'The New Crystal Palace at Sydenham', 1854.

Lithograph by T H Ellis, of the Crystal Palace which was built to house the 'Great Exhibition of the Works of the Industry of all Nations', an idea conceived by Prince Albert (1819-1861). The building was the first large-scale prefabricated ferrovitreous (iron and glas) structure and was designed by the landscape designer Joseph Paxton (1801-1865). The prefabricated design made the construction, and later dismantling, easier and quicker. It was removed from Hyde Park, London, after the Great Exhibition and re-erected in Sydenham where it was opened by Queen Victoria (1819-1901) on 10 June 1854.