Meet the Crystal Palace Dinosaurs in this engaging history

In the parkland of Penge, in south London, dinosaurs roam. The Art and Science of the Crystal Palace Dinosaurs by Mark Whitton and Ellinor Michel is a visual feast that examines these Victorian sculptures

By Simon Ings

THE Great Exhibition of 1851 was a huge success – so huge that in 1852 the iron and glass structure that had contained it was reassembled on parkland in Penge in south London, forming the nucleus of a permanent complex of gardens, fountains and unusual attractions. The Geological Court, arguably its most beguiling exhibit, still enchants and inspires today.

Cleverly designed to evoke lost landscapes and peppered with sculptures of long-extinct creatures, this naturalistic celebration of geology …