Summary

Majic Lantern projector used to view lantern slides. It was distributed by Maison de la Bonne Presse, a Paris publisher of Catholic journals and newspapers. In 1896 a 'visual education' department was created as part of the company, which, like its publishing department, was used to counter secularism in French society. The 'visual education' department distributed magic lanterns, cinema projectors and the associated visual images.

While the invention of the magic lantern is generally seen to be in the 17th century, its greatest popularity as an optical projector spans the late 18th century to the early decades of the 20th century. It was used both as a means of entertainment and education.

This lantern projector is part of the Francis Collection of pre-cinematic apparatus and ephemera, acquired by the Australian and Victorian Governments in 1975. David Francis was the curator of the National Film and Sound Archive of the British Film Institute as well as being a co-founder of the Museum of the Moving Image in London, which was operational between 1988 and 1999.

Physical Description

Metal and brass magic lantern projector, consisting of a lens, a condenser and an illuminant chamber. The dome top has provision for a chimney or cowl [also part of this projector] which acts as a chimney for smoke created by the illuminant.

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