Magic lantern slide collection depicting Victorian London

Purchased from Lux Mentis, Booksellers - "A fascinating collection viewed in the main, through the lens (no pun intended) of "Dickensian" London and its surrounding area. The breadth of the collection, and the clear labelling and arrangement of the slides in their boxes suggest a rather professional presentation, possibly in the form of a lecture series, or a travelling entertainment.

The entertainer, or lecturer would have been able to begin with an atmospheric overview of London of the time, interspersed with specific characters, buildings, and events, offer some historical context and social overview, segue back into whatever literary or artistic specifics he fancied (or were requested by his audience), regale everyone with the splendours of Hampton Court Palace, emphasize the sheer energy and pace of London life with views of Oxford St. and some luminous hand coloured images of the shipping around the Thames river bridges. He or she could pursue a more sinister note with some images of slum alleys and prison cell blocks, and then finally remind everyone of the grandeur and power of one of the most bustling cities of the age, with some soaring architecture, and details of Buckingham Palace; the lights would go up, tea and cakes would be served, and then everyone could head home, eyes glowing with the distant wonders they had previously only read about, but always dreamed of seeing close up in vibrant, glowing detail.

To many people of the time a visit to London to see the Old Curiosity Shop would be about as likely as a trip into space, magic lantern shows, whether private, commissioned, or publicly accessible, were the cinema of the age, a handful of hours in the dark staring into other, glowing worlds, before having to return to the relative mundanity of daily existence.

The educational importance wasn't to be sniffed at either, quite beyond the spectacle, they presented the opportunity to see faithful recreations of artworks and architecture that would only be unreliably reproduced or described elsewhere. It wasn't until the tail end of this collection, shortly before the First World War, that the magic lantern truly began to be superseded by the moving picture, for some time they existed side by side, the older medium being considerably more affordable, portable and egalitarian than film, but by the 1920's they had mostly become a domestic parlour item, before gradually declining into a nursery novelty. A collection of this size, specificity, and quality, is a fascinating and desirable thing."