This text traces the rise and fall of what became known as "The People's Palace", the Crystal Palace at Sydenham in South London. With its stark geometrical design it was architecturally years ahead of its time, but it was also a fascinating and idealistic social laboratory of entertainment and information that foreshadowed much that we take for granted in today's theme parks, zoos and shopping malls. Based on Paxton's design for the Great Exhibition in 1851, after its relocation to Sydenham the Crystal Palace was much ...
Read More
This text traces the rise and fall of what became known as "The People's Palace", the Crystal Palace at Sydenham in South London. With its stark geometrical design it was architecturally years ahead of its time, but it was also a fascinating and idealistic social laboratory of entertainment and information that foreshadowed much that we take for granted in today's theme parks, zoos and shopping malls. Based on Paxton's design for the Great Exhibition in 1851, after its relocation to Sydenham the Crystal Palace was much enlarged, with three transepts instead of one, and used twice the amount of glass as in Hyde Park in 1851. Among the topics explored by Jan Piggott are the personalities behind the Crystal Palace. He also investigates what went on there. He draws on eye-witness accounts, both from memoirs and newspapers, so that the reader gets a sense of what visiting Crystal Palace was like in an era before film or television. As much as the spectacular structure itself, the Crystal Palace drew visitors for over 80 years because of the amazing series of exhibitions and nationals ceremonials staged there. It also attracted the cream of British and European society.
Read Less
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
Dispatched, from the UK, within 48 hours of ordering. Though second-hand, the book is still in very good shape. Minimal signs of usage may include very minor creasing on the cover or on the spine.
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
New. 0299200949. *** FREE UPGRADE to Courier/Priority Shipping Upon Request *** – – *** IN STOCK AND IMMEDIATELY AVAILABLE FOR SHIPMENT-FLAWLESS COPY, BRAND NEW, PRISTINE, NEVER OPENED--230 pages. Interior text is clean, tight, and unmarked. Pages are intact and tight to the spine. From the description of the book on the inside flap of cover: "...Spectacular in all its aspects, the Crystal Palace was a unique social and artistic experiment, with far-reaching influence, and it has a secure place in the English national consciousness. Much has bee written about the Great Exhibition, but this is the first book to trace the full and in every way extraordinary history of the People's Palace in Sydenham. It sets the scene with the first Palace and the 1851 Exhibition, and the steps by which it found its new home in south London. The artistic theories that inspired the 'Encyclopaedia' and the ccontroversies they attracted are explored in depth. Paxton's restless genius gave the Crystal Palace its grandeur and elan, but it also hastened financial troubles; the story sometimes takes on the colour of fiction. The author has assembled illustrations, many in colour, of every stage and aspect of the Palace's career, and, as its creators intended the Palace itself to be, the book is set to provide enjoyment and enlightment in equal measure."--with a bonus offer--; 4to-over 9¾"-12" tall.
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
Very good. Connecting readers with great books since 1972! Used books may not include companion materials, and may have some shelf wear or limited writing. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority!
