Magic lanterns - Discs and drums -part 2

	Discs and drums or how the images learned to walk.
part 2

This Zoetrope consists of a 10-inch diameter cardboard drum that looks like a hat box with slits in its side. The drum attaches to a brass spindle which balances it on a wooden stand. You then put an animation strip inside the drum and spin it with your hand. As you peer through the slits, the figures on the strip appear to move. The animation effect of the Zoetrope depends on the persistence of vision phenomenon, which is also what makes movies possible. The inventor William Horner originally called it a Daedalum ("wheel of the Devil"). In fact, one of the included animation strips shows devil figures and balls. When you spin the drum, the devils appear to hop from ball to ball. Included strips show dancing men passing their heads from side to side, elegant couples dancing, running figures with umbrellas in a rain of falling pitchforks, a jack-in-the-box, plus other various fantastical figures and optical illusions. The strangest one is the animation of a dog swallowing an angel, which then flies out of his ear The wooden stand and all of the animation strips can be stored conveniently inside the drum. A round lid covers it all.


In Reynaud's Praxinoscope, a band of drawing placed around the circumference of a shallow cylinder was viewed in motion by reflexion in a drum of mirrors in the centre .	Old French trade card for 'Chocolat du Planteur', depicting in the series 'Les jouets modernes' (modern toys) 'Le Zoetrope'.	Beautiful disc for a Phenakistoscope, 9.75" (24.5 cm)diameter.


Luxe version of a Praxinoscope Theatre in a mahogany box, closed..............	...... and opened. Everything fits neatly in the box.

Photos Praxinoscope Theatre: ©Pierre Patau, antiquetoysandgames.com.
Praxinoscope Theatre, optical toy invented in 1877 by the Frenchman Emile Reynaud. The Zoetrope was a great toy showing the illusion of movement, but the loss of light was high as one could only see through the narrow slots on the drum. Emile Reynaud solved that problem with his Praxinoscope as the movement is shown via mirrors at the centre of the apparatus, a great improvement! The Theatre version is a fantastic toy as it allows one to see the animation within a static scenery. The different backgrounds are placed on a holder in the lid of the apparatus. One can then see the reflection in a little theatre and through this theatre one of the mirrors can also be seen at the same time. When the drum is spun the character is animated. 10 strips of animations are present as well as some backgrounds for the theatre.


	German optical toy called 'Kinetograph'. It is a flipbook, producing 'Living Pictures' when it is flicked through quickly. It measures 2" x 1.5" (5.5 x 4 cm''.


KINORA viewer manufactured in England around 1900. The Kinora system of "home movies" was an invention of the Lumiere Brothers in 1896, based on an idea by Herman Casler. Reels of 'flipbook' type contained thousands of leaves, each with a single photographic image. They were mounted in a simple, miniature Mutoscope viewing machine and were very popular until WW1. Reels could be bought or hired, and featured actuality scenes and many other subjects. It was also possible to have one's Kinora moving portrait taken in a studio; a home movie camera was marketed in England. Sizes: 11" long, 10.5" high when open (28 x 27 cm).
More about Pre-Cinema......