“Magic Lantern Slide” technology actually predates the invention of photography. Originally, glass slides made from drawings or paintings were held up in a device, lit up by lantern or candle light, and projected on a wall. The resulting projections were often animated and accompanied by music as a form of entertainment.
Full Answer
What is a lantern slide?
The lantern slide has its origins in 17th century optical viewing devices which came to be known as “magic lanterns.” The earliest slides for magic lanterns consisted of hand-painted images on glass, projected by itinerant showmen telling stories about the images that were projected.
What are toy magic lantern slides made of?
Children’s toy magic lantern slides. Many made in Germany, and frequently are rectangular strips of glass of many sizes, with blue, green, red, orange, pink or yellow paper edging glued on so not to cut children’s hands. Slides are transfers or decals stuck onto the glass strips.
What is a magic lantern?
In the world of magic lanterns we specifically mean the application of this process while making a lantern slide by transferring an image to a square or oblong piece of glass. The technique was used by professional slide makers, but enjoyed a vogue among amateurs too.
What are the different types of magic lantern presentations?
Popular magic lantern presentations included Henry Langdon Childe's dissolving views, his chromatrope, phantasmagoria, and mechanical slides. Utushi-e is a type of magic lantern show that became popular in Japan in the 19th century.
How does magic lantern slides work?
The magic lantern used a concave mirror behind a light source to direct the light through a small rectangular sheet of glass—a "lantern slide" that bore the image—and onward into a lens at the front of the apparatus.
What were lantern slides used for?
Lantern slides were used for home entertainment and public lectures, and they were displayed in photographic exhibitions. Alfred Stieglitz made lantern slides throughout the 1890s.
What are magic lantern shows?
The chances are you'd go to a magic-lantern show, or, as we Americans often called them, a “stereopticon show.” Magic lantern shows were the combination of projected images, live narration, and live music that the movies came from.
How are magic lantern slides made?
The slides are constructed from a base piece of glass, with the emulsion (photo) on it, then a matte over that, and then a top piece of cover glass. They are then taped all the way around to keep the pieces together and to keep dust out.
How do you display magic lantern slides?
How do I scan magic lantern slides to create a digital image I can print?Acquire a flatbed scanner with a transparency lid. ... Use a digital camera to photograph slides on a lightbox. ... Photograph the slides against a window on a bright day.
Who invented magic lantern slides?
Christiaan HuygensMagic lantern / InventorChristiaan Huygens, Lord of Zeelhem, FRS was a Dutch mathematician, physicist, engineer, astronomer, and inventor, who is regarded as one of the greatest scientists of all time and a major figure in the scientific revolution. Wikipedia
Who is magic lantern pictures?
Magic Lantern Pictures is an award-winning production house which excels in documentary filmmaking. With numerous documentaries on human sexuality and human trafficking, their major breakthrough came when Liberated: The New Sexual Revolution released exclusively to Netflix in 2017, and saw massive success.
Who used magic lantern lectures in India?
The Correct answer is Option 2, i.e Ashwini Kumar Dutta.
When were magic lanterns invented?
The magic lantern, also known as 'Laterna Magica', was probably invented by Christiaan Huygens around 1650, although it is also claimed that Leonardo da Vinci experimented with a similar kind of lanterna magica a century and a half earlier.
What size are magic lantern slides?
1870) on glass plates. Their standard size is typically 4 by 3.25 inches. Two methods or techniques were possible: using a plate that would produce a direct positive, or using a negative as an intermediate step to create a positive.
How do you clean lantern slides?
The most common treatment required was the removal of dust and loose grime with a soft brush. For stubborn surface accretions, slides were given a wet clean using cotton buds and a water-ethanol solution, while ensuring that no moisture touched the paper binding the glass plates together.
What are glass slides photography?
"Slides" and "transparencies" are the two terms used interchangeably to refer to a semi-transparent positive image on a transparent support. That support may be either glass or plastic film. Glass slides are most often black-and-white, but they may be hand-tinted.
When did photo slides come out?
If you a have a box of old slides in your analog photo collection, chances are that many of them are Kodachrome slides. Introduced by Kodak in 1935, the brand quickly became popular with professional and amateur photographers as well as filmmakers, in the years following World War II.
How do you clean lantern slides?
The most common treatment required was the removal of dust and loose grime with a soft brush. For stubborn surface accretions, slides were given a wet clean using cotton buds and a water-ethanol solution, while ensuring that no moisture touched the paper binding the glass plates together.
What is a glass negative photo?
Image of a glass plate negative from the Central Texas Glass Plate Collection. A “negative” refers to the image created when light is focused through the lens and lands on light sensitive materials.
What are glass slides photography?
"Slides" and "transparencies" are the two terms used interchangeably to refer to a semi-transparent positive image on a transparent support. That support may be either glass or plastic film. Glass slides are most often black-and-white, but they may be hand-tinted.
Who invented the lantern slide?
The first photographic lantern slides, called hyalotypes, were invented by the German-born brothers Ernst Wilhelm (William) and Friedrich (Frederick) Langenheim in 1848 in Philadelphia and patented in 1850.
How did magic lanterns work?
The magic lantern used a concave mirror behind a light source to direct the light through a small rectangular sheet of glass—a "lantern slide" that bore the image— and onward into a lens at the front of the apparatus. The lens adjusted to focus the plane of the slide at the distance of the projection screen, which could be simply a white wall, and it therefore formed an enlarged image of the slide on the screen. Some lanterns, including those of Christiaan Huygens and Jan van Musschenbroek, used 3 lenses for the objective .
What is the oldest document about the magic lantern?
The oldest known document concerning the magic lantern is a page on which Christiaan Huygens made ten small sketches of a skeleton taking off its skull, above which he wrote "for representations by means of convex glasses with the lamp" (translated from French). As this page was found between documents dated in 1659, it is believed to have been made in the same year. Huygens soon seemed to regret this invention, as he thought it was too frivolous. In a 1662 letter to his brother Lodewijk he claimed he thought of it as some old "bagatelle" and seemed convinced that it would harm the family's reputation if people found out the lantern came from him. Christiaan had reluctantly sent a lantern to their father, but when he realized that Constantijn intended to show the lantern to the court of King Louis XIV of France at the Louvre, Christiaan asked Lodewijk to sabotage the lantern.
What is the name of the lantern that Christiaan used to draw?
Christiaan initially referred to the magic lantern as "la lampe" and "la lanterne", but in the last years of his life he used the then common term "laterna magica" in some notes. In 1694, he drew the principle of a "laterna magica" with two lenses.
Where did Walgensten sell magic lanterns?
At least from 1664 until 1670, Walgensten demonstrated the magic lantern in Paris (1664), Lyon (1665), Rome (1665-66), and Copenhagen (1670). He "sold such lanterns to different Italian princes in such an amount that they now are almost everyday items in Rome" according to Athanasius Kircher in 1671.
How many performers are there in the Magic Lantern Society?
The Magic Lantern Society maintains a list of active lanternists, which contains more than 20 performers in the U.K. and circa eight performers in other parts of the world (Europe, U.S., Canada, Australia and New Zealand).
What is a 19th century magic lantern?
19th century magic lantern with printed slide inserted (upright, so when lit, the lantern projected an inverted picture) Magic lantern slide by Carpenter and Westley. The magic lantern, also known by its Latin name laterna magica, is an early type of image projector that used pictures—paintings, prints, or photographs —on transparent plates ...
What is a lantern slide?
Basically, a photographic lantern slide is a positive print of a photograph on a glass slide. Often times the photographic negatives were painstakingly hand-colored to make them even more visually enticing. Many photographic lantern slides were also “matted” by a piece of opaque paper laid on the slide, which both masked out edges or parts of the image not wanted in the frame, and created the desirable aesthetic appearance of a mounted photograph. Finally, a second slide of glass was laid atop the glass slide with the positive print and these two pieces of glass were bound firmly together by pasting a strip of paper around the edges. The sandwiched glass plates held the matte or mask in place and also protected the positive photographic print from dust, scratches, and the like. The final slide was then ready to be viewed in a lantern slide projector. Photographic lantern slides took off in the late 19th century as a popular form of entertainment, and in addition to educators, missionaries and salespeople soon began to use Magic Lantern slides to visually entice the audience while educating, spreading their messages, and peddling their wares. In this sense, lantern slides were a kind of precursor to the Power Point presentations we’re all so familiar with now.
When did lantern slides disappear?
By the 1930s and 40s, lantern slides dropped off in use as overhead projectors and slide projectors took their place. However, for me, lantern slides continue to hold a certain charm. I imagine the speechless awe of an audience as an image rises up the wall and shimmers there. And I imagine a photographer, hunched over a slide with a tiny paintbrush, coloring his world beautiful, and capturing some of that magical essence between these thin sheets of glass.
Who made the Burmese lantern slides?
Burmese lantern slides 1908-1913, by Williard Edwin Graves, Smithsonian National Anthropological Archives. Williard E. Graves was an American missionary who, in 1908-1913, served as principal of the Methodist Episcopal School for Boys in Rangoon.
What was the original purpose of glass slides?
Originally, glass slides made from drawings or paintings were held up in a device, lit up by lantern or candle light, and projected on a wall. The resulting projections were often animated and accompanied by music as a form of entertainment.
What was the first magic lantern?
The first magic lanterns were illuminated by candles, but as technology evolved they were lit by increasingly powerful means. Early drawing of a magic lantern in use from Zahn’s Oculus Artificialis Teledioptricus Sive Telescopium (1702). Rakow Library collection. The name “magic lantern” comes from the experience of the early audiences who saw ...
Why is the magic lantern called the magic lantern?
The name “magic lantern” comes from the experience of the early audiences who saw devils and angels mysteriously appear on the wall, as if by magic. Even in the earliest period, performances contained images that moved—created with moving pieces of glass. By the 18th century the lantern was a common form of entertainment and education in Europe.
When did lanterns become ubiquitous?
By the turn to the 20th century, electric illumination was introduced, which spread the lantern even further. Lanterns became ubiquitous in American culture. Several hundred companies made their own brands, often in a bewildering array of different models.
What were the two forms of illumination in the 19th century?
In the mid 19th century, two new forms of illumination were developed which led to an explosion of lantern use. “Limelight” was created by heating a piece of limestone in burning gas until it became incandescent. It was dangerous, but produced a light that was strong enough to project an image before thousands of people, leading to large shows by professional showmen. Kerosene lamps were not nearly as bright, but they were so safe they could be used by children, leading to wide-spread use in churches, schools, fraternal societies, and in toy lanterns. By the turn to the 20th century, electric illumination was introduced, which spread the lantern even further.
What is a glass lantern slide?
In the early years of the twentieth century glass lantern slides were a popular form of entertainment, known as "magic lantern" exhibitions. The slide shows were accompanied by music and narration or "readings." Some slides were specially made in a series of progressive frames so that they could be moved through the projector quickly and give the illusion of motion.
How did the magic lantern projector work?
The outside was generally made out of metal and became very hot because of the light/heat that was produced by the lamp which was the sole source of illumination, and it was usually fueled from burning oil or gas, a burning piece of calcium, or later on, using electricity. The light was projected through a glass lens barrel on the front of the Magic Lantern Projector. Hand painted or photographic slides were placed in the lens barrel. The light from the light source was projected through the slide, through the lens barrel and onto a screen or wall.
What was the magic lantern used for?
Magic lanterns were soon relegated to being the warm-up act for movies, used to project advertisements before the real shows began . Eventually the apparatus evolved into the automatic photo slide projector, which was popular throughout the 20th century.
What techniques did the Magic Lantern use?
Though the magic lantern couldn’t compete with these nascent movies, many of the techniques and tricks developed for its optical projections were adopted for motion pictures, like tracking shots, dissolves, and close-ups.
Why were magic lanterns so popular in the 1700s?
During the 1700s, public shows of magic lantern projections became more common, in part because of improved lenses and mechanical slide movements. These performances concentrated on the “magic” qualities of these optical devices. Early written accounts... Magic lanterns, also known as optical lanterns, provided one of the most popular forms ...
Who invented the optical lantern?
Though its originator is still debated, some of the first optical lanterns were exhibited during the 1660s in cities across Europe by individuals like the Dutch physicist Christian Huygens , Danish mathematician Thomas Rasmussen Walgensten, and British optician Richard Reeves.
What is the Argand lamp?
The Argand lamp used a circular wick aerated by a glass chimney, increasing illumination power by up to 12 times compared to oil lamps. In the 1820s, the brilliantly focused “limelight,” created by igniting oxygen and hydrogen gases on a ball of lime, began to supersede the Argand.
Overview
The magic lantern, also known by its Latin name laterna magica, is an early type of image projector that used pictures—paintings, prints, or photographs—on transparent plates (usually made of glass), one or more lenses, and a light source. Because a single lens inverts an image projected through it (as in the phenomenon which inverts the image of a camera obscura), slides were insert…
Technology
The magic lantern used a concave mirror behind a light source to direct the light through a small rectangular sheet of glass—a "lantern slide" that bore the image—and onward into a lens at the front of the apparatus. The lens adjusted to focus the plane of the slide at the distance of the projection screen, which could be simply a white wall, and it therefore formed an enlarged image of the …
Precursors
Several types of projection systems existed before the invention of the magic lantern. Giovanni Fontana, Leonardo da Vinci and Cornelis Drebbel described or drew image projectors that had similarities to the magic lantern.
In the 17th century, there was an immense interest in optics. The telescope and microscope were invented (in 1608 and the 1620s respectively) and apart from being useful to some scientists, su…
Invention
Dutch scientist Christiaan Huygens is considered as one of the possible inventors of the magic lantern. He knew Athanasius Kircher's 1645 edition of Ars Magna Lucis et Umbrae which described a primitive projection system with a focusing lens and text or pictures painted on a concave mirror reflecting sunlight. Christiaan's father Constantijn had been acquainted with Cornelis Dre…
Further history
Before 1671, only a small circle of people seemed to have knowledge of the magic lantern, and almost every known report of the device from this period had to do with people that were more or less directly connected to Christiaan Huygens. Despite the rejection expressed in his letters to his brother, Huygens must have familiarized several people with the lantern.
Moving images
The magic lantern was not only a direct ancestor of the motion picture projector as a means for visual storytelling, but it could itself be used to project moving images.
Some suggestion of movement could be achieved by alternating between pictures of different phases of a motion, but most magic lantern "animations" …
Phantasmagoria
Phantasmagoria was a form of horror theater that used one or more magic lanterns to project frightening images, especially of ghosts. Showmen used rear projection, mobile or portable projectors and a variety of effects to produce convincing necromantic experiences. It was very popular in Europe from the late 18th century to well into the 19th century.
Royal Polytechnic Institution shows
When it opened in 1838, The Royal Polytechnic Institution in London became a very popular and influential venue with many kinds of magic lantern shows as an important part of its program. At the main theatre, with 500 seats, lanternists would make good use of a battery of six large lanterns running on tracked tables to project the finely detailed images of extra large slides on the 648 square feet screen. The magic lantern was used to illustrate lectures, concerts, pantomime…