Accession No
2631
Brief Description
12 magic lantern slides, showing scenes illustrating the history of England, 1850 (c)
Origin
Maker
Class
optical
Earliest Date
1850
Latest Date
1850
Inscription Date
Material
wood; glass
Dimensions
each slide length 431mm; breadth 100mm; thickness 5mm
Special Collection
Provenance
Inscription
Description Notes
12 magic lantern slides, showing scenes illustrating the history of England, 1850 (c).
Wooden frame; glass slide; each with 4 hand-painted scenes illustrating the History of England, from ancient times to the death of Nelson.
Inscribed in longhand with details of each scene.
.1 Ancient Britons, druids sacrificing, invasion by Julius Caesar, Caratacus before Claudius
.2 Ethelbert and the Saxons converted to Christianity by St. Augustine, Alfred in the Danish camp, Cnut reproving his Courtier, death of Harold 2nd
.3 William the Conquerer accepts the crown, death of William Rufus, death of archbishop Becket, King Henry II doing penance
.4 King Richard 1st and Saladin, death of Richard 1st, Magna Charta, murder of Prince Arthur
.5 Henry 3rd preserved by his son, Queen Eleanor sucking the poison from the Arm of her husband, six burgettes of Calais before Edward 3rd, origin of the Order of the Garter
.6 Edward the Black Prince serving his prisoner, King John of France brought prisoner to London, Wat Tyler killed, death of Richard II
.7 The Battle of Agincourt, Joan of Arc, Duk of York's head on the gates of York Castle, Queen Margaret and the prince protected by a robber
.8 Edward duke of York proclaimed King, Lady Elisabeth Grey before Edward IV, the Murder of the Princes in the Tower, the Earl of Richmond proclaimed King
.9 the first Bible presented to Henry 8, conference of Edward VI and Bishop Ridley, death of Lady Jane Grey, Queen Elisabeth going to St Pauls
.10 tricking of Guy Fawkes, Charles I Erecting his Standard, Cromwell dissolving the Long Parliament, Charles 2 in the Oak
.11 the Bishops presenting the petition to James 2, Bill of Rights presented to William & Mary, Acts of Union presented to Queen Anne, George 1st
.12 the Pretender begging bread, the escape of the Pretender, death of Wolfe, death of Nelson
References
Events
Description
Magic lanterns are an early type of image projector. They use a powerful light source to project images onto a screen or wall. They were the precursors to modern slide, overhead and motion picture projectors. Although first developed in the 17th century, it was in the late 18th and 19th centuries that the design of the instrument became developed enough to make magic lantern shows a popular form of general entertainment and scientific and artistic education.
The basic elements of a magic lantern are a metal or wooden body, a light source, a condensing lens, a focusing lens, and interchangeable slides that were commonly produced in sets. Early lantern slides were hand painted on glass, but by the late nineteenth century a number of companies were mass producing slide sets utilising photographic transparencies. Hand cranked mechanisms were sometimes also built into the slides to produce elaborate animated effects. Slide sets might show recent events, exotic locations from around the world, or illustrate tales and fables. For scientific lecturers, the magic lantern was an invaluable instrument for illustrating their public talks, enabling the projection of spectacular astronomical images or massive diagrams of plants and animals.
03/04/2014
Created by: Joshua Nall on 03/04/2014
FM:44234
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