[Anon.], ‘The Opening of the Great Exhibition’, Illustrated London News (1851)

“Holders of season tickets will be admitted at all doors on the east, south, and west of the building between the hours of 9 and half-past 11 o’clock, and will take their places, subject to police regulations, in the lower part of the building and in the galleries, except the parts railed off in the nave and transept. Spectators of all classes, without and within the Building, are thus accommodated, and the people trust that the usually propitious weather which attends her Majesty’s progresses and ceremonials will lend its sunshine to the thousands who purpose making holiday at this inauguration of our Great Industrial Temple. The British galleries have received the greater portion of the contributions to be there displayed. In the Foreign galleries, stained glass is at present the principal attractive feature; vestments, bronzes, and light furniture are visible in several spaces.