After the "Great Exhibition" at London's Crystal Palace in 1851, perhaps the most famous and certainly most talked-about "world fair" was the "World's Columbian Exposition" of 1893, better known as the Chicago World's Fair. As one article notes, "Those who fail to see the exhibition of 1893 will fail to see the most beautiful spectacle which has been offered to the eyes of our generation." This exhibition occupied over 600 acres, with more than 200 purpose-built, temporary buildings; it ran for six months and attracted more than 27 million visitors from around the world. Known as "The White City," the exhibition was a masterpiece of architecture as well as science, art and industry. Frances Hodgson Burnett wrote a charming little children's book on the Exposition titled Two Little Pilgrims' Progress - it's little-known today, but I highly recommend it for a first-hand "glimpse" of the Fair. (You can find it for free on Archive.org.)

A Columbian Fair Memorial Building (Century Magazine, 1892A)

Our Exposition at Chicago, by Julian Ralph (Harper's Monthly, 1892A)

Architecture at the World's Columbian Exposition, by Henry van Brunt (Century Magazine, 1892B)

What the Columbian Exposition Will Do for America (Century Magazine, 1892B)

An editorial that advises, "Those who fail to see the exhibition of 1893 will fail to see the most beautiful spectacle which has been offered to the eyes of our generation. But those who have time to see only its general aspect, without studying any of its collections - wonderfully interesting though these will be - will have seen the very best of it."

Women and the World's Fair, by Mrs. Potter Palmer (Ladies' Home Journal, 1892)

The Eye and the Ear at Chicago, by Daniel C. Gilman (Century Magazine, 1893A)

Suggestions for the next World's Fair.

Preliminary Glimpses of the Fair, by C.C. Buel (Century Magazine, 1893A)

Road-Building at Chicago (Century Magazine, 1893A)

Some Exposition Uses of Sunday, by Henry C. Potter (Century Magazine, 1893A)

Suggestions on what activities the Chicago Exposition should hold on the Sabbath.

Sunday in Chicago, by Washington Gladden (Century Magazine, 1893A)

Observation of the Sabbath at the World's Fair.

At the [World's] Fair, by M.G. van Rensselaer (Century Magazine, 1893B)

Color in the Court of Honor at the Fair, by Royal Cortissoz (Century Magazine, 1893B)

Lots of images of the ceilings at the Fair.

Contemporary Japanese Art, by Ernest Francisco Fenollosa (Century Magazine, 1893B)

Examples of Japanese art from the Chicago World's Fair, with some history about the state of Japanese art following the western "craze" for oriental design.

Decorative Painting at the World's Fair, by W. Lewis Fraser (Century Magazine, 1893B)

"The works of Gari Melchers and Walter Macewen."

Sights at the Fair, by Gustav Kobbe (Century Magazine, 1893B)

People-watching at the World's Fair.

Painting at the Fair, by John C. Van Dyke (Century Magazine, 1894B)

"The World's Fair was not the best lookout point from which to judge the world's painting. The representation was uneven, and in no case was the average high, except perhaps with our own country. We were on the ground, and a good showing was possible, yet no one who knows American art but regretted the absence of many notable pictures that would have materially helped our-exhibit. The European nations were less fortunate..."

See also

• Fairs, Festivals, Celebrations & Expos

• World Expos & Exhibitions