Four National Exhibitions in London

8vo, pp. 548, Photogravure frontispiece portrait of the John R Whitley, 43 half-tone plates and a folding plan (torn); original ochre cloth decorated in black and gilt, red edges, slightly worn at extremities.

An account of the four exhibitions that John Robinson Whitley promoted at the Earls Court site in London between 1887–1892.

Whitley (1843-1922) was inspired by earlier state sponsored exhibitions devised by Britain and France, however Whitley arranged for each of his exhibitions to be devoted to a single country. The first exhibition was of the United States and included a Cody Wild West Show, this proved to be both very popular and profitable. Whitley organized three further exhibitions on the same Earls Court site for Italy, France and Germany however the novelty for the public wore off and the the last exhibition was not a commercial success. Whitley decided to move to France and concentrated on developing the resorts of Le Touquet and Hardelot-Plage

The author and journalist Charles Lowe was no doubt commissioned to produce this detailed account of the 'Four National Exhibitions' for Whitley as something of a a promotional tool. Lowe was born in 1848 in Balconnel, Angus, he was educated in Brechin, Angus, and studied at Edinburgh University and in Jena and Paris, graduating with an Edinburgh M.A. in 1871. Lowe was then entered at Gray's Inn to follow a legal career no doubt, and then joined the editorial staff of ^gThe Times^g as a foreign sub-editor. He was appointed as Berlin correspondent in the late 1870s and returned to London in 1891. Lowe also wrote a number of historical novels and biographical works.