cosmorama
(kɒzmɒˈrɑːma, -æ-)
[mod. f. Gr. κόσµ-ος world + ὅρᾱµα spectacle. Also mod.Fr.]
1. A peep-show containing characteristic views of all parts of the world.
Originally the title given to a public exhibition in Regent Street, London; afterwards taken by other shows of ‘all the world in a box.’
| 1823 Blackw. Mag. XIV. 473 The whole beats panorama, and cosmorama, and Covent-Garden scenery to boot. 1836–9 Dickens Sk. Boz, Vauxhall by day, The temples and saloons and cosmoramas and fountains glittered..before our eyes. 1848–9 Southey Comm. Bk. IV. 715 Wax and composition casts..exhibited in the Cosmorama in Regent Street. |
2. transf. & fig. A peep-show of the world: in quot. 1852 applied to the Great Exhibition of 1851.
| 1852 Bp. Wordsworth Occas. Serm. Ser. iii. 26 In this Industrial Cosmorama, we do not see the names of many who have, perhaps, contributed most effectively to the production of the marvellous works. 1881 Myers Wordsworth i. 12 Between the operations of his spirit and the cosmorama of the external world. |