"The Palace and Park: Its Natural History, and Its Portrait Gallery, Together with a Description of the Pompeian Court" by Richard Owen, Edward Forbes, George Scharf, Robert Gordon Latham, and Samuel Phillips The Crystal Palace was a cast iron and plate glass structure, originally built in Hyde Park, London, to house the Great Exhibition of 1851. This book explains the palace's history and design so readers learn about the interior and exterior of this structure. The book was a useful manual for people who wished to visit the palace, but also for those who would never get the opportunity to do so.