Magic lantern - Robinson Crusoe part 1.

Robinson Crusoe
part 1

Probably no other book, apart from the Bible, was published in so many versions of magic lantern slides as Daniel Defoe's famous novel Robinson Crusoe (1719).

September 30, 1659. I poor miserable Robinson Crusoe, being shipwreck'd, during a dreadful Storm, in the offing, came on Shore on this dismal unfortunate Island, which I call'd the Island of Despair, all the rest of the Ship's Company being drown'd, and my self almost dead. All the rest of that Day I spent in afflicting my self at the dismal Circumstances I was brought to, viz. I had neither Food, House, Clothes, Weapon, or Place to fly to, and in Despair of any Relief, saw nothing but Death before me, either that I should be devour'd by wild Beasts, murther'd by Savages, or starv'd to Death for Want of Food. At the Approach of Night, I slept in a Tree for fear of wild Creatures, but slept soundly tho' it rain'd all Night. (slide: origin unknown.)

One of the oldest sets of magic lantern slides that possibly was used to tell the story of Robinson Crusoe is a set of twelve oblong hand painted glass slides, two of that shown here. Painted in clear, primary colours on a black background, diverse scenes are depicted that could suit to the Robinson-story, like the shipwreck, flashes of lightning, a man climbing on board of the wreck and taking some goods with him on a raft, the discovery of the footprint in the sand and the arrival at home. Scenes like the finding of the footprint and the use of the raft were immediately recognizable as belonging to Robinson Crusoe in the 19th century.

	French chromolithographed transfer slide for the lampascope and similar domestic lanterns, probably made by Lapierre, c. 1890s. The story is told by means of manuscript-style captions, the first one with the title 'Histoire du Robinson' (The story of Robinson) and the beginning line 'Robinson fait son adieux a son père' (Robinson says good-bye to his father).


	A charming set of four hand painted magic lantern slides. Each picture has hand written title above e.g. "Crusoe starts for a new journey", "Crusoe on his voige" (voyage). Wonderfully naive. Approx 3.5" x 13" (9 x 33 cm).


Three slides from a set of 24 black and white magic lantern slides, probably Dutch. The slides were found in a cardboard box labelled 'City-serie' and 'Amsterdam Holland'. All slides are provided with a shield shaped trade mark and a number 1 - 24. Like in many other versions Robinson is accompanied here by his dog.

	Set of colourful magic lantern slides. Above the first slide, showing Rob's departure, and the last one, showing his save return at home. Sizes 3.25" square.
Thanks to Marieke de Natris, author of 'Kèkt nâh!', a thesis for her Master's degree, a research into the use of the magic lantern in the Netherlands in the context of visual mass media (Dutch, 2002), in which she paid much attention to the 'Robinson-slides'. She sent me a lot of usable illustrations.	More Robinson Crusoe slides....