in national displays. International
exhibitions were spectacular events that were designed
to entertain and educate the public, and they played a
signifi cant role in popularizing photography.
Mechanics’ institutes were among the earliest venues
for exhibiting photography in Britain and the United
States. These institutes were commercial organiza-EXHIBITION OF THE WORKS OF INDUSTRY
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