Accession No
5985
Brief Description
set of 10 mechanical magic lantern slides, animated astronomical scenes, by Newton and Company, English, 2/2 19th Century
Origin
England; London
Maker
Newton and Company
Class
demonstration
Earliest Date
1884
Latest Date
1901
Inscription Date
Material
wood (pine, boxwood; mahogany); metal (brass); glass; paper
Dimensions
Box: length 245mm; breadth 190mm; height 117mm slide: length 223mm; width 97mm; depth 16mm
Special Collection
Provenance
On loan from the Trustees at Homerton College, University of Cambridge, 25/11/2003.
Inscription
NEWTON & Co.
DIPLOMAS OF HONOUR SILVER MEDAL
AND PRIZE MEDALS CENTRAL INDIA 1868
LONDON PARIS 1878
1851, 1862, & 1885 HIGHEST AWARD BRAZIL 1884
Opticians
Mathematical, Philosophical, & Astronomical
INSTRUMENT MAKERS
GLOBE MANUFACTURERS
to Her Majesty
3 FLEET STREET. LONDON NEAR TEMPLE BAR
Description Notes
Set of 10 mechanical magic lantern slides, animated astronomical scenes, by Newton & Co., English, 2/2 19th century.
Boxed set of 10 mechanical magic lantern slides by Newton & Co. Each slide consists of a wooden frame with a round glass window onto which are colour hand painted images. Each slide has a brass crank with mahogany handle which operates the toothed mechanism and turns the slide. The slide is titled and the whole set demonstrated the principles of the solar system and the motion of the Earth, Moon, planets and Sun.
5985.1 - ‘Rotundity of the Earth’
5985.2 - ‘This Diagram illustrates the Annual and Diurnal Motion of the Earth round the Sun, with the Revolution of the Moon round the Earth’
5985.3 - ‘This Diagram illustrates the apparent direct and retrograde motion of Venus or Mercury; and also its stationary appearance.
5985.4 - ‘The Diurnal Motion of the Earth , showing the Rising and Setting of the Sun, illustrating the cause of Day and Night’
5985.5 - ‘..s Diagram illustrates the eccesntric Revolution of a comet round the Sun, and shows the appearance of its Tail at different points of its Orbit.’
5985.6 - ‘The Solar System, showing the Revolution of all the Planets, with their satellites round the Sun.’
5985.7 - ‘This diagram shown the various eclipses of the Sun with the transit of Venus.’
5985.8 - ‘This diagram shows the Eclipse of the Moon’
5985.9 - ‘The Earth’s Annual motion round the Sun, showing the Parallelism of its Axis, producing the Seasons.’
5985.10 - ‘This Diagram illustrates the cause of Spring and Neap Tides, and shows the Moons Phases, during its revolution.’
Condition: good; complete
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.
These slides are animated, utilising a mechanism that rotates the slide, providing a moving image of the Earth and heavenly bodies. This set of ten glass slides demonstrates the principles of the solar system and the motion of the Earth, Moon and Sun.
03/04/2014
Created by: Joshua Nall on 03/04/2014
FM:46450
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