Genre:

Introduction, Drollery; Announcement, Spoof

Subjects:

Representation, Military Technology, War, Invention, Publishing, Telegraphy, Steam-power, Nationalism

Institutions mentioned:

Royal Navy

    Describes some of the paintings that the 'zealous patron of the Arts', John Bright, has desired to see displayed at the International Exhibition. These represent Bright's general support for America and include representations of British ships being defeated in the American War of Independence (a possible reference to the contemporary debate over the state of Britain's naval fleet) and of 'some of the most useful things the world has ever seen'—the 'American' invented printing-press, electric telegraph, and steam-engine.