 Lantern slides
Collection DescriptionHistorical NoteIn 1850, two Daguerreotypists in Philadelphia, William and Frederick Langenheim, invented a transparent positive image of a photograph in the form of a glass slide that could be projected onto a wall or screen using a Magic Lantern. The practice of using Magic Lanterns to project images on glass plates was by no means new. As early as the 17th century, glass slides had been projected using a Magic Lantern. However, the Hyalotype ("hyalo" is Greek for glass), as the Langenheim's called their invention, employed actual photographs. Lantern slides were black-and-white. But they were frequently tinted with transparent colours to enhance the effect on the screen. A process for producing colour lantern slides had been invented by the German company Agfa in 1916, but because of the war it did not become available outside Germany until the 1920s. Various types of Magic Lantern projectors were available. There were single-lens projectors but also biunial or double-lens "stereopticon" Magic Lanterns. The biunial projector has two separate optical systems that allow for the projection of dissolves and other effects. Triple lens projectors were also manufactured and could produce even fancier special effects, such as dissolving from one view to another on two of the lenses, while a snow effect is produced from the third. Thus one of the views could be of a scene with no snow, snow then falls and the view dissolves into a view with snow. Projected lantern slides quickly became the favorite technology of the lecturing art historian and remained in use for the next several decades. Art History and Technology: 5 / Christopher L. C. E. Witcombe http://witcombe.sbc.edu/arth-technology/arth-technology5.html (Retrieved August 6, 2009) Scope and ContentThe collection consists of glass slides that depict popular subjects for a Magic Lantern device. Administrative InformationPreferred CitationLantern slides, ms2736, Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library, The University of Georgia Libraries. Related Materials and SubjectsSubject Terms | ||||||||||||||||||