From Luminous Pictures to Transparent Photographs: The Evolution of Techniques for Making Magic Lantern Slides

Abstract

In this article, I examine the evolution of techniques for regis-tering images on glass used in the manufacture of magic lan-tern slides. This will show that, even before the arrival of the cinematograph, it was possible to have the full development of an audiovisual industry associated with objects of everyday use. The manufacture of glass lantern slides went through three stages of development. Painting techniques were the first to be employed. Hand-painting gave way to printing techniques in the first half of the nineteenth century, and in the second half, to photographic techniques, although the last two often included hand-coloring.