Much of our entertainment is visual and it seems that there has always been an audience for exciting images. This book traces the progress of early forms of projection and explores the tricks and devices used in the past to delight the eye. The author follows the evolution of the magic lantern from an insignificant optical curiosity to its zenith in Victorian Britain. The magic lanterns themselves display a remarkable degree of beauty and craftsmanship and the glass slides carry evocative images unmarred by the passage of time. The book also describes how the basic techniques of the motion pictures were pioneered by the early lanternists and how the magic lantern declined in popularity. There is a list of places where collections of magic lanterns and slides can be seen today...