#magic wheel

The first phenakistoscopes were printed, drawn, or painted on non-transparent surfaces like cardboard. The phenakistoscopes in this collection, however, are made of glass, and were intended to be used in conjunction with a magic lantern, an early type of image projector. The phenakistoscope seen above is, like the rest of its cohort in the collection, undated. We estimate that it was created at some point around the second half of the 19th century.

In addition to phenakistoscopes, the digital collection also includes non-mechanical lantern slides, stereoviews, and (yes!) more mechanical lantern slides, including a choreutoscope, an astronomical rackwork slide, single and double slip slides, and slip panorama slides. Animated video files accompany these items to demonstrate them in use.