Summary

Box containing pre-gummed strips of 'Specialist' binding tape, used to edge magic lantern slides. Measuring 13/32 inches wide, by 13 1/2 inches long there was sufficient tape to bind 200 slides. The instructions of use call for the strips to be dipped in hot water for an instant before applying.

Towards the end of the 1800s the 3 and 1/4 inch square lantern slide became the standard type slide. The image was reproduced on one piece of glass and another piece of glass of the same size was placed over the top to protect the image from damage. Normally a paper mat was placed between the two pieces of glass and these were then edge bound with a paper binding strip. Prior to the general adoption of slide carriers, these slides were sometimes mounted in mahogany frames. The majority though, were left unframed and projected using a double slide carrier.

Most of the subjects produced employed actual photographs. However, photographs of illustrations were also used, especially for fables and popular stories. Chromo-lithography was also used with these type of slides.

This box of lantern slide binding strips 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

Probable white card box, consisting of body and separate lid. The lid has black inscription.

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