The
Crystal Palace
Foundation

by Richard Owen

Richard Owen was Hunterian Professor and Conservator at the Royal College of Surgeons and soon to be Superintendent of the Natural History Department at the British Museum. He served as a consultant to Hawkins on this project. Owen was one of the most important paleontologists and comparative anatomists of the 19th century. He invented the taxonomic category of ‘dinosaurs’. This guide shows Owen’s biases and special interests.

This is a complete facsimile copy of the official 1854 Crystal Palace Company guide to Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins’ life-sized sculptures of prehistoric ‘monsters’ in Crystal Palace park, Sydenham, including dinosaurs, mammals, marine reptiles, and other antediluvian beasts. The Hunterian Professor and Conservator at the Royal College of Surgeons and soon to be Superintendent of the Natural History Department at the British Museum, Owen was a consultant on Hawkins’ designs. His guide gave visitors technical descriptions of underlying biology and geology. The goal was to move beyond mere sensational display to create accurate and sophisticated ‘visual education’ for visitors to the park. The result is a celebration of British geology at the very height of its expertise.

The models were nationally listed Grade 1 in 2003.

42 pages paperback 11 illustrations