Magic lantern - Famous stories of Wilhelm Busch part 1.

Magic lantern slides after the famous stories of
Wilhelm Busch. part 1.

Heinrich Christian Wilhelm Busch (April 15 1832 - January 9 1908) was a German humorist, poet, illustrator, painter and satirist, best known for his drawings that were accompanied by wise, satiric and doggerel verse. He published comic illustrated cautionary tales from 1859, achieving his most notable works in the 1870s. Busch's illustrations used wood engraving, and later zincography, a photographical process that prevented other wood engravers to change his drawings.

His best known works are 'Max und Moritz - Eine Bubengeschichte in sieben Streichen', a series of seven illustrated stories containing the mischievous antics of two boys, and Die fromme Helene that satirizes religious hypocrisy and dubious morality.
A lot of Busch's works contain thrashing, tormenting and caning scenes. Such imagery in cartoon form was not unusual at the time and publishers and censors found it not particular noteworthy.

From the middle of 1848 the German publishing house Braun und Schneider published the "Münchener Bilderbogen", from which until 1898 c. 1200 editions came out. From these Bogen are 50 from Wilhelm Busch, some of them only the images and not the texts (f.e. "Die kleinen Honigdiebe").
His Bilderbogen (pictural broadsheets) are considered to be precursors of the comic strip, and..... after all also of the magic lantern slide sets: a series of images accompanied by short stories. A lot of them were actually adapted to nice sets of slides. Busch's drawings were hardly ever copied to the slides directly but have mostly been redrawn by other artists.

Known Bilderbogen stories that were adapted to magic lantern slide sets.
German title and Bilderbogen nr.	English title of the slide set.	Also known as....
Das Raben-Nest (308).	The Ravens Nest
Der Affe und der Schusterjunge (367).	The Monkey and the Shoemakers Boy.
Der Bauer und das Kalb (342).	The Farmer and the Calf.	Man and Calf.
Der Bauer und der Windmüller (300/301).	The Farmer and the Windmiller.	The Miller and the Ass/The Donkey and the Mill
Der Bauer und sein Schwein (316/317).	Simon and his Pig.	The Farmer and his pig.
Der Eispeter.	Ice Peter.	Potted Peter.
Der Floh (390).	Adventures with a flea.	Mr Brown and the Flea
Der gewandte, kunstreiche Barbier und sein kluger Hund (399).	The Skilful Barber and the Clever Dog.	Barber and Dog.
Der hinterlistige Heinrich (361).	Treacherous Tommy.	Deceitful Henry.
Der hohle Zahn (330).	The Hollow Tooth.	The Dentist.
Der kleine Maler mit der grossen Mappe (248).	Little Artist and Large Portfolio.
Der Schnuller (387).	Baby and Sugar Bag.	The baby, the wasp and the puppies.
Der Virtuos (465).	Crochets Musical Recital.	The Virtuoso / The Musical Recital.
Die beiden Enten und der Frosch (325).	The Ducks and the Frog.
Die feindlichen Nachbarn (443).	Hostile Neighbours.	The Rival Composers.
Die Fliege (425).	Dr Snoozum and the Fly.
Die kühne Müllerstochter.	The Cunning Millers daughter.	Robbers Outwitted.
Die kleinen Honigdiebe (242).	The Little Honey Stealers.
Die Maus, oder die gestörte Nachtruhe. (278).	Mr & Mrs Brown and the Mouse.	The Mouse Hunt.
Die Rache des Elephanten (354).	Elephants Revenge.	The New Jumbo in Africa.
Die Rutschpartie (370).	The Sledge Party.	Sledging Extraordinary.
Die Strafe der Faulheit (431).	Miss Popps Pet.	Punishment for Laziness.
Die Verwandlung (474).	The Greedy Boy and the Witch.
Die wunderbare Bärenjagd (291/292).	Pat and the bear.	Mr Brown and the Bear/The Bear Hunt.
Diogenes und die bösen Buben von Corinth (350).	Diogenes & the Tub.	The nasty boys of Corinth.
Hans Huckebein - der Unglücksrabe.	Hookey Beak.	Jack Crook Bird of Evil / Hans Huckebein.
Katze und Maus.	The Cat and the Mouse.	The Mouse in the Boot.
Müller und Schornsteinfeger (485).	The Miller and the Chimney Sweep.
Plisch und Plum.	Plisch and Plum.
Schmied und Teufel (455).	Smith and the Demon.	The Blacksmith and the Demon.
Vetter Franz auf dem Esel (472).	Cousin Franz on the Donkey.
Zwei Diebe (427/428).	The Housebreakers.


The Skilful Barber and the Clever Dog. A set of eight mahogany lantern slides with painted images on circular glass, adapted from the story of Wilhelm Busch, 'Der gewandte kunstreiche Barbier und sein kluger Hund'. However, Busch drew the story in 15 drawings, so probably this series is incomplete and do we miss here the first six slides and also the twelfth slide where the dog leaps eagerly onto the cut nose of the customer. The slides are fitted in a wooden frame that measures approximately 17.5 cm x 10 cm.



Below another version after the story 'Der gewandte kunstreiche Barbier und sein kluger Hund'. This one much better drawn than the series above. Though Busch told the story in 15 pictures this set of 12 slides is probably complete, because Busch draw some pictures that are almost identical and do not add much to the story. According the documentation the manufacturer York of London made a set of 12 slides about this Barber, but it's not sure that it is the following set.






Diogenes and the nasty boys from Corinth. There are several magic lantern slide versions of this funny story, even a live model version.

A tale of Diogenes and his Tub. Set of 14 square 8.2 cm slides made by Bamforth.	Set of seven live model slides, made by Pumphrey Brothers.	Set of twelve slides made by Wrench & Son.
Below is the set of twelve slides made by York & Son, London. This is a set that resembles the original drawings of Wilhelm Bush very much (see drawing at the right). The artist placed the original drawings in a Greek rural background and even added as an extra joke name and address of the owner of the barrel (Dr. Diogenes Ground Floor).




Diogenes and the nasty boys from Corinth. A coloured version..... Mind the backgrounds that differ from the ones in the black and white version.

1. Diogenes in his barrel.	2. The boys annoy him by knocking.	3. Diogenes calls out 'who's there?'


4. The boys drench him with water.	5. Diogenes comes out dripping wet.	6. The boys roll the barrel about.


7. Diogenes calls out 'stop'.	8. Two nails catch in their clothes.	9. The boys are pulled over the tub.

10. The boys are rolled under the tub.	11. The boys are rolled out flat.	12. Diogenes at rest again.

	The slide set above was also released as a set of 12 glass slides mounted in a wooden frame, packed in a wooden box.
This time the story is told on three elongated wooden magic lantern slides, each with three hand-painted images. Dimensions of the wooden frame: 32.5 cm x 9.3 cm.
The black Guards of Corinth - Die bösen Buben von Korinth - Les Polissons de Corinthe.	A round disk with eight images. The drawings are almost identical to those of the series above, sometimes with some other backgrounds. The manufacturer is Ernst Plank.
A smaller, and therefore cheaper, disk from Ernst Plank with only 6 images. Figures 2 and 6 are missing here. The diameter is approximately 11 cm and the disc has a metal edge.

Diogenes and the boys of Corinth. A set made by the Pumphrey Brothers, 7 slides, c. 1870. Alternative title: Mischief and complacency. Slide titles: 1. Diogenes in his tub. 2. Diogenes found by boy. 3. Boy calls to his friend. 4. Boys squirt Diogenes through the bung hole. 5. Boys roll Diogenes down hill. 6. Boys are caught by some nails on the tub. 7. The boys are rolled flat as pancakes.


Ice-Peter.
The story of Ice Peter (Der Eispeter) was written in 1864 as a contribution to the 'Bilderbogen'. The magic lantern slides are made by York and Son, London. It is a complete set of 23 slides, measuring 8.2 cm square. The texts on the slides are from the accompanying reading, which comes from 'A bushel of merrythoughts', a collection of verses by W. Harry Rogers (1868).








See for another nice set of magic lantern slides about Ice-Peter the item Gérard A. P. van den Akker, a passionate Dutch lanternist from days long gone. More Wilhelm Busch stories......