[George Cameron], A Visit to the Great Exhibition by One of the Exhibitors (1851)

This chapter gives a notion of what to look out when people pay their first visit to the Exhibition of1851. The paper-hangers and decorators, carvers and gilders, have put forth their choicest colours and nicest arts. Ores, metals, iron, copper, zinc, tin, lead, alloys, coal, peat, slates, freestones, granites, marbles, alabaster, cements, and artificial stones; sands, clays, and minerals; materials for bricks, tiles, earthenware, and porcelain, and for various arts and manufactures, such as sulphur, borax, fuller’s earth, French chalk, lithographic stones, earthy and other substances used for dyeing, staining, and colouring, occupy the whole length of this avenue. Immediately in front of the Sculpture Court is the Mediaval Court, filled with meritorious contributions of Messrs. This court is one of the great wonders of the Exhibition, showing our skill of workmanship in the taste and design of our forefathers three or four hundred years ago.