CRYSTAL PALACE - [General title from publisher's advertisement:] Guides and Handbooks, Illustrative of the Contents of the Crystal Palace, London, 1854, 11 guides bound in 2 vols., 8vo, contemporary half calf. With 2 other books. (4)

CRYSTAL PALACE - [General title from publisher's advertisement:]  Guides and Handbooks, Illustrative of the Contents of the Crystal Palace. London: Crystal Palace Library; and Bradbury and Evans, 1854. 11 guides bound in 2 volumes, 8vo (166 x 112mm). Folding plans and plates, illustrations. Contemporary green half calf, spines gilt with red and tan morocco lettering-pieces, original printed wrappers to each guide bound in (calf rubbed). Provenance: Mr C. Porter, Penrith (old signatures on the title page of the first guide in each vol.). The 11 guides included are, in the first volume: Owen Jones and Joseph Bonomi's Description of the Egyptian Court; erected in the Crystal Palace; Owen Jones and George Scharf's The Greek Court; Owen Jones' An Apology for the Colouring of the Greek Court; Owen Jones and George Scharf's The Roman Court (including the Antique Sculptures in the Nave); Owen Jones' The Alhambra Court; and Austen Henry Layard's The Nineveh Court; and in the second volume: M. Digby Wyatt and J. B. Waring's The Byzantine and Romanesque Court; the same authors' The Mediæval Court; the same authors' The Renaissance Court; the same authors' The Italian Court; and George Scharf's The Pompeian Court, each with the same imprint [in the opening description] and each dated 1854. The publisher's advertisement lists a total of 18 guides in the series. With 2 other books, namely Samuel Phillips' Guide to the Crystal Palace and Park (London, 1856, plates and plans, some folding, contemporary green half calf) and J. C. Robinson's The Treasury of Ornamental Art (London, 1857, fine chromolithographed plates, contemporary red half morocco, rubbed). Provenance: from the Collection of the late Professor Bernard Nevill (1930-2019). (4)