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EXHIBITION
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EXHIBITION
, a See also:term, meaning in See also:general a public display,2 which has a See also:special See also:modern sense as applied to public shows of goods for the promotion of See also:trade (Fr. exposition)
.
The first exhibition in this sense of which there is any See also:account, in either sacred or profane See also:history, was that held by See also: The first modern exhibition was held at See also:London in 1756 by the Society of Arts, which offered prizes for improvements in the manufacture of See also:tapestry, carpets and See also:porcelain, the exhibits being placed See also:side by side . Five years afterwards, in 1761, the same society gave an exhibition of agricultural machinery . In 1797 a collective display of the See also:art factories of See also:France, including those of Sevres, the Gobelins and the Savonnerie, was made in the palace of St See also:Cloud, and the exhibition was repeated during the following year in the See also:rue de Varennes, See also:Paris . This experiment was so successful that in the last three days of the same year an exhibition under See also:official auspices, at which private exhibitors were allowed to compete, was held in the Champ de See also:Mars . Four years later, in 1801, there was a second official exhibition in the grand See also:court of the Louvre . Upon that occasion juries of See also:practical men examined the See also:objects shown, and the winners of a gold See also:medal were invited to dine with See also:Napoleon, who was at that See also:time First See also:Consul . In the See also:report of the See also:jury the following remarkable See also:sentence appeared:—" There is not an artist or inventor who, once obtaining thus a public recognition of his ability, has not found his reputation and his business largely increased." The third Paris Exhibition, held in 1802, was the first to publish an official See also:catalogue . There were 540 exhibitors, including J . E . Montgolfier, the first aeronaut, and J . M . See also:Jacquard, the inventor of the See also:loom which bears his name .
The See also:fourth exhibition was held in 1806 in the esplanade in front of the Hotel See also:des Invalides, and attracted 1422 exhibitors
.
There were no more exhibitions till after the fall of the See also:empire, but in 1819 the fifth was held during the reign of See also:
The exhibitors numbered 20,839 and the visitors 5,162,330
.
There were See also:national exhibitions during the following years in several See also:European countries, but the next great See also:world's See also:fair was held at London in 1862
.
The total space roofed in amounted to 988,000 sq. ft., 22.65 acres, the number of visitors was 6,211,103, and the amount received at the doors £408,530
.
The See also:death of the prince consort had a depressing effect upon the enterprise
.
In 1865 an exhibition was held at Dublin, the greater proportion of the funds being supplied by Sir See also:Benjamin See also: The number of attendances was 6, 805,969 . The exhibitors numbered 43,217, and the total amount received for entrances, concessions, &c., was £420,.735 . This was the first exhibition at which there were international restaurants . The cost of the exhibition was defrayed partly by the See also:state and partly by private subscriptions . Small exhibitions were held in various parts of Europe between 1867 and 1870, and in the latter year a See also:series of international exhibitions, confined to one or two special descriptions of produce or manufactures, was inaugurated in London at See also:South See also:Kensington . These continued till 1874, but they failed to attract any very large attendance of the public and were abandoned . A medal was given to each exhibitor, and reports on the various exhibits were published, but there was no examination of the exhibits by jurors . In 1873 there was an International Exhibition at See also:Vienna . The See also:main building, a rotunda, was erected in the beautiful park of the See also:Austrian See also:capital . There were halls for machinery and agricultural products, and hundreds of buildings, erected by different nations, were scattered amongst the woodlands of the Prater . Unfortunately, an outbreak of See also:cholera diminished the attendance of visitors, and the receipts were only £206,477, although the visitors were said to have reached 6,740,500, and the number of exhibitors was 25,760 . None of the International Exhibitions held between 1857 and 1873 had attracted as many as 7,000,000 visitors, but the gradual See also:extension of See also:education amongst the masses, and the greater facilities for locomotion, brought about by the growth of the railway See also:system in all portions of the civilized world, largely_ increased the attendances at subsequent World's Fairs . The Centennial Exhibition of 1876, to celebrate the one-hundredth anniversary of See also:American See also:Independence, was held at Fairmount Park, See also:Philadelphia . The funds were raised partly by private subscriptions, and partly by donations from the city of Philadelphia, from See also:Pennsylvania and some of the neighbouring states . The central See also:government at See also:Washington made a large See also:loan, which was subsequently repaid . The See also:principal buildings, five in number, occupied an See also:area of 482 acres, and there were several smaller structures, which in the aggregate must have filled half as much space more, the largest being that devoted to the exhibits of the various departments of the See also:United States government, which covered 7 acres . Several novelties in exhibition management were introduced at Philadelphia . Instead of gold, silver and See also:bronze medals, only one description, bronze, was issued, the difference between the merits of the different exhibits being shown by the reports . See also:Season tickets were not issued, and the See also:price of See also:admission, the same on all occasions, was half a See also:dollar, or about 2s . 1d . The exhibition was not open at night or on Sundays, thus following the British, and not the See also:continental, precedent . The number of visitors was 9,892,625, of whom 8,004,214 paid for admission, the See also:balance being exhibitors, officials and attendants . The total receipts amounted to £763,899 . Upon one occasion, the Pennsylvania See also:day, 274,919 persons—the largest number that had visited any exhibition up to that date—passed through the turnstiles . The display of machinery was the finest ever made, that of the United States occupying 480,000 sq. ft . The See also:motive-See also:power was obtained from a Corliss See also:engine of 1600 See also:horse-power . At this exhibition the United Kingdom and the British Colonies of See also:Canada, See also:Victoria, New South See also:Wales, New See also:Zealand, Cape See also:Colony and See also:Tasmania made a very fine display, which was only excelled by that of the United States, The Paris Exhibition of 1878 was upon a far larger scale in every respect than any which had been previously held in any See also:part of the world . The total area covered not less than 66 acres, the main building in the Champ de Mars occupying 54 acres . The See also:French exhibits filled one-half the entire space, the remaining moiety being occupied by the other nations of the world . The United Kingdom, British See also:India, Canada, Victoria, New South Wales, See also:Queensland, South See also:Australia, Cape Colony and some of the British See also:crown colonies occupied nearly one-third of the space set aside for nations outside France . Germany was the only great country which was not represented, but there were a few See also:German paintings . The display of fine arts and machinery was upon a very large. and comprehensive scale, and the See also:Avenue des Nations, a See also:street 2400 ft. in length, was devoted to specimens of the domestic architecture of nearly every country in Europe, and of several in See also:Asia, See also:Africa and See also:America . The palace of the Trocadero, on the See also:northern See also:bank of the See also:Seine, was erected for the exhibition . It was a handsome structure, with towers 250 ft. in height and flanked by two galleries . The rules for admission were the same as those at Philadelphia, and every See also:person—exhibitor, journalist or official—who had the right of entrance was compelled to forward two copies of his or her photograph, one of which was attached to the card of entry . The See also:ordinary tickets were not sold at the doors, but were obtainable at various government offices and shops, and from numerous pedlars in all parts of the city and suburbs . The buildings were somewhat unfinished upon the opening day, See also:political complications having prevented the French government and the French See also:people from paying much See also:attention to the exhibition till about six months before it was opened; but the efforts made in See also:April were prodigious, and by See also:June 1st, a See also:month after the opening, the exhibition was See also:complete, and afforded an See also:object-See also:lesson of the recovery of France from the calamities of , 187o-1871 . The decisions arrived at by the international juries were accompanied by medals of gold, silver and bronze . The See also:expenditure by the United Kingdom was defrayed out of the consolidated See also:revenue, each British colony defraying its own expenses . The display of the United Kingdom was under the See also:control of a royal See also:commission, of which the prince of Wales was See also:president . The number of paying visitors to the exhibition was 13,000,000, and the cost of the enterprise to the French government, which supplied all the funds, was a little less than a million See also:sterling, after allowing for the value of the permanent buildings and the Trocadero Palace, which were sold to the city of Paris . The total number of persons who visited Paris during the time the exhibition was open was 571,792, or 308,974 more than came to the French See also:metropolis during the year 1877, and 46,021 in excess of the visitors during the previous exhibition of 1867 . It was stated at the time that, in addition to the impetus given to the trade of France, the revenue of the See also:Republic and of the city of Paris from customs and See also:octroi duties was increased by nearly three millions sterling as compared with the previous year . Exhibitions on a scale of considerable magnitude were held at See also:Sydney and Melbourne in 1879 and 188o, and many continental and American manufacturers took See also:advantage of them in See also:order to bring the products of their See also:industry directly under the See also:notice of Australian consumers, who had previously See also:purchased their supplies through the instrumentality of British merchants . The United Kingdom and India made an excellent display at both cities, but the effect of the two great Australian exhibitions was to give a decided impetus to German, American, French and Belgian trade . One of the immediate results was that lines of steamers to Melbourne and Sydney commenced to run from See also:Marseilles and See also:Bremen; another, that for the first time in the history of the Australian colonies, branches of French See also:banks were opened in the two principal cities . The whole cost of these exhibitions was defrayed by the See also:local governments . Exhibitions were held at See also:Turin and See also:Brussels during 188o, and smaller ones at See also:Newcastle, See also:Milan, See also:Lahore, See also:Adelaide, See also:Perth, See also:Moscow, See also:Ghent and See also:Lille during 1881 and 1882, and at See also:Zurich, See also:Bordeaux and Caraccas in See also:Venezuela during 1883 .
The next of any importance was held at See also:Amsterdam in the latter year
.
On that occasion a new departure in exhibition management was made
.
The government of the See also:Netherlands was to a certain extent responsible for the. See also:administration of the exhibition, but the funds were obtained from private See also:sources, and a See also:charge was made to each nation represented for the space it occupied
.
The United Kingdom, India, Victoria and New South Wales
took part in the exhibition, but there was no official See also:representation of the See also:mother country
.
Exhibitions on somewhat similar lines were held at See also:Nice and See also:Calcutta in the See also:winter of 1883 and 1884, and at See also:Antwerp in 1895
.
A series of exhibitions, under the presidency of the then prince of Wales, and managed by Sir Cunliffe See also:Owen, was commenced at South Kensington in 1883
.
The first was devoted to a display of the various See also:industries connected with fishing; the second, in 1884, to objects connected with See also:hygiene; the third, in 1885, to inventions; and the fourth, in 1886, to the British colonies and India
.
These exhibitions attracted a large number of visitors and realized a substantial profit
.
They might have been continued indefinitely if it had not been that the buildings in which they were held had become very dilapidated, and that the ground covered by them was required for other purposes
.
There,was no examination of the exhibits by juries, but a tolerably liberal See also:supply of instrumental See also:music was supplied by military and See also:civil bands
.
The Crystal Palace held a successful International Exhibition in 1884, and there was an Italian Exhibition at Turin, and a Forestry Exhibition at See also:Edinburgh, during the same year
.
A World's Industrial Fair was held at New See also: 
Melbourne held an International Exhibition in 1888-1889 to celebrate the See also:Centenary of Australia . Great Britain, Germany, France, Austria and the United States were officially represented, and an expenditure of £237,784 was incurred by the local government . The Paris Exhibition of 1889 marked an important See also:change in the policy which had previously characterized the management of these gatherings . The funds were contributed partly by the state, which voted 17,000,000 francs, and by the See also:municipality of Paris, which gave 8,000,000 . A See also:guarantee fund amounting to 23,124,000 francs was raised, and on this See also:security a sum of 18,000,000 francs was obtained and paid into the coffers of the administration . The bankers who advanced this sum recouped themselves by the issue of 1,200,000 " bons," each. of 25 francs . Every bon contained 25 admissions, valued at 1 See also:franc, and certain privileges in the shape of participation in a lottery, the grand prix being £20,000 . The calculations of the promoters were tolerably accurate . The attendances reached the then unprecedented number of 32,350,297, of whom 25,398,609 paid in entrance tickets and 2,723,366 entered by season tickets . A sum of 2,307,999 francs was obtained by concessions for restaurants and " side-shows," upon which the administration relied for much of the attractiveness of the exhibition . The total expenditure was 44,000,000 francs, and there was a small surplus . The space covered in the Champ de Mars, the Trocadero, the Palais d'Industrie, the Invalides and the Quai d'Orsay was 72 acres, as compared with 66 acres in 1878 and 41 acres in 1867 . Amongst the novelties was the Eiffel See also:Tower, l000 ft. in height, and a faithful See also:reproduction of a street in See also:Cairo . The system of international juries was continued, but instead of gold, silver and See also:copper medals, diplomas of various merits were granted, each entitling the holder to a See also:uniform medal of bronze . Some of the " side-shows," although perhaps pecuniary successes, did not add to the dignity of the exhibition . The date at which it was held, the Centenary of the French Revolution, did not commend it to several European governments . Austria, See also:Hungary, Belgium, See also:China, Egypt, Spain, Great Britain, Italy, See also:Luxemburg, Holland, See also:Peru, Portugal, See also:Rumania and Russia took part, but not officially, while Germany, Sweden, See also:Turkey and Montenegro were conspicuous by their See also:absence . On the other See also:hand, See also:Argentina, See also:Bolivia, See also:Chile, the United States, See also:Greece, See also:Guatemala, See also:Morocco, See also:Mexico, See also:Nicaragua, See also:Norway, See also:Paraguay, See also:Salvador, the South See also:African Republic, Switzerland, See also:Uruguay and Venezuela sent commissioners, who were accredited to the government of the French Republic . The total number of exhibitors was 61,722, of which France contributed 33,937, and the See also:rest of the world 27,785 . The British and colonial See also:section was under the management of the Society of Arts, which obtained69 a guarantee fund of £16,800, and, in order to recoup itself for its expenditure, made a charge to exhibitors of Ss. per sq. ft. for the space occupied . There were altogether 1149 British exhibitors, of whom 429 were in the Fine Arts section . One of the features of the exhibition was the number of congresses and conferences held in connexion with it . During the year 1890 there was a See also:Mining Exhibition at the Crystal Palace, and a Military Exhibition in the grounds of See also:Chelsea See also:Hospital; in 1891 a . See also:Naval Exhibition at Chelsea and an International at See also:Jamaica . In 1891-1892 there were exhibitions at See also:Palermo and at See also:Launceston in Tasmania; in 1892, a Naval Exhibition at Liverpool, and one of See also:Electrical Appliances at the Crystal Palace . A series of small national exhibitions under private management was held at See also:Earl's Court between 1887 and 1891 . The first of the series was that of the United States—Italy followed in x888, Spain in 1889, France in 1890 and Germany in 1891 . The next exhibition of the first order of magnitude was at See also:Chicago in 1893i and was held in celebration of the 400th anniversary of the See also:discovery of America by See also:Columbus . The See also:financial arrangements were undertaken by a See also:company, with a capital of £2,000,000 . The central government at Washington allotted £20,000 for the purposes of foreign exhibits, and £300,000 for the erection and administration of a building for exhibits from the various government departments . The exhibition was held at See also: |