A remarkable collection of picture stories that fascinated audiences before the invention of the movie camera has been restored to life thanks to the University of Bristol’s Theatre Collection.
The seven sets of late 19th century, hand-tinted magic lantern slides were used to educate, entertain and mystify audiences. They tell stories with such evocative titles as Christmas in Paradise, Rare Metal: A Story of City Life, The Life Boat, Nellie's Prayer, The Matron's Story, Little Jim and Scrub, the Workhouse Boy.
The stories are part of an archive of more than 400 magic lantern slides which have been conserved, catalogued and digitally preserved. They are now available for viewing and free educational use via the Theatre Collection's website.
The story slides, mostly hand-coloured photographs, date from 1880 to 1900. Other slides within the archive cover a remarkable range of subject matter: drama and performance, history of art, classics, archaeology, geography, social history and theology. These are predominantly black and white reference slides dating from 1910 to 1950.
The magic lantern was the ancestor of the modern slide projector. Lantern slides consisted of two sheets of square glass between which the photographic image was sandwiched. Using an oil lamp and a lens, the image could be projected onto a screen.
By the 19th century, there was a thriving trade of itinerant projectionists who travelled around the country with their magic lanterns and a large number of slides, putting on shows in towns and villages.
Jo Elsworth, Keeper of the Theatre Collection said: “Though there was a huge market for magic lanterns and slides in the 19th century, they eventually fell out of favour after the invention of moving pictures. Few lanterns and slides survived which makes this archive even more precious. We are delighted to have been able to conserve this remarkable collection and make it available to a 21st-century audience.”
The scripts to accompany the stories can be viewed in the Theatre Collection's reading room or purchased from the Magic Lantern Society.
The magic lantern project was generously funded by BIRTHA, Arts Faculty Research Director's Fund and the Friends of the Theatre Collection, with technical support provided by TASI (Technical Advisory Service for Images). TASI have also created a case study of the digitisation project.