The Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of all Nations opened in London on 1 May 1851. Prince Albert was closely involved in every aspect of the exhibition, and served as President of the organising commission. In her Journal for 1 May 1851 Queen Victoria recorded: ‘The tremendous cheering, the joy expressed in every face, the vastness of the building, with all its decorations & exhibits, the sound of the organ … & my beloved Husband, the creator of all this great ‘Peace Festival’, uniting the industry & art of all nations of the earth, all this, was indeed moving, & a day to live for ever’.

The Great Exhibition merited a raft of related publications, including the Official Catalogue, published in three large volumes by Spicer Brothers. As only the first part had been published when the Exhibition opened, this smaller (and far more convenient) one-volume catalogue was produced, costing a shilling. This was the Queen’s own copy, specially bound in cream goatskin with pink silk doublures. She inscribed on the flyleaf: 'Victoria R Given to me by Albert during the Ceremony of the Opening of the Exhibition of All Nations Thursday – May 1. 1851'.

Text adapted from Victoria & Albert: Art & Love, London, 2010.