Cyclopaedia of Useful Arts and Manufactures
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The Cyclopaedia of Useful Arts and Manufactures was edited by Charles Tomlinson and published in London by George Virtue. It was published in 1852 in two 4to volumes (vol. 1, 832pp, vol. 2, 1052pp) with 40 steel engravings and 2,477 woodcuts. A supplement was published in 1862.
The work is an invaluable source of information about the 'how', of handicraft, industry and manufacturing, since it contains numerous illustrated articles describing the techniques. It was devised to celebrate the Great Exhibition, and the monograph-length introduction (160 pp) is a valuable illustrated account of the antecedents of the Exhibition with material on earlier ones, on the construction of the building, the arrangement of the displays and accounts of the highlights of the exhibits.
The articles in Tomlinson cover an enormous range of topics from a British perspective, and the woodcuts portray people in a workshop context. As this was published before the days of photography, this is a useful source for images not otherwise available.
The supplement was written round the time of the London 1862 Exbibition.