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For a small category $C$, write $\hat{C}=[C^{\mathrm{op}},\mathbf{Set}]$. Its objects are categorical presheaves and its arrows natural transformations. The terminal presheaf is the constant singleton, and products and equalizers are computed objectwise. Their restriction maps are induced by the corresponding set operations, so the objectwise universal properties are natural and give finite limits in $\hat{C}$.

For presheaves $F,G$, define the exponential object byFor $u:B\to A$, restriction precomposes with $yu\times 1_F$. Evaluation sends $(\alpha ,x)$ at $A$ to ${\alpha }_A(1_A,x)$. Given $h:H\times F\to G$, its transpose sends $z\in H(A)$ to the transformation whose component at $B$ isNaturality of $h$ proves this is a natural transformation and that the assignment is natural in $A$. Conversely evaluation reconstructs $h$. These constructions are inverse, proving the exponential universal property explicitly.

For the subobject classifier, let $\Omega (A)$ be the set of sieves on a category on $A$ and let $\Omega (u)$ take inverse image of sieves on a category. The truth map $1\to \Omega$ selects the maximal sieve on a category at every stage. A monomorphism of presheaves is objectwise injective, so identify it with $U\subseteq F$. DefineThis is a sieve on a category, and restriction gives precisely inverse image, so ${\chi }_U$ is natural. Its value is maximal exactly when $x\in U(A)$, by testing the identity arrow. Thus $U$ is its pullback of truth. Uniqueness follows since membership of $v$ is detected by whether the restriction to $v$ is true. Smallness of $C$ makes all the displayed components and natural-transformation sets genuine sets. Hence $\hat{C}$ is an elementary topos.

The same constructions work componentwise under the weaker slice hypothesis. Indeed,A component on $v:B\to A$ is simply a map $F(B)\to G(B)$, with the naturality conditions for triangles in $C/A$. Restricting to a small skeleton of an essentially small slice therefore makes this a set; the result determines the maps on all isomorphic slice objects. Likewise a sieve on a category on $A$ is a full downward-closed collection of objects of $C/A$, determined by its intersection with that small skeleton, so the collection of sieves on a category is a set. The restriction, evaluation and classifier proofs above are unchanged. This establishes the slice-small presheaf construction.

For an example, take a discrete category with one object for every ordinal and no arrows other than identities. Each slice is the terminal category, but there is a proper class of pairwise nonisomorphic objects, so it is not equivalent to a small category.

The large-category assertion needs a universe convention. The constructions give all elementary-topos axioms in a larger universe in which those diagrams and their transformations are admitted. They do not imply local smallness in the original universe: for the discrete example, transformations from the constant singleton to the constant two-element presheaf are arbitrary ordinal-indexed binary families and do not form a set there. If “topos” is required to be locally small relative to that original universe, the unrestricted large-category assertion is false. With the usual larger-universe interpretation, the explicit component constructions prove the intended result; no assumption that the original category itself is essentially small is needed.