tinting work. Attraction The globe was immediately popular; Wyld was a skilful self-promoter and the influx of visitors to London for the Great Exhibition helped in no small part. Figures from the Royal Commissioners showed that admittances to public exhibitions surged in 1851, with some attractions having almost a tenfold increase in visitors; during the five and half months it was open, the Great Exhibition was visited by more than 6 million people. In the first few weeks of the Globe's operation it was seen by an array of "distinguished personages", including Prince Albert (to whom Wyld had dedicated the project), Lord Castlereagh, the Duke of Wellington, the Austrian Ambassador and the King of Belgium. Visitor numbers for the first two years are not recorded, but around 1.2 million visitors were estimated to have been admitted in 1853 (about 400,000 of these were let in for free). A guide to the attractions of London published to complement the Great Exhibition, Tallis's Illustrated London; in Commemoration of the Great Exhibition of All Nations in 1851. Forming a Complete Guide to The British Metropolis and its Environs by John Tallis included an entry for Wyld's Globe complete with an illustration – a magnanimous gesture on Tallis' part considering that he was one of Wyld's competitors – and most reviews of the Great Globe were complimentary. In 1851, only the Crystal Palace received more visitors. Wyld's Globe was said to be an "admirable pendant to the Great Exhibition". The globe was open from 10am to 10pm every day except Sundays. Admission cost one shilling, but on Thursdays and Saturdays this rose to two shillings and sixpence. School parties were admitted for half price. Wyld produced a book to accompany the exhibition: Notes to Accompany Mr. Wyld's Model of the Earth, Leicester Square, a didactic tome which imparted the wealth of Wyld's geographic and historical knowledge while extolling the virtues of London, Britain, and the Empire and which doubled up as a sales catalogue for Wyld's maps at every opportunity. With the end of the Great Exhibition, Wyld faced a drop in visitor numbers; in an attempt to maintain the popularity of the attraction, he began to expand his half-hourly lectures on the Earth to include popular themes of the day. Although the Globe was still turning a profit, Wyld proposed divesting himself of the enterprise, by selling the land and building to the