After having read the introductory statements made by McCabe and Ingram and the blog posts by Emily and Samantha, I completely agree that these two catalogues appear very different. McCabe focuses on the history behind the International Centennial Exhibition and why it was born where as the preface for Ingram’s catalogue provides detail as to why it was not published until after the closing ceremony of the Exhibition “in order that the history should be complete and the grand closing fitly included.”
It sounds as though the preface for Ingram’s catalogue was intended to tell the reader what the book was about and then why it was written and published when it was, but the preface for McCabe’s catalogue goes into greater detail to give the reader a background for what the purpose of the International Centennial Exhibition was. I agree with Samantha in that after reading the two prefaces, it was hard to visualize that these two catalogues were depicting the same exhibition. McCabe seems to have more passion for the exhibition itself and enjoyed investigating every little part, where as Ingram sounds like he did it to complete the catalogue but didn’t necessarily enjoy the work.
This point is supported by a sentence from the McCabe preface stating “the author began at an early day the preparation of this work, in which he has sought to present to the reader not only the history of the great enterprise, from its inception down to its close, but at the same time to give to him a lifelike picture of the Exhibition and its varied sights and attractions.” McCabe’s preface has so much more emotion invested than Ingram’s preface where it states that the achievements “will be specially memorable to the American people.”
Anthropology of the World's Fairs 
I didn’t even think to look at the cover pages to get a sense of the difference in the two catalogues! I find it interesting that both authors put images from the Fair before even going into the preface or introduction. Ingram chose a picture of the Kansas and Colorado Building, whereas McCabe chose pictures of The Declaration of Independence and the Main Building. I think that the choice of these pictures also relates to how each book is written. I am curious why Ingram chose a picture of the Kansas and Colorado Building to highlight before his preface. That photo seems like an unusual choice, unless it has a deeper meaning that I am unaware of. McCabe, on the other hand, chose very classic and important seeming pictures, which goes with his more direct style of writing.
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How funny that you noticed a difference between them that is based in their personal feelings about doing the work. Look at Ingram’s picture on the cover: did that guy ever enjoy anything in his life? But seriously, I wonder about the history of these two men and how that affected the catalogues they put together. Another good reason not to trust everything you read in any of these catalogues!
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