Official Descriptive and Illustrated Catalogue. In three volumes.

London: Spicer Brothers & W. Clowes & Sons. 1851.

Five volumes. First edition. 280x175mm. Vol. I: pp. cxcii, 478, 465*-476*; Vol. II: pp. [6], 480-1002; Vol. III: pp. [4], 1003-1462. Vol. IV: pp. xxviii, [2], [1471]-1532. First report of the Commissioners for the Exhibition of 1851. liv, 211 [1]; Second report: [2], 76; 15pp press reports of the Exhibition, [8pp adverts]. Vol. V. Report of the Juries on the subjects in the thirty classes into which the exhibition was divided. pp[8], cxx, 867 [1], 16pp press reports of the Exhibition. (lacking 8 leaves of the index. Illustrated throughout with engraved plates (three of which are coloured) and many engravings in the text. Two of the called-for plates are missing but there are two additional plates which do not appear to be called for. In the original publisher's blue cloth with elaborate borders in blind with, in the centre of the upper cover, a design in rich gilt representing the four continents of Europe, Asia, Africa and America represented in the Exhibition. This is repeated in blind on the lower cover. All edges gilt. Some slight rubbing to extremities and bumping to head and foot of spine and some slight marking to the boards in places but otherwise in very good condition. Internally very good throughout, this is a very nice, full set in the very well preserved original bright blue cloth.
Almost as impressive as the Exhibition itself, the full Catalogue is a great testament to Victorian energy. It is huge and extensively illustrated and is by far the most complete guide to the Great Exhibition making it perhaps the best compendium of, and source book for, mid nineteenth-century taste not just in Britain but across the world. Usually found in only three volumes, this set contains the full four volumes listing all the items in the exhibitions and also includes the Reports of the Commissioners and the Juries.