Magic lantern
Dutch scientist Christiaan Huygens sketched a skeleton taking off its skull in the year 1659. He wrote notes above the drawing that read for representations by means of convex glasses with the lamp. This document represents one of the oldest known records concerning the magic lantern. Huygens later regretted his invention and called it an old bagatelle in letters to his brother Lodewijk. He feared the device would harm his family's reputation if people discovered he created it. The earliest descriptions of projection systems came from German Jesuit scholar Athanasius Kircher in 1645. His book Ars Magna Lucis et Umbrae described a Steganographic Mirror that used sunlight reflected on a concave mirror. Kircher hoped someone would find a method to improve upon this primitive system. Dutch inventor Cornelis Drebbel sold a camera obscura box to Constantijn Huygens in 1622. This portable box contained a lens and projected inverted images onto a wall. The magic lantern evolved as a natural successor to these earlier optical curiosities. Pierre Petit wrote to Huygens in 1664 asking for specifications to construct his own version. He added a concave mirror behind the lamp to direct more light through the lens. This modification became a standard part of most lanterns made later.
German optician Themme produced moving slides around the year 1709. These included a carriage with rotating wheels cut from glass plates with a diamond. A paper slip mask pulled away quickly to reveal red fiery discharge from a shooting gun. Zacharias Conrad von Uffenbach bought seven such moving slides despite finding the mechanisms very simple. Pieter van Musschenbroek illustrated various mechanical slides in his second edition of Beginsels Der Natuurkunde published in 1739. Slipping slides allowed movable glass plates to slide over stationary ones directly by hand or with a small drawbar. Black paint on portions of the moving plate masked parts of the underlying image to hide limbs. Lever slides operated by a lever showed more natural movement like a woodcutter raising an axe. Pulley slides rotated sails on a windmill using thin rods attached to brass wheels. Fantoccini slides used jointed figures set in motion by levers and cams. A popular version featured a somersaulting monkey with arms that tumbled with dangling feet. Two British patents for slides with moving jointed figures were granted in 1891. The Chromatrope produced dazzling colorful geometrical patterns by rotating two painted glass discs in opposite directions. English glass painter Henry Langdon Childe possibly invented this device around 1844.
Magician Phylidor created what must have been the first true phantasmagoria show in Vienna from 1790 to 1792. He used mobile magic lanterns with the recently invented Argand lamp to create successful ghost apparitions. As Paul Filidort he presented his Phantasmagorie in Paris from December 1792 to July 1793. Etienne-Gaspard Robert became famous with his own Fantasmagorie show in Paris from 1798 to 1803. He patented a mobile Fantascope lantern in 1798. Showmen used rear projection and mobile projectors to produce convincing necromantic experiences. They often hid the lantern behind the screen while it slid on rails or rode on small wheels. Projection on smoke created the illusion of ghosts hovering in the air. This technique became common in phantasmagoria shows during the late 18th century. Thomas Walgensten projected an image of Death at the court of King Frederick III of Denmark in 1770. The king dismissed their cowardice and requested to repeat the figure three times before dying days later. Paul de Philipsthal performed Phantasmagoria shows in Britain beginning in 1801 with great success.
Scottish lecturer Henry Moyes toured America between 1785 and 1786 recommending all college laboratories procure one. French writer Stéphanie Félicité popularized magic lanterns as an educational tool in the late 18th century. She used projected images of plants to teach botany. Her methods were published in English translation during the early 1820s. Philip Carpenter started manufacturing sturdy but lightweight Phantasmagoria lanterns in London in 1821. He developed a secret copper plate printing process to mass-produce glass slides with printed outlines. These copper-plate sliders contained three or four detailed circular images mounted in thin hardwood frames. The first known set The Elements of Zoology became available in 1823 with over 200 images. Fifteen sliders of the category Humorous provided entertainment while education remained the obvious focus. By 1860 mass production made lanterns more widely available and affordable. Much of the production in the latter half of the 19th century concentrated in Germany. Smaller lanterns had smaller glass sliders that usually had colorful strips of paper glued around their edges.
Candles and oil lamps produced very dim projected images when the device was invented in the 17th century. The invention of the Argand lamp in the 1790s helped make images brighter. Limelight invented in the 1820s emitted about 6000 to 8000 lumens making them even brighter. The intensely bright electric arc lamp appeared in the 1860s eliminating the need for combustible gases. Incandescent electric lamps further improved safety and convenience though not brightness. Sunlight served as the only other light source available at the time of invention. Some lanterns used a concave mirror behind the light source to direct light through a small rectangular sheet of glass. This directed more light through the lens resulting in a brighter projection. Most lanterns included this standard modification after Pierre Petit described it in 1664. The magic lantern used one or more lenses to form an enlarged image on a screen which could be simply a white wall.
Utsushi-e became a type of magic lantern show popular in Japan during the 19th century. Dutch traders probably introduced the magic lantern before the 1760s. Kameya Toraku I first performed a new style in Edo in 1803. Japanese showmen developed lightweight wooden projectors called furo that were handheld. Several performers made projections of different colorful figures move around the screen simultaneously. Western techniques of mechanical slides combined with traditional Karakuri puppetry skills. They animated figures and created special effects using these combined methods. Today enthusiasts claim the brilliant quality of color in lantern slides is unsurpassed by successive media. Museums like the Museum of Precinema in Padua preserve over 10000 original slides. Only 28 original lanterns from the first 150 years exist as of 2009. A collaborative research project called A Million Pictures started in June 2015 lasting until May 2018. It addresses sustainable preservation of tens of thousands of lantern slides across European libraries and museums.
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Common questions
Who invented the magic lantern and when was it first documented?
Dutch scientist Christiaan Huygens sketched a skeleton taking off its skull in the year 1659, which represents one of the oldest known records concerning the magic lantern. German Jesuit scholar Athanasius Kircher provided the earliest descriptions of projection systems in 1645 with his book Ars Magna Lucis et Umbrae.
How did the magic lantern evolve from earlier optical devices like the camera obscura?
The magic lantern evolved as a natural successor to earlier optical curiosities such as the camera obscura box sold by Dutch inventor Cornelis Drebbel in 1622. Pierre Petit wrote to Huygens in 1664 asking for specifications to construct his own version and added a concave mirror behind the lamp to direct more light through the lens.
What mechanical slide technologies were developed between 1709 and 1891?
German optician Themme produced moving slides around the year 1709 that included rotating wheels cut from glass plates. Two British patents for slides with moving jointed figures were granted in 1891 following innovations like slipping slides, lever slides, pulley slides, and Fantoccini slides described by Pieter van Musschenbroek in 1739.
When was phantasmagoria theater popularized and how did it use mobile projectors?
Magician Phylidor created what must have been the first true phantasmagoria show in Vienna from 1790 to 1792 using mobile magic lanterns with the recently invented Argand lamp. Etienne-Gaspard Robert became famous with his own Fantasmagorie show in Paris from 1798 to 1803 and patented a mobile Fantascope lantern in 1798.
How did lighting technology improve the brightness of magic lantern projections over time?
Candles and oil lamps produced very dim projected images when the device was invented in the 17th century until the invention of the Argand lamp in the 1790s helped make images brighter. Limelight invented in the 1820s emitted about 6000 to 8000 lumens making them even brighter before the intensely bright electric arc lamp appeared in the 1860s.
What is the current status of original magic lantern slides and preservation efforts as of 2018?
Only 28 original lanterns from the first 150 years exist as of 2009 while museums like the Museum of Precinema in Padua preserve over 10000 original slides. A collaborative research project called A Million Pictures started in June 2015 lasting until May 2018 to address sustainable preservation of tens of thousands of lantern slides across European libraries and museums.