[1]) One of many world's fairs that took place in the second half of the nineteenth century, the exhibition was the largest special event held in the world to that point, attracting 2.6 million visitors, an average of 18,545 per day.

The committee employed William Clowes and Sons to publish the exhibition literature in fourteen volumes, which included eighteen one-shilling handbooks by "authorities of distinction"; forty-nine conference papers, thirty-one prize essays, the official catalogue, the opening and closing ceremony addresses, a "special report" on the electric lighting, and analytical indices.

Queen Victoria herself was patron, though she was unable to attend the opening ceremony due to an accident, so the Prince of Wales took her place and served as President of the Exhibition as well.

At the Opening Ceremony the Prince and Princess were surrounded "four hundred representative fishermen from all parts of the kingdom, costumed in their jerseys and sou’westers, their overalls and sea-boots, precisely as they would be when daring the perils of the deep.

In addition to fish there was also an aviary of flamingos, pelicans, cormorants, and other fish-eating birds; a pond of otters; seals; reptiles; and a troupe of Canadian beavers in the courtyard near the West Gallery.