﻿FORRESTER'S 



PICTORIAL MISCELLANY 



The Crystal Palace. 



CRYSTAL Palaces are among the marvels of this marvellous age. 

 They are grander than the palace which the Genius of the Wonder- 

 ful Lamp is said to have erected for that hero of eastern story, named 

 Aladdin. The grandfathers and grandmothers of the boys and girls 

 who now live, never dreamed of such things. If they should rise 

 from their graves, and be led into the Crystal Palace at Xew York, 

 they would rub their eyes and look wildly about. Like old Rip Van 

 Winkle, after his long nap in Sleepy Hollow, they would be strangely 

 puzzled ; and I am inclined to think they would fancy themselves in 

 fairy-land, or dream-land, or some other strange and mysterious 

 country. 



But however it would be with them, one thins: is certain. The 



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boys and girls of our times do live in the era of crystal palaces ; and 

 they want to know something about them, and particularly do they 

 want to know about the one which is now open in the city of Xew 

 York, a picture of which we have selected as our frontispiece. 



The idea of building a palace of iron and glass first entered into 

 the brain of Joseph Paxton. He was once a poor boy. When he 

 grew up, he was only a gardener to an English duke. But he had a 

 thoughtful mind. He was industrious, and labored to improve him- 

 self. By degrees he made it obvious that he was no common man. 

 When the World's Fair was first talked of in England, he conceived 

 the idea of the first Crystal Palace as suited to hold the goods to be 



