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diff --git a/old/64578-0.txt b/old/64578-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 18716c8..0000000 --- a/old/64578-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,9160 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of Magic Shadows, by Martin Quigley, Jr. - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: Magic Shadows - The Story of the Origin of Motion Pictures - -Author: Martin Quigley, Jr. - -Release Date: February 16, 2021 [eBook #64578] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -Produced by: Tim Lindell, Charlie Howard, and the Online Distributed - Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This book was - produced from images made available by the HathiTrust Digital - Library.) - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MAGIC SHADOWS *** - - - - -MAGIC SHADOWS - - - - - MAGIC SHADOWS - - _The Story of the Origin - of Motion Pictures_ - - - by - MARTIN QUIGLEY, JR. - - - [Illustration] - - - QUIGLEY PUBLISHING COMPANY - New York, N. Y. 1960 - - - - - _Copyright, 1948–1960, by Martin Quigley, Jr._ - - _All rights reserved. No part of this book - may be reproduced in any form without written - permission except in the case of brief - quotations included in reviews._ - - - Library of Congress Catalog - Card Number: 60-14797 - - - _Printed in the United States of America_ - - - - -CONTENTS - - - FOREWORD 7 - - INTRODUCTION 9 - - I IT STARTED WITH “A” 13 - - II FRIAR BACON’S MAGIC 24 - - III DA VINCI’S CAMERA 29 - - IV PORTA, FIRST SCREEN SHOWMAN 36 - - V KEPLER AND THE STARS 43 - - VI KIRCHER’S 100th ART 48 - - VII POPULARIZING KIRCHER’S PROJECTOR 62 - - VIII MUSSCHENBROEK AND MOTION 70 - - IX PHANTASMAGORIA 75 - - X DR. PARIS’ TOY 80 - - XI PLATEAU CREATES MOTION PICTURES 85 - - XII THE BARON’S PROJECTOR 98 - - XIII THE LANGENHEIMS OF PHILADELPHIA 106 - - XIV MAREY AND MOVEMENT 115 - - XV EDISON’S PEEP-SHOW 130 - - XVI FIRST STEPS 139 - - XVII WORLD PREMIERES 149 - - APPENDIX I CHRONOLOGY 163 - - APPENDIX II BIBLIOGRAPHY 177 - - INDEX 185 - - - - -ILLUSTRATIONS - - - facing - page - - ATHANASIUS KIRCHER 9 - - ARCHIMEDES’ BURNING GLASSES 32 - - LEONARDO DA VINCI 33 - - _CAMERA OBSCURA_ 40 - - JOHANNES KEPLER 41 - - KIRCHER’S GIANT WHEEL 48 - - THE STORY DISK 48 - - THE MAGIC LANTERN 49 - - ZAHN’S LANTERNS 64 - - TIME and WIND PROJECTORS 65 - - JOSEPH PLATEAU 88 - - PLATEAU’S MOTION DEVICE 89 - - DANCING GIRL--PHENAKISTICOPE 89 - - FRANZ UCHATIUS 104 - - FIRST ACTION PROJECTORS 105 - - LANGENHEIM BROTHERS 112 - - ETIENNE JULES MAREY 113 - - MUYBRIDGE BATTERY CAMERA SYSTEM 120 - - MAREY’S OUTDOOR STUDIO 121 - - GUN CAMERA 121 - - EDISON AND EASTMAN 136 - - THE KINETOSCOPE PARLOR 137 - - REYNAUD’S _THEATRE OPTIQUE_ 148 - - ANSCHUTZ’S ELECTRICAL TACHYSCOPE 149 - - LOUIS LUMIERE 160 - - ROBERT W. PAUL 160 - - THE VITASCOPE 161 - - - - -FOREWORD - - -Ask almost anyone about the origins of the motion picture, and you’ll -get a glib and automatic answer. It will include a fast, indefinite -reference to Edison and Eastman and will move on, with more-or-less -authentic nostalgia, to Mack Sennett, Fatty Arbuckle, D. W. Griffith -and maybe a few others. With luck, one or two titles--The Great Train -Robbery, for example--may creep in. - -The fact is, most of us simply do not know much about it. - -It is good, therefore, to take a long look at the people, the events, -and the discoveries--accidental and otherwise--which combined, during -the years of many centuries, to produce the motion picture as we know -it today. - -This book gives us the long look, the authentic perspective. It may -tend to slow down our glibness, to clothe our fancy with fact, and -to deflate any notion that the movies belong exclusively to our own -well-publicized 20th Century. - -It is sobering, but it is necessary. For, unless we brace ourselves -with some knowledge of what has gone before, we cannot be adequately -prepared for what lies ahead. The industry, as we have known it in the -past, is undergoing great changes. It is difficult to predict exactly -what form it will eventually take. One thing is certain, however--the -“Magic Shadows” in one form or another will continue to entertain and -instruct the millions in every land for generations to come. - - EDWARD P. CURTIS - - - Rochester, N. Y. - July 2, 1960 - - -[Illustration: - - Ars Magna Lucis et Umbrae, 1671 - -_ATHANASIUS KIRCHER, the first person to project pictures. His magic -lantern originated the screen art-science in Rome_ circa _1645_.] - - - - -INTRODUCTION - - -The art of magic shadows, which just before the dawn of the twentieth -century evolved into the modern motion picture, was born three -centuries ago, at Rome. There Athanasius Kircher, a German priest, -first showed his invention, the magic lantern, to friends, and enemies, -at the Collegio Romano, where he was a professor of mathematics. - -The world premiere of the first real “magic shadow” performance passed -without public notice. In those days there were no press agents or -publicists. There were no newspapers. The people did not care what the -nobles and scholars were doing in their idle moments; the intellectuals -paid little attention to the people. - -History has not recorded the day and month in which Kircher presented -his projector, the fundamental instrument of all screen shows, then -and now. The occasion can be set only approximately--some time in the -year 1644 or 1645. The hour of the performance presumably was in the -evening, for the light and shadow pictures had to be shown in darkness, -just as today films must be exhibited in darkened theatres. - -We may be sure that the score or more of invited guests--Romans and -distinguished foreigners--eagerly accepted an opportunity to see what -Kircher was up to. Rome had been buzzing with rumors. The energetic -little Jesuit priest who earned for himself the title, “Doctor of a -Hundred Arts,” had even been suspected of necromancy and working in -league with the devil. After the showing of the magic lantern and its -projected pictures some were certain that he practiced the “black arts.” - -The audience for the first screen performance was as distinguished as -any that has since graced a Hollywood production. Other professors of -the Roman College were there to note for themselves on which one of his -“hundred arts” Kircher had been busy. These men were among the most -learned in Europe and had made the Jesuit University, established in -1582, already an influence in all circles of thought. A selected group -of students, young Romans of noble birth, surely were also invited. -Until the hour of the demonstration, these stood outside in the large -Piazza di Collegio Romano before the main entrance. Three centuries -later, from June, 1944 to late 1945, American Army MPs raced through -this same Piazza on jeeps and motorcycles to their headquarters in -Rome, just across the square from the entrance to the Collegio Romano. - -Just at the appointed hour for Kircher’s show, a few distinguished -monsignori, in flowing purple were driven to the entrance in their -carriages with mounted escort. Perhaps, too, a hush went through the -small group, assembled in an upper hall, when a Prince of the Church, -such as Cardinal Barberini who had summoned Kircher to Rome a decade -before, came to see for himself. After all the monsignori and other -visitors had been greeted with ceremony and salutation in keeping with -their rank, the candles and lamps were extinguished; Kircher slipped -behind a curtain or partition where his projector was concealed and the -first light and shadow screen show was on. - -For a moment Kircher’s audience could see nothing. Then slowly their -eyes became accustomed to the darkness and a faint light appeared on a -white surface set up in front of the few rows of seats. As the flames -in Kircher’s lantern began to burn more brightly and he adjusted the -crude projection system, the picture of his first glass slide was -thrown upon the screen. - -The young men with keen eyesight were the first to note that the light -and shadow on the screen, like some ghostly figment, began to take -form into a recognizable picture. Then the older ecclesiastics saw or -thought they saw. The incredulous murmured prayerful ejaculations. The -wonder increased as successive pictures were projected. Kircher was -enough of a showman to use pictures which would entertain and amaze. -He included animal drawings, artistic designs and, to taunt those who -thought he was dabbling in necromancy, pictures of the devil. Prudence -was not one of his “hundred arts.” - -We may be amused now at the disbelief of Kircher’s first audience. But -by trying to place ourselves in that hall of the Roman College, three -centuries ago, it is easy to realize the difficulties. Nothing like -Kircher’s show had ever been presented before. He had chained light and -shadow, but the suspicion was held by some of the spectators that there -was dark magic about it all and that Kircher had dabbled in the “black -arts.” - -The first audience congratulated Kircher at the end of the performance, -but some went away wondering, dubious. Years later, Kircher wrote in -his autobiography, “New accusations piled up and my critics said I -should devote my whole life to developing mathematics.” - - * * * * * - -Two and a half centuries later, the screen art of magic shadow -projection came to life in the motion picture. This was quite a -different premiere. But Kircher would have recognized the device as an -improvement on and development of his magic lantern. He, and hundreds -who came after him, had tried to capture the animation of life in light -and shadow pictures. Full success was not possible until a later date -because the necessary materials were not available until near the end -of the nineteenth century. - -The scene of the most significant motion picture premiere was at Koster -& Bial’s Music Hall, 34th Street, New York, which stood on the site now -occupied by the R. H. Macy department store. The time was April 23, -1896. But in contrast to Kircher’s premiere, though “Thomas A. Edison’s -Latest Marvel--the Vitascope” had featured billing on the show, it -was not the only entertainment on the program. Albert Bial, manager, -preceded the showing of the motion pictures with a half-dozen acts of -vaudeville. There were the Russian clown, eccentric dancer, athletic -and gymnastic comedian, singers and actors and actresses. But the -movies stole that show and, in little more than a decade, became staple -entertainment in tens of thousands of theatres all over the world. - -The special top hat and silk tie audience at Koster & Bial’s Music Hall -that Spring evening a half-century ago was treated to a selection of -short films which ran only a few moments each: “Sea Waves”, “Umbrella -Dance”, “The Barber Shop”, “Burlesque Boxing”, “Monroe Doctrine”, “A -Boxing Bout”, “Venice, Showing Gondolas”, “Kaiser Wilhelm, Reviewing -His Troops”, “Skirt Dance”, “Butterfly Dance”, “The Bar Room” and “Cuba -Libre”. - -Thomas Armat, the inventor of the projector which had been built by -Edison, supervised projection of those first screen motion pictures -shown on Broadway. We can well imagine that Kircher was looking over -his shoulder, delighted that his work started 250 years before had been -brought to the triumph of the living moving picture. - -The great Edison was in a box at the Music Hall that evening and he, -too, was glad that the New York audience of first nighters so well -received the large screen motion pictures. A few years before, his -Kinetograph camera and his Kinetoscope peep-hole viewer had presented -motion pictures. But as Kircher in the 17th century wanted his pictures -life-size on the screen, so did the public of the Nineties. - - * * * * * - -Kircher and Edison do not stand alone in the parade of pioneers in -the art and science of the screen. The list of builders of the cinema -is as cosmopolitan as its appeal: Greeks, Romans, Persians, British, -Italians, Germans, French, Belgians, Austrians and lastly, and in some -ways most importantly, Americans. Ancient philosophers, medieval monks, -scholarly giants of the Renaissance, scientists, necromancers, modern -inventors--all had a role in the 2500 year story of the creation, -out of light and shadow, of this most popular and most influential -expression--the motion picture. - -Great and strange men, some whose fame derives from activities in other -fields, others hardly recorded in the passing of history, contributed -to what was eventually to become the motion picture. Many of the -pioneers of the magic shadow art-science realized the entertainment, -educational and scientific potentialities of their discoveries; others -did not, because they were preoccupied with other affairs and only -toyed with the light and shadow devices. - -The following chapters tell how men learned about vision and light, and -how apparatus to record and project living realities was developed. - -It is the story of the origin of the motion picture, from Adam to -Edison. - - - - -IT STARTED WITH “A” - - _First magic shadow show--Ancient optical - studies--Chinese Shadow Plays, Japanese - and English mirrors--The art-science - begins with Aristotle and Archimedes, - Greeks, and Alhazen, an Arab._ - - -From any viewpoint the story of the origin of the motion picture begins -with “A”. The fundamental and instinctive urge to create pictures in -living reality goes all the way back to Adam. Aristotle developed the -theoretical basis of the science of optics. Archimedes made the first -systematic use of lenses and mirrors. Alhazen, the Arab, pioneered in -the study of the human eye, a prerequisite for developing machines to -duplicate requisite functions of the human eye. - -Lights and shadows were made when the night and the day were made: - - And God said: Be light made. And light was made. - And God saw the light that it was good; and He - divided the light from the darkness. - And He called the light Day, and the darkness Night; - and there was evening and morning one day. - - * * * * * - - And God said: Let there be lights made in the - firmament of heaven.... - And God made two great lights: a greater light to - rule the day; and a lesser light to rule the night; - and the stars. - - --_Book of Genesis_ - -The moon playing upon silent waters, the sun casting deepening shadows -in the woods, a twinkling campfire, starlight dancing on ruffled -waters--all provided the first pageantries of light and shadow. The -first eclipse of the sun seen by man was the most thrilling and -terrifying light and shadow show of that era, a premiere never rivalled -by Hollywood’s best. - -From the beginning of the record of human aspiration men had the urge -to create representations of life. Efforts were made to duplicate in -permanent form the pictures reflected in still water, shadows, and -birds and animals and people. And so, in a very early day man took -up drawing, a variation of light and shadow portrayal. But the early -drawings, and attempts for centuries thereafter, did not wholly succeed -in their purpose. Life of the surrounding world could not be caught in -all its wondrous detail no matter how skilled was the artist. The first -picture critics pointed out that the drawings were unnatural because no -action was shown and life itself was full of motion. - -For cinema purposes, one of the earliest examples of “motion” still -pictures is a representation of a boar trotting along, for some 10,000, -20,000 or 30,000 years, on a wall of the Font-de-Faune cave at Altamira -near Santillana del Mar in Northern Spain. The artist tried to show the -boar’s headlong pace by equipping the animal with two complete sets of -legs. It was recognized a long while before Walt Disney that more than -one still picture was necessary to portray natural motion. - -For centuries artists continued to strive for the “illusion” of motion -without “moving pictures.” Depending on the skill of the artist, the -result approached the goal in varying degrees. Action was always, and -still is, a problem to the artist working with a “still” medium. A -pinnacle of success in this quest was reached in the Winged Victory of -Samothrace in which the artist did all in his power to show motion in -the medium of cold, lifeless marble. - -However, the potential progress was limited as long as it was necessary -to rely upon the skilled hand of the artist to convey motion. More had -to be learned about light and shadow and also a great deal about the -everlasting wonder of the human eye before living reality could be -captured for future representation. - -The poets may speculate about man’s first thoughts on light, the sun, -moon and stars, and fire. But man used his eyes for ages before he -became interested and considered why and how he could see, and what -light and shadow might be and how they could be usefully harnessed. -Even in our day of apparent enlightenment, the underlying explanation -of vision and light still eludes our scientists, so we should be -patient about the time it took our ancestors to devise ways of -harnessing light and shadow to prepare the brightly lighted way for the -Bing Crosbys and Betty Grables of our day. - -The study of light and vision, and the need for better methods and -instruments for observing life resulted in time in the invention -of the first optical device--the magnifying glass. All telescopes, -microscopes, spectacles, cameras, projectors and other optical -instruments have been evolved from the simple lens or magnifying glass. -That lens was a special boon to the men and women who through birth, -age or misfortune had poor eyesight. - -Some authorities hold that as long ago as 6000 B.C. magnifying glasses -were used by the Chaldeans in the ancient biblical lands. It is known -that the Chaldeans, who developed an elaborate civilization, gave first -attention to the study of light and all its problems. A few thousand -years before the new era the Babylonians, famed too as gardeners, -became great astronomers. The heavens, then and now, present the -greatest natural light and shadow show, with a continuous run every -night since the beginning of time. So it is not surprising that the -first study of light and shadow should concern itself with the stars -and planets. The Babylonians, with but the naked eye, picked out -constellations and identified them. It was a desire to learn more about -the stars that resulted in the development of a telescope, which was a -marked advance in the science of light and shadow. - -In the ruins of Nineveh, destroyed in 606 B.C., was found a convex -lens of quartz and an inscription too fine to be read by the naked -eye--proof that those people knew the uses of lenses and treasured fine -artistic drawings and writings which could be inscribed only through -the use of a magnifying glass. - - * * * * * - -At an early date the conflict arose between those who wished to use the -magic shadows to entertain and instruct and those who wished to use -them for purposes of deception. - -The Egyptian priests have first claim on the title of light and shadow -showmen. Some of the fragments of hieroglyphics indicate that they -used optical devices to deceive. It is likely that a simple mirror was -used to throw images into space. But that would have amazed the people -and would have been taken as a sure sign of miraculous power. - -The oldest media of light and shadow entertainment and deception was -developed by another great and scholarly group, the early Chinese -scientists. These were the Chinese Shadow Plays, the origin of which -is lost in antiquity, dating back perhaps to 5000 B.C. Silhouette -figures shown on a background of smoke and animated as in a puppet -show entertained a public thousands of years ago in the Far East. The -Chinese Shadow Plays appear to have a close relation to the old-time -fireside tricks of twisting the fingers so as to form what appeared to -be the shadow of a donkey’s head or a representation of a rabbit or of -some other animal. Despite the troubled history of China, these Shadow -Plays were never lost and they are still presented in remote parts of -China and in Java. - -Dates of the Chinese contributions to the story of the origin of the -cinema and related sciences are uncertain. The Chinese empire was -founded around 2800 B.C. and within 500 years of that time the heavens -had been charted by the Chinese. A hundred years after an hereditary -monarchy was established in China, about 2200 B.C., the ruling powers -executed two astronomers for failing to observe properly an eclipse of -the sun. - -After the Chinese Shadow Plays, mention should be made of another -Oriental light and shadow invention. This one was developed by the -Japanese. The devices are known as Japanese Mirrors. These are famed in -legend and history as being endowed with great magical powers. They, -as in the inventions of the Egyptians, used an optical illusion to -entertain and also to trick. - -The method of the Japanese Mirrors was simple: They were of polished -bronze with a design embossed on the surface. When held to the sun, the -reflected light would fall on a wall or other smooth surface, and the -spectators would see the design, appearing as if through the power of -the devil or some propitious deity. If the operator did not allow his -mirror to be closely examined by the audience he could certainly be -credited with magical powers--the power to bring animals and men, and -any kind of design to life. Not a devil or a god; but in reality only -an early showman! And done with mirrors! - -The so-called English Mirrors, of a much later date, worked on a -similar principle, but were even more ingenious. They had greater -“magical” power. The English Mirrors resembled the Japanese Mirrors, -yet on close examination no embossing would be discovered on the -surface. Even today one might have a difficult time discovering the -secret. - -The picture to be projected was very carefully and lightly etched with -acid upon the brass surface of the English Mirrors. The mirror was -then polished until the etched pattern could not be detected by eye or -touch. But the imperceptible roughness outlining the pattern remained -on the mirror and was sufficient to record and reflect the outline of -the design in what seemed a magical fashion. - -After a vague start in Babylonia, Egypt and the Far East, the study -of light and shadow, like many another art and science, began in a -thorough way in Greece. - -Aristotle, great Greek philosopher, born about 384 B.C., made the -first important contribution to the history of the light and shadow -art-science which can be assigned to an identifiable individual. - -Aristotle’s family had been long identified with medicine. His -father was court physician to the King of Macedonia and several -of his ancestors had similar posts. Therefore, in a sense, it was -natural for him to seek learning. For some years he was a student of -the philosopher Plato at Athens. He was a more practical man than -his teacher, favoring experimental observation as supplemental to -philosophy. - -Universal truth and knowledge were the goals Aristotle set for himself. -Also he believed it well to keep in the good graces of the rulers. -When Alexander the Great was 13 years old, Aristotle was appointed his -teacher and from that time on had a deep influence on the pupil who, -they tell us, came to tears because he had no more worlds to conquer. -Aristotle later headed the Peripatetic or “walk about” school at -Athens, so named because knowledge was imparted from teacher to student -as they strolled about the groves. Aristotle wrote authoritatively on -almost every subject. The sun, light, and vision, of course, received -the attention of this philosopher whose word on philosophic and -scientific matters was accepted by many without question as law for -centuries. Even today many principles first enunciated by Aristotle are -still generally respected in philosophy. - -In Aristotle’s book titled _Problems_ there was described the -phenomenon of sunlight passing through a square hole and still casting -an image of a round--not square--sun on the wall or floor. - -This was an astounding discovery! It may strike the reader as strange, -but he may easily convince himself by making a little experiment: cut a -square hole in a piece of dark paper and let the image of the sun fall -on a mirror or other smooth surface and you will see that the sun is -still round despite the square hole. As a word of caution, one must be -careful to avoid eye strain when viewing the sun and its reflections. -Several of the principal characters in motion picture pre-history -ruined their eyes by studying the sun for too long a period at one time. - -Aristotle’s square hole and round sun experiment was a beginning and -scientists were starting to learn something important about light and -optical phenomena. - -Aristotle also made a valuable contribution to the study of vision. -In his book, _On Dreams_, he noted the existence of after-images, a -persistence of vision phenomenon. That faculty contributes vitally -to the motion picture effect. A common example is that a whirling -firebrand appears to make a complete continuous circle of fire. A -strong light or image of any kind will be visible to the eye for a -moment after the physical stimulus has been removed. - -Aristotle also was interested in color and in a study in this -connection he noted that certain given plants were bleached by the -sun. This was the initial scientific observation in the chain which -ultimately, though indirectly, led to photography. - -Archimedes (287–212 B.C.), a half-century after Aristotle, developed -at Syracuse, then a Greek colony on the island of Sicily, the first -recorded light apparatus, “The Burning Mirrors or Lenses.” Famed as the -first great geometrician, Archimedes is best known for his principle -upon which all ship construction is based--the buoyant force exerted -by a liquid is equal to the weight of the displaced liquid. In other -words, a shaped object of metal, such as a ship, will float if it -displaces a sufficient quantity of water. King Hiero of Syracuse, a -relative of Archimedes, gave him the problem of determining whether or -not a new crown he had received was made of pure gold, as ordered, or -whether the gold had been mixed with silver. This would have been no -task at all if the King had not been fond of the crown and wished the -information secured without damaging it in any way. As was the custom -in those days, Archimedes considered the problem one afternoon at the -local bath which served the double function of promoting cleanliness -and of fostering every kind of discussion. It was the gentlemen’s club -of the day and place. - -Archimedes liked to bathe with a tub full of water and this particular -afternoon he noted that a considerable amount of water was spilled over -the sides of the tub as he stepped in. He immediately and correctly -concluded that there was a relation between the mass of his body and -the weight of the water displaced. Then according to tradition he -rushed home, through the streets of Syracuse, naked, in order to test -the King’s crown, shouting “Eureka--I have found it.” - -This talented Greek was keenly aware of his scientific prowess and -was not a man to keep his ideas secret. He promised to lift the world -with a lever (the principle of which he had developed scientifically) -provided someone would furnish him a fulcrum. There were no takers. - -When Archimedes was 73 years old and respected throughout the civilized -world for his work in mathematics and science, the Roman invader -Marcellus lay siege to Syracuse. At the beginning of the two long -years of struggle, Archimedes put aside his theoretical work and with -the vigor of a youth helped to defend the city, inventing numerous -engines of war for the purpose. In this he was the real pioneer of the -scientists of our own day who perfected in wartime the atomic bomb, -radar and other devices. - -Archimedes’ most important development in his martial pursuits was the -Great Burning Glasses or Lenses upon which much of his fame has since -rested. According to tradition, the Great Burning Glasses of Archimedes -were used to burn the fleets of Marcellus, acting on the same principle -used by the modern Boy Scout or woodsman in starting a fire with a -pocket magnifying glass. - -The efficacy of Archimedes’ lenses for burning purposes has been argued -for centuries. This much is certain: they did not succeed in their -purpose for Marcellus sacked the city in 212 B.C., after the walls had -been stormed. Archimedes was killed but after his death he was honored -even by the invader Marcellus, who ordered a monument erected over his -grave. - -One explanation is that the Burning Glasses of Archimedes were used in -what would now be called psychological warfare. Archimedes knew how -to construct glasses, systems that would set small fires at a close -range; the enemy knew this. So what better ruse would there be than -to construct a gigantic Burning Glass atop the highest building of -Syracuse, clearly in view of the enemy fleet and let the intelligence -report leak out that on such and such a day Archimedes was going to -burn up the whole fleet and raise the siege? One can imagine what -the effect was on the sailors and officers of the fleet, including -Marcellus himself. Archimedes’ strategy might have prolonged the -defense through a great part of the two years in which the city -resisted. The main problem, of course, and suspicion in the minds -of the enemy was--could Archimedes actually burn the fleet with his -mysterious mirrors and lenses? (Illustration facing page 32.) - -The possibility of actual use of the Burning Glasses to start fires -on the ships of an invader was not entirely dismissed by Athanasius -Kircher who made a special trip to Syracuse in 1636 to study the -problem on the spot. He wrote in the same book in which the magic -lantern is described that he had constructed a burning glass or lens -which started a fire at a distance of 12 feet and that a friend of his, -Manfred Septal, on February 15, 1645, shortly before Kircher’s book was -completed, had started a fire at 15 paces. - -Kircher did not believe burning glasses could be used to start a fire -at a great distance as claimed by some scientists and experimenters. He -said that Cardano’s story of burning at 1,000 paces was ridiculous, as -were exaggerated claims of Porta. But Kircher did point out that there -may be something of truth in the original story of Archimedes because, -in his opinion, ships of the attacking force would be anchored just off -the walls of the city, perhaps only 25 to 50 feet away. This was done -so the full force of the fleet’s armament of the day could be thrown -against the defenders on the walls and yet the men of the ships would -be out of range of hand-to-hand encounters with the Syracusans. - -Kircher reasoned that a great Burning Glass could start a fire in a -ship right under the walls of the city if the glass were mounted on top -of a nearby building. It is likely that at the most Archimedes would -have been able to start only a small fire on the sail of one of the -enemy’s ships. - -Archimedes’ Burning Glasses are the only real ancient optical -instruments about which we have a contemporary or nearly contemporary -record. These early water-filled glasses were the first projection -lenses. Archimedes’ Burning Glasses played an important part in the -developments which led to the modern motion picture because, without -lenses for the projection, films would be nothing but peep-shows, -visible to one person at a time. Without lenses our cameras would -be very crude instruments. In a true sense the focused mirror or -lens burning glass is the foundation of every kind of camera and all -projection work. - -Aristotle and Archimedes and other Greek scientists, including Euclid, -who is credited with being the first to demonstrate that light travels -in straight lines, opened the book of knowledge of the light and shadow -art. - -Ptolemy who flourished at Alexandria around 130 A.D. was the greatest -scientist of his era and his influence was powerful for fifteen -centuries. It was he who developed the Ptolemaic theory which viewed -the earth as the center of the universe, with the sun and other -bodies revolving around it. That theory very naturally tended to -increase man’s idea of his own importance. Ptolemy was a geographer -and mathematician as well as an astronomer. His great work was called -_Almagest_ by the Arabs. Ptolemy discussed the persistence of vision, -the laws of reflection and made studies of refraction. - -The poor tools then available and inaccurate understanding of some -basic principles prevented in ancient days the discovery of devices -capable of capturing the illusion of motion. History played its part, -too. - -After the stimulus given to all knowledge by the Greeks, little -interest in the arts and sciences was taken anywhere for a long time. -Then in the 9th century the scholarship of Greece was advanced by the -Arabs, from whom Europe began to receive it in the 12th century. During -the early Middle Ages, the real “Dark Ages” when barbarian hordes -overran much of Europe, the seat of learning was in the Near East, in -Arabia and Persia. - -Today it may be difficult for some to attribute great intellectual -advance to a people often associated in the common mind with desert -life and the crudities of camel transport. But around the year 850 A.D. -the most elaborate courts of the world, and keenest scholarship, were -in the Near East. The latest of the ancient pioneers in magic shadows, -the fourth “A”, was Alhazen, the Arab. - -Alhazen (Abu Ali Alhasan Ibn Alhasan, Ibnu-l-Haitam or Ibn Al-Haitan) -was the greatest Arab scientist in the field of optics and vision. Born -in 965 at Basra, Arabian center of commerce and learning, near the -Persian Gulf, Alhazen from an early age devoted himself to science of a -practical rather than theoretical nature. He was what would be called a -civil engineer in our day. - -At the invitation of the King of Egypt, Alhazen undertook the gigantic -task of regulating the Nile. He was indeed a man of courage. Even back -in those days the floods of that great river were a serious menace to -lives and property, and control was attempted. But it was not until -modern times that any successful regulation of the flood waters of the -Nile was effected, and this was under the skill of British engineering; -so Alhazen should not be blamed for his failure. - -Alhazen went to Egypt and made preliminary calculations. He saw that -the task was impossible with available tools, men and knowledge, but -to admit failure in those days usually meant losing a life--one’s own. -Absolute rulers did not like to have agreements broken. Alhazen feigned -madness and escaped. By pretending to lose his head he saved his life. - -Despite his failure with the Nile, Alhazen is regarded as the first -great discoverer in optics after the time of Ptolemy. The Arabs were -enthusiastic followers of Aristotle and also knew of the work of -Archimedes, Ptolemy and other Greek scholars. - -Alhazen’s great work, _Opticae Thesaurus Alhazeni Arabis_, was first -printed in 1572 but manuscript copies of the _De Aspectibus_ or -_Perspectiva_ and the _De Crepusculis & Nubium Ascensionibus_ had found -their way about the late 12th century into all the great libraries of -the Middle Ages and his influence on all subsequent work in optics was -great and widespread. The book is very curious, covering a multitude of -subjects. Alhazen studied images, the various kinds of shadows and even -attempted to calculate the size of the earth. He is credited with being -the first to explain successfully the apparent increase of heavenly -bodies near the horizon--the familiar phenomenon of the great sun at -sunset and the huge harvest moon as it comes up in the East. Light also -was extensively considered by Alhazen and he treated its use, setting -down many rules on reflection and refraction. He recognized the element -of time necessary to complete the act of vision; in other words, the -persistence of vision or the time lag. He gave a description of the -lens’ magnifying power as he was familiar with various lenses and -mirrors. - -But, perhaps of most importance, Alhazen was the first to note in some -detail the workings of the human eye. Alhazen discussed how we see but -one picture even though we have two eyes, both functioning at the same -time. He is also one of the authorities who made it possible for later -scholars to know that the Greeks and Phoenicians knew and understood -the simpler optical phenomena. - -It would be expecting too much to hope that Alhazen’s work would be -unmixed with error. At his time and for centuries later, on account -of the lack of suitable instruments and knowledge of what was being -sought, the imagination was relied on more than it should have been in -an exact science. - -In early days much of the advance in learning had to be reasoned out -and then verified, if possible, by experiments. Now we reverse the -process. Our scientists experiment first by observing phenomena under -all sorts of conditions and then later try to reason to a satisfactory -explanation which, even with all our learning, cannot always be found. -In fact, the underlying explanation of many of the commonest things in -life escape us. For example, we do not know a great deal more than the -ancients about the ultimate constituents of matter, the nature of light -or how our senses really work. - -Alhazen did valuable work himself but was far more important as the -inspiration for study in optics for the greatest scientist of the -Middle Ages, the first experimental scientist and one of the greatest -Englishmen of all time, Roger Bacon. - - - - -_II_ - -FRIAR BACON’S MAGIC - - _Roger Bacon, English monk of the 13th - Century, studies the ancients--and the - Greeks--and inaugurates the scientific - study of magic shadows and devices for - creating them._ - - -Roger Bacon made a great contribution to human knowledge, especially -in scientific matters. Yet this great philosopher and scientist was -generally regarded as “Friar Bacon,” a mad monk who played with magic -and dealt with the powers of darkness. This myth persisted even though -Bacon’s contemporaries had bestowed upon him the title of “Doctor -Mirabilis.” Studies made in the 19th century and the first part of this -century have tended to confirm him in his proper high place in history. - -Roger Bacon was born at Ilchester in Somersetshire, England, about -1214, the year before the Magna Charta was signed. In those days -serious education began early. When Bacon was 12 or 13 he was sent -to Oxford. Later on he continued his studies at Paris. In his youth -Bacon’s family gave him the considerable sums he needed for his -education. - -After completing his studies, Bacon was a professor at Oxford and -then entered the Franciscan Order. As a monk he found the pursuit of -learning somewhat more difficult even though the libraries of the -religious orders were the best of the period and most of the learned -men were ecclesiastics. After having taken a vow of poverty Bacon -had difficulty in obtaining from some of his superiors money to buy -pens and pay copyists. Certain authorities did not look with complete -satisfaction on his experimental science investigations and they liked -even less his barbed comments on other philosophers of the day. - -Bacon as a member of the Franciscan Order found himself confronted -with the rule requiring his superiors’ permission to publish any work. -However, Pope Clement IV, a Frenchman, had the requirement lifted so -far as Bacon was concerned by personally communicating with him and -asking him to publish his studies. When that Pope was Cardinal Guy le -Gros de Foulques (or Foulquois), the Papal Delegate in England, he had -been impressed with Bacon’s scholarship. - -Following the Pope’s command, Bacon set out to do the job. After some -difficulty in obtaining money for pens and copyists, the three great -works, _Opus Majus_, _Minus_ and _Tertium_ (1267–68) were completed in -the almost unbelievable time of 18 months. These, together with his -short book, “Concerning the marvelous power of art and nature and the -ineffectiveness of magic”--also known as “Letter concerning the secret -works of art and nature”--are his best known writings. - -As soon as his first book was completed Bacon sent it off to the Pope -in care of his friend, John of Paris. Unfortunately, Pope Clement IV -died within a year of receiving Bacon’s book and no official papal -action was taken in connection with his scientific opinions. Bacon -continued to teach, study and experiment at Oxford where he held for a -time the office of Chancellor. Some say he was eventually imprisoned; -the record is not clear. - -The most interesting part of Bacon’s work, so far as motion picture -prehistory is concerned, is contained in his letter “On the Power of -Art and Nature and Magic.” It is in this work that Bacon speaks of the -many wonderful devices he knows about and which would be in service in -the future. Here we read of self-propelled vehicles, under-water craft, -flying machines, gun-powder (the idea of which probably came from the -East), lenses, microscopes, telescopes. Bacon claimed that he had seen -all these wonderful things with the exception of the flying machine. -But even this did not leave him at a loss, for he tells us that he has -seen drawings by a man who has it all worked out on paper! - -In that book of Bacon there is also the theory of going westward to -India--the idea that later resulted in the discovery of America. The -idea, therefore, was not original with Christopher Columbus. Bacon -deserves great credit, for his views at least had a direct influence. -His statements were used without credit by Pierre d’Ailly in his _Imago -Mundi_, published in 1480. We know Columbus consulted this work, for he -quoted a passage in his letter to Ferdinand and Isabella when seeking -financial support for the voyage. And it was the very passage of Bacon, -stolen by d’Ailly, which Columbus used to drive home his arguments with -the King and Queen of Spain. - -Bacon devoted ten whole years to the study of optics and some of his -best work was done in that field. The principal influence on Bacon -in this subject was the work of Alhazen, the Arab. The concentration -of rays and the principal focus, knowledge necessary for fine camera -work, as well as good picture projection, were familiar to Bacon. This -was an advance over Euclid, Ptolemy and Alhazen. Bacon recognized that -light had a measurable speed. Up to that time most men thought that the -speed of light was infinite. (Measurements were not made until the 19th -century.) Bacon also studied the optical illusions pertaining to motion -and rest, fundamental for the motion picture. He belonged to the school -of vision study that believed we see by something shot out from the -objects viewed. This is directly opposed to the idea of Lucretius and -others who held that something was shot out of the eye to make sight -possible. There is no evidence that Bacon actually invented a telescope -but he certainly was aware of the principle. He planned a combination -of lenses which would bring far things near. - -Roger Bacon has often been called the inventor of the _camera obscura_, -or “dark room,” which is the heart of the system for taking and -exhibiting pictures. (Illustration facing page 40.) - -However, the original of the modern box pin-hole camera in its simplest -form is only a dark room with a very small hole in one wall, and was -never actually invented. The phenomenon of an image of what was on -the outside appearing upside down in a dark room was surely a natural -discovery first observed in the remote past. The “dark room” can -easily be considered as a giant box camera with the spectator inside -the box. An inverted image of the scene outside appears on the wall or -floor with the light coming through a small circular opening, as in a -“pin-hole” camera. - -Record of the first use of the “dark room” for entertainment or -science has been lost in the dim past. As late as 1727 the French -_Dictionnaire Universel_ suggested, in desperation, that Solomon -himself must have invented the room camera. Until the 13th century, the -images in the room camera were faint and upside down because no lens -system was used. In ancient days and through the Middle Ages the camera -was a wonderful and terrifying thing. The theatre always was some small -darkened room. With a brilliant sun and the necessary small hole and a -white wall or floor, the outside scene would be projected. Spectators -and students certainly were thrilled and awed. - -The Romans learned about the camera from the Greeks, who probably had -obtained the knowledge from the East where, with brilliant sun in which -the best results could be obtained, it is likely the effects were first -noticed. Such learned Arabs as Alhazen are believed to have had a -knowledge of the use of the room camera, but Alhazen did not leave any -good description of it in his writings. - -To Bacon must go the credit for the first description of the camera -used for scientific purposes. Two Latin manuscripts, attributed to him -or one of his pupils, in which the use of the room camera to observe -an eclipse is described, have been found in the French National -Library. It was pointed out that this method makes it possible for the -astronomer to observe the eclipse without endangering his eyesight by -staring at the sun. - -It is certain Bacon used a mirror-lens device for entertainment and -instruction. In his _Perspectiva_ there appears the following passage: - - Mirrors can be so arranged that, as often as we wish, any object, - either in the house or the street, can be made to appear. Anyone - looking at the images formed by the mirrors will see something - real but when he goes to the place where the object seems to be - he will find nothing. For the mirrors are so cleverly arranged - in relation to the object that the images appear to be in space, - formed there by the union of the visible rays. And the spectators - will run to the place of the apparitions where they think the - objects actually are, but will find nothing but an illusion of - the object. - -Bacon’s description is not clear: the effects and not the apparatus -are described. The words could apply to a variation of the camera -principle but it seems more likely that only a mirror system, related -to the modern periscope, was used. The device did not achieve -projection in the strict sense. Bacon’s description clearly states that -through the use of mirrors objects were made to appear where they were -not. In effect, this reminds us of the illusion of the modern motion -picture. There are stories that native people when first seeing motion -pictures, attempt to run up to the screen and greet the pictures. It is -only through experience that they learn the characters are not actually -alive on the screen. - -Bacon knew that light and shadow instruments were not always used for -worthy purposes of entertainment or instruction but were also used to -deceive. He vigorously attacked the practices of necromancy--showing -the correctness of his position even though in gossip his name has been -linked with the “Black Art”, as was Kircher’s four centuries later. - -“For there are persons,” Bacon wrote, “who by a swift movement of their -limbs or a changing of their voice or by fine instruments or darkness -or the cooperation of others produce apparitions, and thus place before -mortals marvels which have not the truth of actual existence.” Bacon -added that the world was full of such fakers. It is not surprising that -those skilled in the black arts tried to use the strange medium of -light and shadow to impose upon the ignorant and unwary. - -The death of Roger Bacon in 1294 was the passing of one of the greatest -men in the history of light and shadow. With him the art-science had -reached a point at which magic shadow entertainment devices could be -built. Friar Bacon did much more to prepare the way for devices which -were not to be perfected for centuries than merely make a contribution -to the knowledge of light, lenses and mirrors. He blazed the way for -all later experimental scientists. Up to his time emphasis had been -placed on theoretical, speculative thinking. Bacon showed that science -must be based on practical experimentation as the foundation for its -principles. - - - - -_III_ - -DA VINCI’S CAMERA - - _Italy of the Renaissance dominates - magic shadow development_--_Leonardo da - Vinci describes in detail the_ camera - obscura--_Inventions are by Alberti, - Maurolico, Cesariano and Cardano._ - - -To the giant of the Renaissance, Leonardo da Vinci, must go the credit -for being the first to determine and record the principles of the -_camera obscura_, or “dark room”, basic instrument of all photography. -Da Vinci lived in a wondrous age. Michelangelo was painting and -sculpturing his unparalleled creations. Raphael was at work. The -Italians of the Renaissance led the world in a new culture. The torch -of learning and art once held high in Greece, then at ancient Rome, -later by the Arabs, was carried high in Italy of the late Middle Ages. - -Together with the general Renaissance in Italy there was a rebirth of -interest in optics and especially light and shadow demonstrations and -devices. The new activity had come after a second “dark age” of nearly -two centuries, from the time of Roger Bacon to da Vinci. After this -“dark age” the room box-camera was “rediscovered” in Italy. Of course, -as noted above, since the camera had never been invented in the usual -sense of the term, it was not actually “rediscovered” either. It is -likely that da Vinci and others received their stimulus in this general -subject from Bacon and perhaps Alhazen or Witelo. - -The renewed interest in scenic beauty in the Renaissance suggested -work with a portable camera, as it was found to be an excellent aid in -painting and drawing the beauties of nature. - -Leone Battista Alberti (1404–1472), a Florentine ecclesiastic and -artist, was the first Italian to make a notable contribution to the -magic shadow story. Alberti, like the greater da Vinci, had many -talents. A native of Florence, he grew up in an atmosphere of artistic -culture. He was a priest, poet, musician, painter and sculptor, but -most noted as an architect. He wrote _De Re Aedificatoria_, “Concerning -architecture or building”, published after his death in 1485 and many -other works, including _Della Famiglia_, “The Family”. - -Alberti completed work on the Pitti Palace in Florence but his best -design is said to be the St. Francis Church at Rimini. He also designed -the new facade of St. Maria Novella Church at Florence and is believed -to be the architect of the unfinished courtyard at the Palazzo Venezia -which nearly 500 years later was the office of the late and unlamented -Benito Mussolini. His painting, “La Visitazione”, is in the Uffizi -gallery. As an ecclesiastic, Alberti was Canon of the Metropolitan -Church of Florence in 1447 and later was Abbot of the San Sovino -monastery, Pisa. - -But it was as an artist that Alberti made his contribution to the art -and science of light and shadows. He invented the _camera lucida_, -a machine which aided artists and painters by reflecting images and -scenes to be painted or drawn. The device, a modification of the “dark -room”, could also be used to make it easy to copy a design. In a -sense, the _camera lucida_ was the forerunner of the modern blue-print -duplicator. After Alberti had made his original drawings, an assistant, -with the aid of the device, could rapidly copy them and give duplicates -to the builders for use on the construction job. - -Vasari’s _Lives of Painters, Sculptors and Architects_ is the chief -source of information about Alberti. That writer said Alberti was -more anxious for invention than for fame and had more interest in -experimenting than in publishing his results. This is an attempt to -explain why Alberti’s own words of description of his _camera lucida_ -are not preserved. - -Alberti was said to have written on the art of representation, -explaining his “depictive showings” which “spectators found -unbelievable”. According to Vasari’s description it would appear that -Alberti used a form of the _camera obscura_ or room box-camera but -introduced special scenes such as paintings of mountains and the seas -and the stars. In this way Alberti sought to introduce a touch of -showmanship into the performances of the room camera which up to this -time was used chiefly for observation of eclipses and other scientific -purposes. - -Though Alberti died when Leonardo da Vinci was a young man, it is -certain that Leonardo knew of him, as they were natives of the same -city. Perhaps da Vinci had even attended some of Alberti’s magic -shadows exhibitions. - -Leonardo di Ser Piero da Vinci was born near Florence in 1452 and died -near Amboise, France, in 1519. In 1939, 420 years after his death, a -great exhibition of the master’s works was held at Milan and parts of -it were shown in the next year at the Museum of Science and Industry -in Rockefeller Center, New York. The Milan exhibit included works in -the following fields: studies and drawings in mathematics, astronomy, -geology, geodesy, cosmography, map-making, hydraulics, botany, anatomy, -optics (including proof of Alhazen’s problem of measuring the angle of -reflection of light), acoustics, mechanics, and flying; not to mention -sculpture, painting, drawing, sketches, architecture, town planning and -military arts and sciences. - -Da Vinci is best known today for his paintings, such as the renowned -“Last Supper”, beloved everywhere, and the “Mona Lisa”. He was one of -the truly universal geniuses. There was little indeed that he could not -do. - -Leonardo’s study of optics and perspective was reported in his -_Treatise on Painting_, written about 1515 and first published at Paris -in 1651, but well known prior to that time through manuscript copies. -Da Vinci has been a great trial to the students and historians, for -he wrote in his own special form of shorthand which was found to be -extremely hard to decipher. - -Da Vinci experimented with the _camera obscura_ and wrote an accurate -scientific description of it, preparing the way for the men who were -to make the machine a practical medium. Vasari in his famous _Life of -Leonardo_ points out that he gave his attention to mirrors and learned -how they operated and how images were formed. But more important -than this, he studied the human eye and was the first to explain it -accurately, using the camera as his model, and in this way he really -learned the fundamentals of its functional principles. To this day the -camera is explained in simplest terms as a mechanical eye and the human -eye is explained as a marvelous, natural camera. Da Vinci also noted -the effects of visible impressions on the eye. - -Roger Bacon was undoubtedly Leonardo’s master in optics and this is -a definite link in the chain of the growing knowledge of light and -shadow and of devices which would create illusions for instruction and -entertainment. It has been pointed out that Leonardo and Roger Bacon -had much in common--both being so far ahead of their own times that -they were not understood until centuries later. And both men believed -passionately in scientific research and investigation. As an example, -Leonardo would spend hours, days or even weeks studying a muscle of an -animal appearing in the background of a painting so that it could be -drawn perfectly. As a concrete link with Bacon, Leonardo described a -mirror camera device which made it possible for people on the inside to -see the passerby in the street outside. Bacon, you may recall, achieved -and described a similar effect. - -Within two years after da Vinci’s death two other Italians, Maurolico -and Cesariano, advanced the magic shadow art-science by writing -scientific and experimental discussions of the subject. Somewhat later -another Italian, Cardano, made another contribution. - -Francesco Maurolico (Maurolycus), 1494–1575, a mathematician of -Messina, and the great astronomer of his day, wrote _De Subtilitate_, -about 1520, in which Pliny, Albertus Magnus, and Leonardo da Vinci -are mentioned. The material included a mathematical, rather than -experimental, discussion of light, mirrors and light theatres. This -last subject shows that the use of light and shadow for theatrical -purposes was being rapidly advanced. In 1521, Maurolico was said -to have finished _Theoremata de lumine et umbra ad perspectivam et -radiorum incidentiam facientia_, which was published in 1611 at Naples -and in 1613 at Leyden. This book explained how a compound microscope -could be fashioned. Men were now learning how to use lenses and how to -make better ones so necessary for satisfactory projection of images. - -[Illustration: - - Ars Magna Lucis et Umbrae, 1646 - -_BURNING GLASSES of Archimedes were ancient optical devices. They were -used in the defense of Syracuse in 212 B. C. Some type of glass or lens -is required in every camera or projector._] - -Proposition 20 of the book was entitled “An object’s shadow can be -converted and projected.” The author pointed out that if an object -between a light and an opening is moved one way its shadow appears to -move the other. He then went on to explain the reasons for Aristotle’s -square hole and round sun. He also showed accurately the relation of -images and objects which was fundamental for understanding how to focus -lenses and mirrors. - -[Illustration: - - Self portrait. Royal Palace, Turin - -_LEONARDO DA VINCI, famed Renaissance painter and sculptor, explained -how to use the camera and described its relationship to the human eye._] - -Later astronomers credit Maurolico with having described the -application of the _camera obscura_ method to an observation of -eclipses (but this was done for the first recorded time by Bacon or his -contemporaries). Maurolico knew the works of Bacon and John Peckham, -another English Franciscan monk of the 13th century, and studied both -carefully. In 1535 he wrote _Cosmographia_ and in later life studied -the rays of light that make the phenomenon of the images appearing in -a _camera obscura_, or any camera, possible without mentioning the -apparatus or device or describing it. Being a mathematician primarily -he was interested in that side of the problem and was not a practical -demonstrator or showman. - -Cesare Cesariano, an architect, painter and writer on art, made a -reference to a light and shadow device which curiously has never been -adequately explained. Cesariano was born in Milan in 1483 and died -there on March 30, 1543. In 1528 he became architect to Carlo V and in -1533 architect to the city of Milan. In 1521 he designed the beautiful -cathedral of Como. - -While at Como, Cesariano prepared a translation and commentary on the -_Architectura_ of Vitruvius, architect to Emperor Augustus, whose -classic on the subject was rediscovered in the 15th century. Vitruvius’ -book included a chapter on “Acoustic Properties of a Theatre”--a good -subject for study even today. Cesariano’s edition was published at -Como in 1521 with a note saying that after the sudden departure of the -translator and commentator from Como the work was finished by Bruono -Mariro and Benedetto Giovio. It was considered a marvelous work, to be -in the vernacular and not in Latin. At this period people wanted to -have books in their own language and not in Latin. - -While commenting on the word, _spectaculum_, translated as a “sighting -tube”, Cesariano described how a Benedictine monk and architect, Don -Papnutio or Panuce, made a little sighting tube and fitted it into a -small hole made for the purpose in a door. It was so arranged that no -light could enter the room except through the small tube. The result -was that outside objects were seen, with their own colors, in what -really was a natural camera system. Of course, the images were upside -down, as in any camera, without a special lens arrangement, but this -fact was not noted by Cesariano. - -The whole matter is perplexing. What is described is a “dark room” -camera which, as has been observed, was never actually invented or -discovered and was known for centuries. This Benedictine monk and -architect may have made some refinements by carefully fitting the small -opening to admit the light but that is all. At about this time, or a -little earlier, the principles of the camera were set down by Leonardo -da Vinci. The writer and other researchers have not been able to -discover any trace of Benedettano Don Papnutio or Panuce. He certainly -did not write any books or his name would be known to history and it -would be possible to find more information about him and his work. -There is no record of him in the Benedictine bibliography. Guillaume -Libri, Italian writer, who worked in Paris in the 19th century and, -incidentally, was charged with stealing da Vinci’s manuscripts, said, -“I have not so far been able to ascertain who Don Panuce was, or when -he lived.” Libri asserted that at any rate Leonardo’s observation of -the _camera obscura_ must have been made before Cesariano saw or heard -about this monk. However, Cesariano seems to have the record for the -first published account of how to make a workable _camera obscura_. - -Girolamo or Hieronimo Cardano (1501–1576) was an Italian physician -and mathematician who has been described by Cajori, the mathematical -historian, as “a singular mixture of genius, folly, self-conceit and -mysticism.” He lectured in medicine at the Universities of Milan, Paris -and Bologna. In 1571, after having been, according to some, jailed for -debt the year before, he was pensioned by the Pope and went to Rome to -continue special work in medicine. - -Cardano’s contribution to motion picture pre-history was made in his -_De Subtilitate_, published at Nuremberg in 1550. He showed how a -concave mirror could be used to produce quite a wonderful show:--“If -you wish to see what is happening on the street, put a small round -glass at the window when the sun is bright and after the window has -been shut one can see dim images on the opposite wall.” He went on to -explain how the images could be doubled, then quadrupled and how other -strange appearances of things and one’s self could be devised with a -concave mirror. He remarked that the images appeared upside down. This, -of course, is another description of the _camera obscura_, with a few -additional points for recreational and instructional purposes. It -will be noted that Cardano’s description is very like those of Bacon, -Leonardo and Cesariano. - -Now da Vinci’s camera, the original “dark room” camera and progenitor -of the modern pin-hole box camera, was ready for showmen to turn it to -successful uses. Just after the middle of the 16th century, a young -Neapolitan was prepared to spread the knowledge of the sporting use of -the device throughout the world. - - - - -_IV_ - -PORTA, FIRST SCREEN SHOWMAN - - _Porta, a Neapolitan, blends - fancy and showmanship for magic - shadow entertainments in the 16th - century--Barbaro and Benedetti put a - lens in the “pin-hole” camera or_ camera - obscura. - - -The first contact of the new dramatic art, then being developed in -Europe and especially in England, with the magic shadow medium was made -by a remarkable Neapolitan, Giovanni Battista della Porta. - -Porta, a boy wonder, who would have felt at home in the modern -Hollywood, put the room camera to theatrical uses. In a way Porta was -both the last of the necromancers, who used lens and mirror devices to -deceive, and the first legitimate screen writer and producer of light -and shadow plays with true entertainment values. - -Porta was born in Naples about the year 1538. He and his brother, -Vincenzo, were educated by their uncle Adriano Spatafore, a learned -man. The uncle had considerable wealth, which enabled young Porta -to travel extensively and have the best available instructors. From -boyhood Porta’s chief interests were the stage and magic. - -At an early age he started writing for the theatre and his comedies -are rated with the best produced in Italy in the 16th century. But -even before he began his professional writing for the stage, he had -developed an interest in magic and anything approaching the magical. -This avocation was developed during the rest of his life. - -Porta was very fond of secrets and secret societies, founding the -Academy of Secrets at Naples. He was also a member of the Roman Academy -of the Lynxes, scientific society founded in 1603--named for its -trademark. Even magic inks for secret writing were an attraction to him. - -For years it was generally believed that Porta invented the _camera -obscura_ but, as we have seen, it was known long before he was born. At -the time of the discovery of photography Porta’s title to the invention -of the camera was discussed and it was definitely established that -while he made some refinements and, of course, devised some special -uses, he had nothing to do with its invention. - -When about 15, Porta began the investigations which led to the writing -of _Magia Naturalis, sive de Miraculis Rerum Naturalium_, “Natural -Magic, or the wonders of natural things.” The material was published -five years later, at Naples, in four “books”, or large chapters. -Through the years he increased his notes on the subject and in 1589 the -work was printed in twenty chapters. - -Porta’s _Natural Magic_ was a popular book, a best-seller of the -day. It was first translated into English and published in London -in 1658. It was also translated into many other languages. _Natural -Magic_ contains a wide variety of subjects, including developments in -the light and shadow art-science. Porta published the first detailed -explanation of the construction and use of the _camera obscura_ in the -fourth “book”. - -“A system by which you can see, in their own colors, in the darkness -objects outdoors lighted by the sun,” was Porta’s title for the -section. He continued: - - If anyone wishes to see this effect, all the windows should be - closed, and it would be helpful if the cracks were sealed so that - no light may enter to ruin the show. Then in one window make a - small opening in the form of a cone with the sun at the base and - facing the room. Whiten the walls of the room or cover them with - white linen or paper. In this way you will see all things outside - lighted by the sun, as those walking in the streets, as if their - feet were upwards, the right and left of the objects will be - reversed and all things will seem interchanged. And the further - the screen is from the opening, proportionately the larger the - objects will appear; the closer the paper screen or tablet, is - drawn to the hole, the smaller the objects will appear. - -Porta also had an explanation of the persistence of vision, so far as -it was then understood. As an example, he mentioned that after walking -in the bright sun it is difficult to discern objects in the darkness, -until our eyes become accustomed to the change--and then we can see -clearly in the dim light. To see the natural colors, Porta proposed the -use of a concave mirror as the screen for the camera images. He then -discussed phenomena resulting from the principal focus of the mirror. -He tried to use the parallel to show how we see things rightside up -instead of upside down. But his knowledge was not sufficient for that -purpose, for he held that the seat of vision was at the center of the -eye, as the focus of a concave mirror or lens system. In this he was -not correct, according to modern experiments, but at least it was a -plausible theory. - -As a third point in his description of uses of the natural camera -Porta said, “Anyone not knowing how to draw can outline the form of -any object through the means of a stylus.” Here was Alberti’s _camera -lucida_, or the camera adopted for the use of painters and designers. -Porta instructed his readers to learn the colors of the object and then -when it was thrown on the screen it would be easy to trace and paint -in natural colors. He pointed out another interesting and important -fact--a candle or lamp could be used as the light source instead of the -sun. - -Porta concluded his account of 1558 with an assertion that the system -could be used to deceive and to do tricks through the aid of other -devices. His last words on the subject were confusing: “Those who have -attempted these experiments have produced nothing but trifles, and I -do not think it has been invented by anyone else up to now.” Earlier -in his account he mentioned that he was now revealing what he thought -should be kept a secret. - -Roger Bacon, Alberti and Leonardo da Vinci and others were figuratively -watching Porta when he wrote those lines and made those experiments. -Even the same words about seeing people on the streets outside go back -to Bacon, at least; and the use of the camera for drawing to Alberti -and Leonardo. It is not clear whether or not Porta actually wished his -readers to believe that he had invented the _camera obscura_ which he -described or that he had merely found some interesting applications. -Perhaps he wanted the whole matter considered a secret. - -But though Porta borrowed from the ancients without giving them credit, -he deserves praise for publishing descriptions, following tests which -he himself must have made. As in all sciences, the prehistory of the -motion picture had experimenters and popularizes--and not infrequently -the two functions were separated by a considerable period. - -The developments claimed by Porta in the second edition of _Natural -Magic_ published in 1589 had been described previously by others. Once -again he was a copier and popularizer rather than an inventor and -discoverer. And that seems proper for a man who was by profession a -playwright with a hobby interest in secret things, especially those -relating to natural phenomena. - -During the three decades prior to 1589, important developments were -made in the science of optics. Both Barbaro and Benedetti described -_camera obscura_ systems fitted with lenses to improve the images, and -E. Danti, an editor and translator, explained in 1573 how an upright, -instead of an upside down, image could be shown through the use of a -lens-mirror system. - -Monsignor Daniello Barbaro published at Venice, in 1568, _La Pratica -della Perspettiva_, “The Practice of Perspective”, a book on optics. -He describes the instrument designed by Alberti, the _camera lucida_, -and gives an illustration of it. As in the case of Benedetti, Barbaro’s -chief title to memory is that he introduced the projection lens to -the natural camera, thereby enlarging its scope. Without any lenses -even a modern camera would give only inferior results and motion -pictures would not be practical. It is also said Barbaro introduced the -diaphragm, which is very important as a means of controlling the light -in the camera. - -Giovanni Battista Benedetti, a patrician of Venice, 1530–90, published -at Turin a book called _Diversarum Speculationum Mathematicarum et -Physicarum Liber_, “A Book of Various Mathematical and Physical -Speculations”, in which was included the first complete and clear -description of the _camera obscura_ equipped with a lens. The date of -the volume was 1585, four years before Porta published his revised -edition. - -Benedetti used a double convex lens. His first knowledge of optics -came from a study of Archimedes, whom he admired greatly. But his -learning was not confined to optics. He influenced the great Descartes -in geostatics, studying the laws of inertia and making the contribution -of the path taken by a body going off from a revolving circle, i.e., -tangent. In 1553 he reported that bodies in a vacuum fall with the same -velocity. - -Benedetti’s description of the _camera obscura_ included details on -how to make the images appear upright. The material is contained in a -printed letter to Pierro de Arzonis. First Benedetti discusses light -and the fact that a greater light overshadows a smaller, “just as by -day the stars cannot be seen.” He then pointed out that if the light -were controlled in a camera the outside images could be seen, but if -the rays of the sun were allowed to enter (as by making the opening -hole too large) then the images would “more or less vanish according to -the strength or weakness of the solar rays.” - -Benedetti continued: - - I do not wish to keep any remarkable effect of this system a - secret from you ... the round opening the size of one small - mirror may be filled in with one of those spectacles which are - made for old people (but not the kind for those of short sight), - but one whose both surfaces are convex, not concave. Then set - up a white sheet of paper (as the screen), so far back from the - opening that the objects on the outside may appear on it. And if - indeed these outside objects are illuminated by the sun they will - be seen so clearly and distinctly that nothing will seem to be - more beautiful or more delightful. The only objection is that the - objects will appear inverted. But if we wish to see those objects - upright, this can be done best by interposing another plane - mirror. - -In the revised and expanded edition of his _Natural Magic_, Porta gave -a more complete description of the uses of the camera. Part of the text -was identical with the earlier accounts; part was new. - -[Illustration: - - Ars Magna Lucis et Umbrae, 1646 - -_CAMERA OBSCURA, the natural room camera, was accidentally discovered -in antiquity, probably in the Far East. Here is shown an improved -version by Giovanni Battista della Porta, 16th Century Neopolitan -writer, scientist and showman. A translucent sheet was the screen. The -images were upside down and indistinct as no lenses were used. Artists -and entertainers found the apparatus of value._] - -Porta had learned how to make his opening in the single window better -by this time--“make the opening a palm’s size in width and breadth -and glue over this a sheet of lead or bronze which has in the middle -an opening about the size of a finger.” He next pointed out that the -outside objects can be seen clearer and sharper if a crystalline -lens is put in the opening of the camera as suggested by Barbaro and -Benedetti. Porta also mentioned that the insertion of another mirror in -the system would make the images appear upright instead of upside down. - -[Illustration: - - Wissenschaftliche Abhandlungen, 1878 - -_JOHANNES KEPLER developed the scientific principles of the camera and -its use in astronomy._] - -But Porta showed himself a real showman by his final word--describing -how hunting, battles and other illusions may be made to appear in a -room. Here artificial objects and painted scenes were substituted -for the natural outdoors as the pictures for the room camera in a -method originally suggested by Alberti. Porta said, “Nothing can be -more pleasing for important people, dilettants and connoisseurs to -behold.”--An early premiere audience of invited guests! - -Porta recommended the use of miniature models of animals and natural -scenes, the first stage sets for “motion pictures,” with puppet-like -characters. He wrote, “Those present in the show-room will behold the -trees, animals, hunters and other objects without knowing whether they -are true or only illusions.” Porta revealed that he had put on shows -of this kind many times for his friends and the illusions of reality -were so good that the delighted audience could scarcely be told how the -effects were achieved. He also told how the audience could be terrified. - -Porta concluded this account with a description of how to use the -camera in order to observe an eclipse, something which Bacon or one -of his contemporaries had already worked out. Before good instruments -were developed, the room camera was an excellent device to save the -astronomer’s eyesight and still give him a good view of an eclipse. The -giant 200-inch telescope at Palomar in California is closely related to -the original use of the camera for astronomical work. - -There does not seem to be any evidence that Porta developed a portable -camera, the direct ancestor of the modern photographic camera. He also -did not appear to have much success with his lenses, as he found the -concave mirrors as good as or better than a _camera obscura_ with a -lens. - -The general subject of the chapter which included the camera was -“Herein Are Propounded Burning Glasses” “and the Wonderful Sights to be -Seen by Them.” (Recall Archimedes and his Burning Glasses.) Let Porta -tell it: “What could be seen more wonderful, than that by reciprocal -strokes of reflexion, images should appear outwardly hanging in the -air and yet neither the visible object nor the glass seen? that they -may seem not to be repercussions of the glasses, but spirits of vain -phantasms.” - -In a book on refraction, published in 1593, the eye and the _camera -obscura_ were compared by Porta. He also covered refraction, vision, -the rainbow, prismatic colors (all subjects treated by the early -experimenters in optics). - -Porta had a great, though mixed, influence. Even in his own mind he did -not seem able to decide whether the magic shadows should be used to -deceive the public as effects of secret powers or whether they should -be used for genuine entertainment and instruction. - -After Porta, the “dark chamber” was developed for the use of painters -and artists in England and on the continent. - - - - -_V_ - -KEPLER AND THE STARS - - _Kepler, German astronomer, develops the - scientific principles of the_ camera - obscura _and applies magic shadows to - the stars of the heavens--Scheiner and - D’Aguilon improve image devices_. - - -Johannes Kepler, the great astronomer, advanced the art-science of -magic shadows by developing the theory of the projection of images as -well as the scientific use of multiple lenses and the _camera obscura_ -or “dark chamber”. Da Vinci told how the camera could be used; Porta -tried it out for entertainment on a considerable scale but there still -was need for penetrating attention from a scientist. That Kepler -supplied. - -Kepler was a precocious child though he suffered from poor health. -He had no special interest or inclination towards astronomy until in -1594, at the age of 23, he found himself required to teach a class in -that subject. Soon he became an expert and before his death announced -the Kepler laws explaining the planetary system. In 1600 Kepler became -assistant to Tycho Brahe (1546–1601), the greatest practical astronomer -to that date but one who rejected the Copernican theory that the earth -and planets revolve around the sun, a theory which was firmly proved -by Kepler. Brahe lost the tip of his nose in a duel, so he wore a gold -one, carrying with him cement with which to stick on the tip whenever -it fell off. - -A few years after becoming astronomer to the Emperor, Kepler published, -in 1604, _Ad Vitellionem Paralipomena_--“Supplement to Witelo”; Witelo, -a Pole called Thuringopolonus, wrote a treatise on optics about 1270. -He was a contemporary of Roger Bacon. Kepler used da Vinci’s parallel -of the eye and the room camera and set the latter’s principles on a -firm scientific basis. - -Kepler wrote, “This art, according to my knowledge, was first handed -down by Giovanni Battista Porta and was one of the chief parts of his -_Natural Magic_.” (But, as the reader recalls, Porta was not the first -to know about the _camera obscura_ and was not its inventor but only -a popularizer.) “But content with a practical experience,” Kepler -continued, “Porta did not add a scientific demonstration. Yet only by -the use of this device can astronomers study the image of the solar -eclipse.” - -Kepler then described the _camera obscura_ or “dark chamber,” adding an -interesting observation. He proposed that the spectator should keep out -of the daylight for fifteen minutes or a half hour before he planned to -use the camera so that he could get his eyes accustomed to the darkness -in order to observe the images more clearly. Kepler then instructed -that the objects to be represented should be placed in bright light, -either of the sun or lamps. He also noted that the objects were -reversed, and remarked that the images appeared in the colors of the -objects. Kepler also explained that a diaphragm was needed to control -the amount of light admitted to the camera, and that best results were -obtained when the sun was near the horizon. - -A detailed and rather technical explanation of how the camera system -works was given by Kepler. Towards the end of the description he wrote -an important instruction: “All the walls of the camera except the one -used as the screen for the images should be black.” This was necessary -to prevent reflection and dulling of the brilliance of the images on -the white wall or screen. Everyone knows how the insides of a modern -camera are black for the very same purpose. Kepler also noted that -the “camera” must be tightly sealed. He was the first to refer to the -device under the simple name of “camera” which in time was adopted -universally. - -Kepler also was the first to give a sound theory of vision. (Recall -the shot-from-eye or shot-from-object schools of the ancients.) Kepler -stated, “Seeing amounts to feeling the stimulus of the retina which is -painted with colored rays of the visible world. The picture must then -be transmitted to the brain by a mental current and delivered at the -seat of the visual faculty.” That is a rather good definition even by -modern standards. Kepler, however, was not 100 per cent correct. He -held that light had an infinite velocity. To Kepler goes the credit for -being the first correctly to explain after-images, a knowledge of which -is so vital to understanding how the illusion of motion is created. - -Kepler started to use a telescope about 1609 and through its use he -was able to develop improved ideas for the room camera by the time he -published his _Dioptrice_, “Concerning Lenses,” a foundation of modern -optics, in 1611. In that work the basis was first established for what -was later to be long-range or “telescope” photography which makes -possible many important effects in the modern motion picture. - -The telescope, the most highly developed lens system and the reverse of -a projection arrangement, was invented in Holland in the early part of -the 17th century. Galileo, who with Kepler did much to popularize the -telescope, admitted that he had seen one made by a Dutchman before he -fashioned his own. - -The name “telescope” was coined by Damiscian of the Italian scientific -“Academy of the Lynxes,” to which Porta also had belonged. The -invention of the telescope is commonly credited to “the spectacle maker -of Middleburgh,” usually identified as Hans Lippershey. The compound -microscope, effects of which had been indicated by Roger Bacon, -evidently also was invented a few years prior to the telescope--by -Zachary Janssen, in Holland. But it was first described in Italy. Early -telescopes generally followed the model developed by Galileo, while -by the middle of the 17th century the superiority of Kepler’s method -was recognized and larger and more powerful telescopes were possible. -In recent times the telescope has reverted to a mirror--or Burning -Glass--reflecting system instead of the standard style refracting -telescope. - -To a contemporary of Kepler goes the acclaim for being the first to use -the _camera obscura_ apart from a room; in other words, in a portable -form. Thus was the first portable camera developed more than two -hundred years before photography was invented. The man was Scheiner, -another astronomer. - -Christopher Scheiner, a German Jesuit, born about 1575 in Swabia, -did much work in astronomy and perfected various ingenious optical -instruments. Some say he was the first to use the camera projection -device for throwing the sun’s image on a screen in order to study its -details. This replaced a system which used colored glasses. Kepler, -prior to this, suggested the method but it is generally acknowledged -that Scheiner made the first application. In 1610 Scheiner invented -his Pantograph or optical copying instrument. In March, 1611, he -observed sun spots. His superiors were afraid that he and they would be -exposed to ridicule if he were to publish such a discovery under his -own name--it was so opposed to the contemporary scientific as well as -traditional scientific belief. And so his findings were published in -1612 by a friend, under an assumed name. - -Scheiner was a believer in the need for accuracy in experiments to -form a firm basis for future development of theory. He studied the -eye and believed that the retina was the seat of vision. By the year -1616 he had so attracted attention of scientists that the Archduke -Maximilian invited him to Innsbruck. Scheiner taught mathematics and -Hebrew and continued his work in optics. He was the author of _Rosa -Ursina_,--1626–30, the standard work on the sun for generations. In -1623 he was a professor of mathematics at the Roman College, where -Kircher fell under his personal influence. The last years of Scheiner’s -life were spent at Neisse in Silesia, where he died in 1650. - -Scheiner was influenced by François d’Aguilon, the first of several -Jesuits who made an important contribution to what was to be the modern -motion picture. D’Aguilon advanced the knowledge of optics throughout -Europe. - -D’Aguilon was born in Brussels in 1566 and after entering the Jesuits -in 1586 and being educated he became a professor of philosophy at the -famous college in Douai, France. Later he was head of the College of -Antwerp. D’Aguilon did not confine his interests to philosophy and -speculative knowledge alone but was very much interested in certain -sciences, notably optics. Moreover, he was a practicing architect and -probably designed the Jesuit church at Antwerp. - -His work on optics, published at Antwerp in 1613, was famous. In it is -found for the first time the expression “stereographic projection,” -which has survived to the present. This was known from the time of -Hipparchus but had not received a permanent name until it was given -by d’Aguilon, to whom must go part of the credit for the name of all -devices with “stereo” somewhere in the title. D’Aguilon explored at -length the subject of after-images. He correctly pointed out that the -image physically disappears when the cause is removed (as a camera no -longer “sees” after the shutter is closed) but there remains something -impressed on the organ of sight, a certain effect on the sense of -vision. - -D’Aguilon was revising his book on optics when he died, in 1617. One -edition was published in Antwerp in 1685 with the title _Opticorum -Libri Sex_. Perhaps he was on the eve of the great discovery which was -to be made in a few years by one of his successors. However, to him -goes the credit for the name which was attached for centuries to all -kinds of shadow-plays, and is still known today--Stereoscopic. - -By the first quarter of the 17th century the camera was widely used for -the observation of the greatest light and shadow show--the universe -with sun, moon and stars. Experiments also had been made, by Porta -and others, in the entertainment possibilities of the “dark chamber.” -The stage was ready for the man who would bring about projection, as -we know it, with the magic lantern. A long step would then be taken -towards realizing man’s instinctive ambition to capture and recreate -life for entertainment and instructive purposes. - - - - -_VI_ - -KIRCHER’S 100th ART - - _Kircher’s magic lantern projects - pictures and the art of screen - presentation is born--First screen - picture show in Rome, 1646--Kircher’s - book_, Ars Magna Lucis et Umbrae, _tells - the world how_. - - -In the second quarter of the 17th Century the stage was set for -the birth of the magic lantern, progenitor of all cinematographic -projectors. The chief actor was a German, a fellow countryman of Kepler -and of many other serious scientists in the light and shadow field, but -it was in Italy, native land of many arts and showmen, of Leonardo da -Vinci and of Porta, that he worked. The man was Athanasius Kircher. - -The age in which Kircher worked was a difficult period. The Thirty -Years War ravaged Europe from 1618 to 1648 and the people suffered more -than at any period down to our own. Europe politically was in chaos as -after World Wars I and II. Only in literature and science were there -signs of hope and promise. The eyes of many thoughtful Europeans turned -away from the Old World to the new lands across the sea. - -[Illustration: - - Ars Magna Lucis et Umbrae, 1646–1671 - -_PICTURE WHEELS invented by Kircher. Above, rotating giant wheel caused -one picture to succeed another. Below, story telling disk._] - -Kircher was born five years before the first permanent English -settlement in the New World. But let him tell us in the words of -his Latin autobiography, parts of which, it is believed, are here -translated into English for the first time: “At the third hour after -midnight on the second of May in the year 1602, I was brought into the -common air of disaster at Geysa, a town which is a three hours’ journey -from Fulda.” (Not far from the modern Frankfurt-on-Main, Germany.) -“When I was six days old I was dedicated to Athanasius by my parents, -John Kircher and Anna Gansekin, Catholics and servants of God and -workers of good deeds, because I was born on that Saint’s Feast Day.” - -[Illustration: - - Ars Magna Lucis et Umbrae, 1671 - -_MAGIC LANTERN, Kircher’s projector, the original stereopticon. The -screen images were crude silhouettes but the projector included the -essential elements._] - -Kircher thus described his father, mother and the family: “John Kircher -was a very great scholar and a doctor of philosophy. When the report -of his learning and wisdom came to the Prince,” (probably Rudolph), -“he was summoned and made a member of the council at Fulda. Later he -was put in charge of the fortress of Haselstein because he had been -diligent in destroying the printing machines of the heretics. He -married a maiden of Fulda, Anna, daughter of an honest citizen named -Gansekin. Nine children, six boys and three girls, were born to them. -All the boys entered one of the several religious orders. Of all these -I was the youngest and smallest.” - -Kircher’s father was a man of influence and learning, though evidently -not of noble birth. He had studied philosophy and theology but was not -a religious, though he did teach for a time in a Benedictine monastery. -Very likely he was a stern parent. The mother, it would appear, was the -daughter of a merchant or store-keeper and certainly was not learned -like her husband. But no doubt she was more liberal and understanding. - -Kircher’s course of studies is interesting: “After the age of -childhood, around the tenth year, I was placed in the elementary -studies, at first at Music; then I was introduced to the elements -of the Latin language.” At that time Latin was still the universal -language of scholarship. It is likely that Kircher spoke Latin much -more than any other language. All his writing was in Latin, though in -time he became a talented linguist. - -Kircher’s father sent him to the Jesuit college at Fulda, because he -wanted his youngest son to learn Greek in addition to Latin and in time -to become a universal scholar. Kircher’s teacher at Fulda was John -Altink, S.J. The course followed the famous Jesuit _Ratio Studiorum_, -which is still the basis of studies in the many hundreds of schools -conducted by that order throughout the world. Then, as now, emphasis -was on the classics. Somewhat later his father took him to a Rabbi -“who taught me Hebrew,” as Kircher wrote, “with the result that I was -skilled in that language for the rest of my life.” - -At the same age as a high school graduate in the United States, -Kircher could read, write and speak Latin, Greek and Hebrew, in -addition to German, and probably he also had a good foundation in -French and Italian. - -At the old town of Paderborn on October 2, 1618, Kircher entered -the Society of Jesus, militant religious order founded by the -Spaniard-soldier-churchman, Ignatius of Loyola, in 1540, and already -a powerful influence in education in Europe and in missionary work -even as far as India and Japan. Kircher did not enter the Jesuits as -early as he had wished because he had fallen while ice-skating and had -suffered an injury. - -From 1618 to 1620, Kircher occupied himself with religious duties, -spending the time largely in prayer. After 1620 he continued with the -usual studies for the priesthood--philosophy and theology. He studied -philosophy at Cologne and briefly taught at the Jesuit Colleges at -Coblenz and Heiligenstadt. Along with these pursuits, Kircher took a -special interest in languages and in mathematics, the foundation for -all scientific work. He completed his studies in theology at Mainz and -was ordained a priest in 1628. - -Kircher was given ample opportunity to take courses, despite the -troubled times resulting from the wars. In the year 1629, he was at -Speyer where he expressed to his religious superior a preference -for missionary work in China. Next he took an interest in Egyptian -writing, hieroglyphics, which were not to be translated until many -years later. Chaldean, Arabic and Samaritan were added to Kircher’s -language studies. Then for a short period he was professor of ethics -and mathematics at the University of Würzburg. - -In 1618, when Kircher had entered the Jesuits, the Thirty Years’ War -had broken out. Then, as in our own time, Germany was no place for -serious studies. Kircher, after he became a priest, spent considerable -time in France where the organization of a powerful central government -was being undertaken by Richelieu. The Cardinal was a patron of the -arts, founding the French Academy. It is likely that word of Kircher’s -learning reached Richelieu, for Kircher visited several of the colleges -and universities in the south of France, stopping at Lyons and later at -Avignon. Kircher continued all the while his remarkable studies, and -began to write, publishing his first book in 1630. - -Soon the fame of Kircher attracted the attention of the highest -ecclesiastical and educational authorities. Pope Urban VIII, who had -struggled in vain to prevent the Thirty Years’ War, and Francesco -Cardinal Barberini (nephew of Pope Urban), summoned Kircher to Rome -late in 1633. Just before the word to come to Rome reached him, he was -invited to Vienna by the Emperor Ferdinand. Kircher started for Austria -by boat from a French port but was shipwrecked and the order to report -to Rome reached him after his rescue. - -The invitation to come to Rome could not be refused. But there is every -reason to believe that Kircher was delighted to have the opportunity -of working in Rome under such high auspices. The civil situation was -somewhat more stable in Rome than in Germany. Furthermore Rome was -the intellectual center as well as focal point of much political -maneuvering. Ambassadors and special agents representing Richelieu -of France, the King of Spain, the Emperor of Germany and many of the -other European powers, great and small, were constantly coming and -going, seeking to increase the power of the state they represented -and their own prestige as well. The heads of all the religious orders -lived in Rome and hence it was the headquarters for knowledge of new -developments in science and of news from the lands being explored in -America and in the Far East. - -Kircher stood apart from these struggles for political, religious -and educational power. As a Jesuit he had put aside prospects of -ecclesiastical advancement. He was content with his studies, his -teaching and his inventions. But others were not content to leave him -in peace. - -At the request of Cardinal Barberini, Kircher was made professor of -mathematics at the Roman College which was then popular with the young -Roman nobility and the learned from all over the world. While teaching, -Kircher continued his work in the Oriental languages and mathematics -and also branched out into the natural sciences. - -Kircher was a little man of boundless energy and once interested in a -problem was never content till he knew all the facts, from personal -investigation if possible, and had written an exhaustive tome on -the subject. He made many field trips to test theories and ideas by -practical experience. An active exponent of experimental science, -Kircher made important contributions to human knowledge, though some of -his books contained not a little error, and even some nonsense. - -Kircher’s work with magic lanterns and his observations on the magic -shadow art-science were released to the educated world in his _Ars -Magna Lucis et Umbrae_--“The Great Art of Light and Shadow”--published -at Rome in 1646. Kircher defined his “Great Art” as “the faculty by -which we make and exhibit with light and shadow the wonders of things -in nature.” That applies to living pictures today as it did in the 17th -Century. Even the sound of the modern motion pictures is recorded and -reproduced through light and shadow action. - -No clue is given by Kircher to the exact date he invented the magic -projection lantern. But it was probably not long before he finished -the book in 1644 or 1645. Kircher dedicated his thick quarto volume, -which was handsomely published by Herman Scheus at the press of -Ludovici Grignani in Rome, to Archduke Ferdinand III, the Holy Roman -Emperor, King of Hungary, King of Bohemia and King of the Romans. -Hence, knowledge of the screen first appeared in print under very -distinguished patronage. - -The title page explained that the great art of light and shadow had -been “digested” into ten books “in which the wonderful powers of light -and shadow in the world and even in the natural universe are shown and -new forms for exhibiting the various earthly uses are explained.” - -The Emperor wrote a foreword and this was followed by an introduction -of Kircher “to the reader.” Kircher spoke of the earlier use of light -and shadow by the necromancers to deceive, but pointed out that his -developments were for “public use, or a means of private recreation.” -Introductory material also included several odes about the subject and -the author, as well as the necessary ecclesiastical approvals. - -The first nine books, or long sections, of _Ars Magna Lucis et Umbrae_ -include such diverse topics as the following: Light, reflection, -images, the speaking tube, the structure of the eye, sketching devices, -the art of painting, geometrical patterns, clocks, the nature of -reflected light, refraction and means of measuring the earth. - -The section which is of special interest in the story of magic shadows -is the tenth--it gives the title to the whole work. The sub-title of -the chapter is, “Wonders of light and shadow, in which is considered -the more hidden effects of light and shadow and various applications.” -In the preface to the section Kircher wrote “in this, as in our -other research, we have believed that the results of our important -experiments should be made public.” “That risk is taken,” he continued, -“for the purpose of preventing the curious readers from being defrauded -of time and money by those who sell imitation devices, for many have -provided wondrous, rare, marvelous and unknown things and others have -sold so much bunk.” - -The first section of the all-important tenth chapter discussed magic -clocks and sun-dials; the second, the _camera obscura_ or “dark -chamber,” lenses, telescopes, other optical devices. In the third -section there appears the magic lantern. The section is called, “Magia -Catoptrica, or concerning the wondrous exhibition of things by the -use of a mirror.” _Catoptron_ in Greek means “mirror.” Kircher wrote, -“Magia catoptrica is nothing else but the method of exhibiting through -the means of mirrors hidden things which seem to be outside the scope -of the human mind.” Ancient authorities who had made contributions to -this art-science were mentioned by Kircher. - -First Kircher explained how steel mirrors were made and -polished--mirrors or reflectors are still of importance in gathering -light in the motion picture projector. He commented on the various -types of convex, concave, spherical and other types of mirrors. - -In Kircher’s day even the learned were quite uneducated according to -modern standards, especially on all matters of physical science. Images -that appeared from nowhere were most mysterious and few knew how they -were produced. The telescope and microscope were still very new and -many doubted what their eyes saw through these inventions. - -Kircher, as a showman, described a Catoptric Theatre--a large cabinet -in which many mirrors were concealed. One of the “Theatres” was placed -in the Villa Borghese Palace in Rome and doubtless delighted the -nobles of that day as much as the people in the United States were -pleased with the first Edison peep-show machines in 1894. For Kircher’s -Catoptric Theatre was an early peep-show device. It also has a relation -to the Kaleidoscope of the early 19th century. - -The first form of the magic lantern described by Kircher was merely a -lantern suitable for showing letters at a remote distance. It is very -simple and appears entirely elementary. But the first step was taken. -The third problem of the third section of the tenth book of the _Ars -Magna Lucis et Umbrae_ was how to construct such an artificial lantern -with which written characters may be shown at a remote distance. - -The parts are easily distinguished--a concave mirror at the rear; -a candle for a light source; a handle and a place for inserting -silhouette letter slides. Kircher noted that in the device the flame -will burn with an unaccustomed brilliance. “Through the aid of this -device very small letters may be exhibited without any trouble.” He -noted that some will think there is an enormous fire, so bright will -the lantern shine. He added that the strength of the light will be -increased if the interior of the cylinder is covered with an alloy of -silver and lead to increase its reflecting qualities. - -The second Kircher device of direct relation to the motion picture is -his machine for creating metamorphoses or rapid changes. All kinds of -transformations could be shown. Here was first introduced the revolving -wheel on which pictures were painted. It bears an analogous relation -to the motion picture devices of the early 19th century--also using a -revolving vertical wheel. The modern projector likewise has its film -pictures on a small wheel or reel. - -Kircher explained that in this catoptric machine a man looking at -the mirror (equivalent to the screen in a theatre) sees images of a -fire, a cow and other animals all blending one into another. It is -unlikely that the giant wheel could be revolved swiftly enough to give -anything like the proper illusion of motion but certainly there was -a transformation which must have appeared wondrous and entertaining. -(Illustration facing page 48.) - -Kircher also described how images of objects could be projected by -means of the light of a candle. Through this system various images -were exhibited in a darkened chamber. But Kircher evidently was not -satisfied with this method, for no illustration of it appeared in -the first edition of his book. The reason is obvious. A candle could -provide only enough illumination for the faintest shadows. Kircher -wrote that those objects which need only a fraction of the sun’s light -can be shown by a candle in a small room. Two methods for this were -indicated: (1) with a concave mirror reflecting the images and (2) -projecting the image through a lens. It was noted that the better -single method was through the lens. A combination of the two provided -the most light. Kircher remarked that he had read in a history of the -Arabs that a certain king of Bagdad used a mirror to work wonders in -order to deceive the people. He also pointed out that some men had -used mirrors to project into dark places what the ignorant thought were -devils. - -The chief problem in Kircher’s day and for centuries afterwards was -to provide sufficient light. The final solution did not come until -electric light was introduced. Probably Kircher’s most efficient -projection was one in which the sun was used as the source of light. -Even in the early part of the 20th century arrangements were used -which hooked up the sun with the magic lantern because it was thought -that the results were even better and cheaper than those obtained with -electric light. - -Kircher’s sun magic projector used a real optical system which is -fundamental even to this day. There was first the source of light, then -a reflector and the object, and the projected image. The effects, of -course, would be most startling in a darkened room. Kircher also showed -how shadows of any type of figure could be thrown onto a wall or screen -through the same method. - -In those days when there was much secret correspondence and keen -interest in various forms of cipher, many of Kircher’s readers were -glad to note how the magic lantern could be used for such a purpose. At -that time people would not, it was believed, detect that the letters in -such a system were simply backwards and upside down. The message could -be read easily by projecting images of the letters. The same result -could be had by turning the paper upside down and holding it before a -mirror. - -After listing these many diverse uses of the magic lantern system -Kircher thought it well to conclude his book lest he be charged with -“meandering” endlessly on a subject which some would consider trivial. -Kircher said, “We leave all these to the talented reader for further -refinement. A word to the wise is sufficient. Innumerable things could -be said concerning the application of this device but we leave to -others new material of invention and lest this work grow too long we -cut off the thread of discussion about these devices.” - -Kircher ended his entire book by saying that it was published “not for -income or glory but for the common good.” - -In his Latin autobiography Kircher made only one passing reference to -his _Ars Magna Lucis et Umbrae_, “The Great Art of Light and Shadow.” - -Let Kircher speak: - - At this time (around 1645) three more books were published, - the first on the magnetic art, _On Magnetism_; another _On the - Great Art of Light and Shadow_ and a third written in the name of - _Musurgia_, “Music.” These are not insignificant works, praise - be God. They occasioned applause but this applause soon brought - me another form of tribulation; new accusations piled up and for - this reason my critics said I should devote my whole life to - developing mathematics. So with desperate hope on account of this - impenetrable difficulty I gave up my work on hieroglyphics and my - heart and mind were discouraged. - -At one point in the discussion of the magic lantern in _Ars Magna Lucis -et Umbrae_ Kircher interrupted the thread of the story long enough -to point out that charges of the use of the black arts had been made -against him and others who knew the use of mirrors and lenses by some -who had no knowledge of philosophy and science. He told how Roger -Bacon was charged with necromancy because he could show a recognizable -shadow of himself in a dark room where his friends were assembled. -Kircher noted that certainly a talented philosopher and scientist could -accomplish all these effects through skill in the use of mirrors and -lenses and without any trace of the suspect black art. - -The charge of necromantic art was the source of much of Kircher’s -unhappiness. Some considered him in league with the devil because he -could make images and shadows and objects appear where none had been -before. It was the age-old story that some in the audience or among the -readers did not understand how an effect was produced so its validity -and legitimacy were denied. - -Praise and blame always have been the lot of discoverers and inventors. - -Kircher had, however, better fortune than many others. He was able to -write in his autobiography, “Divine Providence, which never fails us, -took care of my trouble in this wonderful way--my appointed work was -restored to me and by the occasion of this good fortune I escaped the -traps of my adversaries.” - -Adversaries on even scientific matters in those days battled to the -death. What happened was this: A commission established by Innocent X, -who had been elected Pope in 1644, ordered that Kircher be allowed to -continue his beloved antiquarian studies. It seemed that the Obelisk -of Caracalla had been partially destroyed and Kircher was given the -task of directing the restoration. Kircher’s original patron, Cardinal -Barberini, continued to have influence, being Pope Innocent’s legate or -ambassador to the Emperor. - -And so the man who had done so much to advance the art-science of -living pictures for the knowledge and enjoyment of vast millions in the -centuries to come spent the happiest days of his life looking towards -the dead and buried past. - -A quarter of a century later, Kircher was able to revise and enlarge -his book on _The Great Art of Light and Shadow_ and have it printed -in a great folio edition in 1671 by John Jansson of Waesberge at -Amsterdam. Conditions had changed greatly--Kircher was no longer a -newcomer at Rome, suspected of being in league with the devil on -account of his powers with mirrors and lenses and his amazing projected -images. His fame as a universal scholar, “The Doctor of a Hundred -Arts,” had spread throughout the European world. Men now had begun to -realize there was much of great value in his _Magia Catoptrica_ or -Magic Projection with mirrors. - -Jacob Alban Ghibbesim, M.D., professor at the Roman College, in the -caption for Kircher’s portrait, used these words: “This man and his -name are known to the ends of the earth.” - -In 1670 Kircher had a new patron, John Frederic, to whom he dedicated -his work. The Emperor Ferdinand, who sponsored the first edition, had -died in 1657. Europe was gradually recovering from the effects of the -Thirty Years’ War. Louis XIV was establishing an all-powerful personal -rule in France. Holland and Switzerland were jealously guarding their -newly won independence. Sweden was an important European power. Great -Britain had a short-lived republic under Cromwell. In the New World the -English had consolidated their position by driving the Dutch out of New -Amsterdam, occupying New York in 1664. Much of the New World had yet to -be explored. - -“Vagabonds and imposters” had carried the magic lantern everywhere -during the quarter century following its announcement, usually claiming -it as their own invention. Kircher thought the time had come for him to -set down in more detail various additional applications of his magic -lantern, invented 30 years before. The only additions Kircher made to -the entire tome were in the section on the magic lanterns. Two new -plates were made, showing room and box-type projectors and also added -was another special plate on a particular application demonstrating -that Kircher used the lantern idea to tell a story. (Illustration -facing page 49.) - -Let Kircher now explain about Walgenstein, a Dane, one of his first and -most successful imitators in the practice of the magic lantern: - - Concerning the construction of Magic Lantern or Thaumaturga - (Wonder Projector)-- - - Although we have already mentioned this lantern in several places - and shown a method of transmitting images by the sun into dark - places, we will illustrate one further use--that is, a method of - projecting painted images of objects in their own colors. Because - previously we merely outlined this subject and left it entirely - apart from other more important inventions, it happened that many - who were drawn by the novelty of the magic lantern applied their - minds to its refinement. - - First among these was a Dane, Thomas Walgenstein, not a little - known as a mathematician, who, recalling my invention, produced - a better form of the lantern which I had described. These he - sold, with great profit to himself, to many of the prominent - people of Italy. He sold so many that by now the magic lantern - is nearly commonplace in Rome. However, there is none among - all these lanterns which differs from the lantern described by - us. Walgenstein said that with this lantern model he showed a - large number of sufficiently bright and shining pictures in a - dark chamber and they aroused the greatest admiration in the - audiences. We in our dark chamber at the college are accustomed - to show many new pictures to the greatest wonder of those looking - on. The show is most worthwhile seeing, the subjects being either - satire or tragic plays, all the pictures in the appearances of - the living. - -From Kircher’s statement Walgenstein should be hailed as the first -commercializer of the projector and the first traveling picture -showman or “road-show man.” Unfortunately, little is known of this -man. While he may have been “not a little known” in Kircher’s time, he -left no mark on history, evidently never writing a book or holding an -educational or other position which would have been recorded. It seems -certain that he was the Dane of whom the French inventor and scientist, -Milliet de Chales, spoke about as introducing the magic lantern in -Lyons, France, some years after it was invented by Kircher. - -Kircher’s statement about the shows which he put on at the Roman -College is most interesting. The reference to tragic and comic plays -indicates beyond doubt that Kircher used a succession of lantern slides -to tell a story as the modern motion picture is made up of a succession -of pictures. - -Kircher included a description of the slide projector so that all who -wished could imitate his work. “All these things have been shown so -that the reader can make his own,” he said. “The work of art formerly -described does not differ from the new lantern.” He pointed out that -moving slides had been added so that the objects might appear with the -aspect of living shadows. He again explained how a concave mirror and -diaphragm should be used. Kircher informed his readers that he usually -used four or five slides, each having eight pictures painted on glass. -The illustrations, he noted, explain the system better than words. We -echo that and refer the reader to the illustrations of the box and room -moving-slide projectors of Kircher. - -Kircher in his 1671 edition described a form of revolving disc to -tell a story. (He selected the most widely known story of all for the -model--The Life of Christ.) The light available would not give a great -effect but the pattern was set. Nearly two hundred years later the -first projection of motion pictures was to be achieved with a somewhat -similar disc and series of painted figures. Kircher’s revolving disc -told the story with a series of still pictures rapidly succeeding each -other. (Illustration facing page 48.) - -By explaining all details of the method and construction of the magic -lantern to everyone interested, Kircher had hoped to expose some of -the imposters who were using his invention to arouse fear and make the -people believe that the operator had magic powers. - -Kircher, with his “hundred arts,” became _vir toto orbe -celebratissimus_--a man well known throughout the world--according to -Jerome Langenmantel who edited his autobiography in 1684. However, -since his own era Kircher has been relatively unknown. - -There was hardly a branch of learning that did not attract Kircher’s -attention. He assembled one of the best ethnological collections of -his time. He attempted to develop a basic language and was one of the -first to make a start towards deciphering hieroglyphics. In the field -of magnetism he was a pioneer and in 1632 was one of the first to -map compass variation and ocean currents. In medicine Kircher was a -proponent of the new and generally disbelieved germ theory of disease, -and an experimenter in the use of hypnotism for healing purposes. He -contributed much to the early knowledge of volcanoes. As an inventor, -Kircher perfected one of the first counting machines, speaking tubes, -Aeolian harps and developed the microscope to an enlarging power of -1,000 diameters. - -However, despite all his knowledge, his title of “Doctor of a Hundred -Arts” and the trouble and fame incidental to the invention of the magic -lantern--his least art, or “the hundredth”--Kircher was not prideful -of his reputation. He concluded his little autobiography by describing -himself as “a poor, humble and unworthy servant of God.” His heart -was buried in a shrine to Mary, the Mother of God, which Kircher had -constructed on the Sabine Hill in Rome. - - * * * * * - -The art-science of projection and the magic lantern were further -explained through the publication of three other books which included -a description of Kircher’s work and illustrations of his projector -systems; namely, George de Valesius’ volume on the Museum of the -Roman College in 1678, which pointed out that Kircher had developed -magic lanterns using one or more lenses, and that several different -models were on display and in use since the time of their invention; -Johann Stephan Kesler’s book on Kircher’s experiments published in -1680 and another edition in 1686; and finally there was published in -Rome in 1707, a work on the Kircher Museum--the Museum of the Roman -College which had by then been given officially the name of its -collector. Today only a few small objects remain of Kircher’s original -collections. Unfortunately, Kircher’s devices were destroyed shortly -after his death. - -The museum of Kircher at the Roman College, the first picture -theatre in the world, was an amazing place. Every conceivable kind -of antiquarian and scientific object was assembled--from Egyptian -inscriptions to stuffed animals, fish, rare stones, curiosities from -the New Worlds and everything pertaining to the pursuits of the “Doctor -of a Hundred Arts.” Any spectator, from one of the eminent Cardinals -to a young Roman nobleman and student at the College who was invited -to a performance, would certainly have been well prepared for an -extraordinary show after looking at the diverse collections at the -museum. - -In the 17th century there was no doubt as to the identity of the -inventor of the magic lantern. Before Kircher’s death in 1680 his magic -lantern was widely used in Europe for scientific and entertainment -purposes as well as for the art of deception. The question was raised -by later writers seeking to claim a national of their own country as -the inventor. Kesler wrote in 1680, “In the catoptric art images are -exhibited in dark places through the magic lantern which our author -(Kircher) invented and which, to his undying memory, he communicated to -the world.” - -In those days some men liked to keep secret their inventions lest some -one else claim the rewards. Two and a half centuries later, Thomas A. -Edison sometimes found it better not to take out foreign patents on his -inventions because that frequently served only as notice to those who -sought to duplicate his work. For this reason Edison did not spend the -$150 necessary to obtain foreign patents on his moving picture cameras -and viewers. - - - - -_VII_ - -POPULARIZING KIRCHER’S PROJECTOR - - _Kircher’s magic lantern is popularized - by others--Schott--Milliet de - Chales--Zahn--Molyneux--The name and fame - of the inventor are lost to the public - while magic shadow projection spreads - throughout Europe._ - - -As with many another inventor, Kircher received little praise and -much blame for his invention of the magic lantern. Charges of being -in league with the devil to achieve the wondrous images on the screen -almost broke his spirit. Though his device was widely pirated in Europe -without acknowledgement of the inventor, before Kircher’s death he was -able to take some satisfaction from the fact that his projector was no -longer viewed as “black magic” but as a great boon for mankind. Had he -lived longer he would have again been saddened as others claimed the -magic lantern as their own. At this later day the name of Kircher was -known only to a few scholars although the magic lantern audiences could -be numbered in the many thousands. - -In the first half century after the invention of the magic lantern -projector, four men, in addition to Kircher himself, made its -scientific principles and construction widely known. They were a -curious group: Gaspar Schott, a protégé of Kircher; Claude Milliet de -Chales, a French priest and military expert; Johann Zahn German writer; -and William Molyneux, an Irish patriot, teacher and scientist. - -Gaspar Schott was the best known of Kircher’s pupils who helped to -awaken scientific interest in Europe. He was born at Königshofen, -Bohemia, in 1608. He entered the Jesuit Order at the age of 19. Like -Kircher, his senior by six years, Schott was compelled to flee the -disorders in Germany and continue his studies abroad. For his courses -in philosophy and theology Schott went to Sicily. Later he studied -under Kircher at the Roman College. From his contact with Kircher, -Schott had developed a great interest in scientific matters and -mathematics. He conducted research and wrote at Augsburg until his -death in 1666. Schott’s books were once very popular. Their subjects -ranged from extracts of the diaries kept by Kircher on his various -scientific travels to mathematical text books and even a study on the -source of the river Nile. So far as the story of magic shadows goes, -Schott’s most valuable book was the _Magia Universalis Naturæ et -Artis_. “Wonders of Universal Nature and Art,” published at Würzburg in -1658, with a second edition in 1674. - -Schott described every type of magic lantern, basing his remarks, of -course, on the work of Kircher. The projection apparatus described -by him was better than that of the master, Kircher. Schott described -lanterns with and without lenses, and covered points of practical use -as well as the theory. - -The age-old Burning Glasses of Archimedes were studied by Schott, -who knew about the various kinds of images, mirrors, and the focal -length and its importance in producing sharp pictures on the screen. A -refinement in the telescope was also explained. - -Schott was probably the first man to write about, and study with the -magic lantern, optical illusions caused by a rapidly revolving wheel, -including the appearance of distorted figures. It was this same study, -carried on almost two hundred years later in England, France and -Belgium, that was to result in the first real motion pictures. In ideas -Schott outran the limitations of the physical apparatus available at -the time, as did Kircher himself. - -Kircher had been asked by Schott to write the foreword to his book. But -Kircher was too busy with other works. (It is barely possible that he -was jealous of the growing fame of his former pupil; or, more likely, -that he was unwilling to appear in print at that time on the subject -which had so much contributed to his troubles.) Nicholas Mohr, who did -write the introduction, pointed out that Schott had been carrying on -the work of Kircher. - -Schott discussed the various details of the magic lantern projector -in scientific terms. He was a pure scientist without the dash of -showmanship which at once distinguished Kircher and probably helped -to cause him difficulty with his “enemies.” Schott described how “to -construct the Kircher Catoptric Machine.” This was the first coupling -of Kircher’s own name with the magic lantern. But people preferred -Kircher’s appellation of “magic lantern.” And so his own name did not -grow into the language to stand for the device he invented. - -About fifteen years after Schott’s book appeared and nearly thirty -years after the first description of the magic lantern by Kircher in -his _Great Art of light and Shadow_, the first prominent Frenchman in -the history of the magic shadows made a contribution by improving some -details of the projector. - -In keeping with what has not been an infrequent practice amongst French -historians in claiming inventions for Frenchmen, it has been held -that Claude François Milliet de Chales, and not Athanasius Kircher, -invented the magic lantern. Milliet de Chales was a talented man but, -as he himself clearly wrote, he did not invent the magic lantern. What -happened was that de Chales saw one exhibited in Lyons, where he was -stationed, and then devised some improvements. - -De Chales was much too young to have invented the magic lantern, as he -was born at Chambéry in 1621. He entered the Jesuits in 1636 and after -his studies spent some time in missionary work in Turkey. While de -Chales was on the missions, Kircher had already demonstrated the magic -lantern at Rome. - -Father de Chales had an interesting career. Upon his return from -missionary work he became a professor of humanities and rhetoric. Later -his attention was turned to things scientific. Louis XIV made him -professor of hydrography at Marseilles and there de Chales was able to -devote much time to navigation and to other arts which would have a -military application. De Chales later taught mathematics and theology, -eventually becoming rector of Chambéry. He died in Turin in 1678. - -[Illustration: - - Oculus Artificialis Teledioptricus, 1685 - -_JOHANN ZAHN, Gaspar Schott, Claude Milliet de Chales and William -Molyneux perfected Kircher’s magic lantern projector and spread -knowledge of it throughout Europe. Illustrated are table models by -Zahn. The mounting of the slides shows the quest for movement. No basic -improvements in the projector were made for another century and a -half._] - -De Chales’ monumental work is _Cursus seu Mundus Mathematicus_, “The -Mathematical World,” written in 1674. An edition, edited from the -author’s reviewed manuscript, by Amati Varcin, S. J., was published at -Lyons in 1690, 12 years after de Chales’ death. One section was devoted -to optics. De Chales studied the eye and knew that the image is upside -down on the retina. He investigated other vision problems, including -angular vision and vision at long range, considered binocular vision -and the images formed by each eye. He devised satisfactory lenses and -spectacles for both far and near-sighted persons. (The original name -for near-sightedness--“Myopia”--came down from Aristotle.) De Chales -experimented with light and dark colored objects and gave consideration -to why we see better with two eyes than one. He noted that the eye -actually sees color and light and not objects and movement--a fact upon -which the whole motion picture process is based. He pointed out that -the ship appears to stand still and the shore moves to an observer -aboard. He also studied the nature of color and the laws of light. De -Chales even attempted three dimension projection! Even now many efforts -are being made to achieve “three dimension” motion pictures without the -use of special glasses or other viewing devices for the spectators. - -[Illustration: - - Oculus Artificialis Teledioptricus, 1685 - -_Time and wind indicators by projection were among the curious -adaptations of the magic lantern device developed by Zahn. Above, -the hour was indicated by the point of the sword. Below, the wind -instrument was ingeniously connected to a vane on the roof. It was -automatic in action; the “clock” was not._] - -De Chales considered plane and curved mirrors, improving the design of -the old _camera lucida_ of Alberti by introducing a mirror. He devised -a simple searchlight to improve the projection of images, in a system -similar to Kircher’s design for the first magic lantern, but as it had -a stronger light source it was shown how letters, bright enough to -read, could be projected a great distance. - -De Chales narrated how fires could be set with the two lens system--as -the old Burning Glasses of Archimedes. He was a practical man as well -as an ingenious one and included details on how to make lenses. Other -studies included consideration of color reflection, a telescope with -two convex lenses, an attempt to make binoculars and even an experiment -with prisms, laying some of the groundwork for Newton. - -De Chales wrote that for many things this method of projection--direct -with a strong light source--was “the best and most certain.” Doubtless -he was right, considering available means. He also pointed out the -military uses of the projector and other mirror-lens devices. Today -in enemy waters or where hostile sea or aircraft are expected and a -“radio silence” must be maintained--ships and planes must use optical -signaling devices and de Chales was the first to consider carefully -this subject. - -De Chales’ most important refinement in the projector was the -introduction of a two-lens projection system. - -He described in his book how the magic lantern first came to his -attention. “We have seen here at Lyons a dioptric machine, called -a magic lantern. Rays of light are projected through a tube for a -distance of ten or twelve feet. An enlarged image, about four feet -in diameter, is shown in all its colors.” The effect was considered -wonderful, according to de Chales. He noted, however, that a convex -lens was used but pointed out that it would be better to use a double -lens “as he demonstrated.” De Chales did not discard the concave -mirror, used as the light collector on almost all types of projectors -from Kircher’s to those of the present day. - -In a subsequent chapter de Chales gave more information on this -subject. “As I have indicated in the preceding chapter a learned -Dane” (very likely the same Walgenstein of whom Kircher wrote as a -popularizer of his lantern projector) “came to Lyons in the year -1655.” De Chales continued, “This Dane was well versed in optics and -among other things showed a lantern.” De Chales again noted how he -had developed an improvement, using two lenses, which made possible -a projection to the then amazing distance of 20 feet. The present -projection “throw” at the Radio City Music Hall, Rockefeller Center, -New York, is approximately 200 feet. - -In addition to optics and many other fields of study, de Chales was -interested in navigation. He wrote a book, probably on the order of the -King’s general staff, _The Art of Navigation demonstrated by principle -and proved by many observations drawn from practical experience_. He -devised a paddle-wheel ship that would go against the current, “without -sails, without oars and without the traction of any animal”--surely -a military weapon! His most important military work was _The Art of -Fortifying and Defending and Attacking according to the French, Dutch, -Italian and Spanish Methods_. - -De Chales mentioned in his writings Alhazen, Witelo and other ancient -authorities. He must have read the first edition of Kircher’s book and -also Gaspar Schott’s before his own was written. However, de Chales -made a definite improvement with his lens system which is essentially -the modern one. Also, his work helped to popularize and extend the art -and science of light and shadow. He was another strange man in this -complex story--a missionary, a teacher and a military expert. - -Johann Zahn in _Oculus Artificialis Teledioptricus sive Telescopium_, -“The Artificial Telescopic Eye or Telescope,” published at Nuremberg in -1685 and 1702, outlined a better lens system for the magic lantern and -described many applications, including false representations to create -wonder and fear. One of Zahn’s teachers was Jerome Langenmantel, the -editor of Kircher’s autobiography, so the link with Kircher is close -and direct. - -Zahn considered the eye, vision and light, basing his work on earlier -writers. It was noted that Kircher, and his aide Schemer, used a -system--probably the natural camera--to observe the sun at Rome in -1635. He also described telescopes and microscopes and a device which -was a forerunner in the Stereoscope. - -In his section on the magic lantern, Zahn acknowledges his debt to -Kircher, referring to Kircher’s book and to Schott’s saying “the -projection of images of objects was announced in a wonderful manner -by Kircher.” He also knew de Chales’ work. But he showed that an -improvement could be made. - -Zahn showed a complete magic lantern, or Thaumaturga Lantern (names -originated by Kircher) or Megalographica Lantern (Great-writing), -because even little figures and images can appear life-like in size. -The system was complete: reflecting mirror to focus the light, a lamp -as the light source and two projection lenses forming the projection -system. - -Zahn wrote, “Very great wonders are presented and set forth in the -magic lantern including the projection of light and curious images.” -He proves himself a showman by saying the purpose is to create “the -greatest admiration and enjoyment of those looking on.” - -The regular magic lantern was, he said, “already well known.” He -developed some very ingenious improvements, including table model -projectors which set the pattern right to the end of the 19th century. -All that was later added was improved light sources including, finally, -electric light. (Illustrations facing page 64.) - -Zahn for his theatre shows described how images could be projected even -under water. He stressed the importance of concealing the projector in -a separate room so that the audience would not know the source of the -magical vision. - -In one model of the magic lantern Zahn explained how the glass slides -could be mounted on a circular disk which could be revolved in front -of the magic lantern lens. In other words, he took the disk shown -by Kircher and combined it with Kircher’s projector. But Zahn’s -modification was the dominant pattern used by later experimenters, -just before the dawn of the motion picture as we know it. The first -projector to show “motion pictures” from hand-drawn slides was -invented about 1851 by Franz von Uchatius and looked very similar to -this model of Zahn. - -Zahn had also many curious applications, including the use of the magic -lantern to tell time or rather to project the correct time on a great -“clock” on the wall. Another application was the use of the lantern, -connected with a wind vane atop the structure to show the direction the -wind was blowing at the particular instant. (Illustration facing page -65.) - -J. Kunckelius, who wrote on the _Glass Art_, is credited by Zahn -with developing a good ink or paint to be used on the glass for the -magic lantern slides. This information was passed on by him to his -readers. From Kircher’s day until the invention of film and its use in -photography in the latter part of the 19th century, glass slides formed -the physical picture supports for practically every kind of a magic -shadow show. - -Kircher’s magic lantern was established on a scientific basis in the -English-speaking world by the writing of William Molyneux, a citizen of -Dublin. Molyneux became an Irish patriot by taking a stand against the -contended right of the English Parliament to rule Irishmen. He was a -leader in the constitutional struggle for Irish autonomy in the early -part of the 18th century. - -Molyneux, a professor at Trinity College, Dublin, included his -treatment of the magic lantern in his _Dioptrica Nova_, which the -censor passed on June 4, 1690 with the note, “I think this book is -fit to be printed.” But it was not published until two years later. -Molyneux, as other pioneers in this art-science, had his period of -exile. He wrote in _Dioptrica Nova_, “the present distractions of our -miserable country have separated me and my books.” - -In the introduction Molyneux pointed out that up to then there was -nothing written in the English language on that part of mathematics -and, he said, “I am sure there are many ingenious Heads, great -Geometers, and Masters in Mathematics, who are not so well skilled in -Latin.” And certainly Molyneux was right, for the use of the modern -languages was expanding constantly in that period. - -Molyneux had a low regard for Zahn, whom he called “a blind transcriber -from others” and asserted that he copied the errors of de Chales. - -An early section of the book was “On the Representation of outward -objects in a Dark Chamber; by a Convex Glass.” This was a modified -version of the natural camera, first set down carefully by da Vinci and -dating back to Roger Bacon. - -Molyneux devoted a whole section to “The Explication of the Magick -Lantern, sometimes called Lanterna Megalographica” (that last was one -of the names Kircher gave to it). Molyneux scientifically described -a good model featuring a metal lantern and adjustable lenses. He -explained that the pictures to be shown were painted with transparent -colors on pieces of thin glass which were inverted and placed in the -projector. His comment on the type of picture is entertaining: “This is -usually some Ludicrous or frightful Representation, the more to divert -the Spectators.” “Horror” pictures--and comedies--were born centuries -before Hollywood. - -Also discussed were focusing lenses, glass and concave mirrors, -adjustments in the picture focus, the throw from projector to the -screen. - -However, Molyneux wished to keep strictly on the scientific and -scholarly side saying, “As to the Mechanick Contrivances of this -Lantern, the most Convenient Proportion of the Glasse, etc. this is -so ordinary amongst the common Glass Grinders that ’tis needless to -insist further thereon in this place. ’Tis sufficient to me that I have -explained the theory thereof.” - -At the end of the volume there was an advertisement--it was noted that -all the instruments mentioned “are made and sold by John Yarwell at the -Archimedes and Three Golden Prospects, near the great North Door in St. -Paul’s Church-Yard: London.” This makes John Yarwell the first recorded -commercial dealer in the magic shadow science. - -In addition to Schott, Milliet de Chales, Zahn and Molyneux, many -travelling showmen such as Walgenstein, the Dane, introduced the magic -lantern and its magic shadow shows in great cities and little hamlets -of Europe. Some were professional entertainers, accepting the projector -as a new device; others were the “vagabonds and imposters,” of the -type condemned by Kircher. This group recognized no law and copied and -appropriated the magic lantern projector whenever opportunity presented -itself. There was no copyright or other protection to restrain them. By -the early part of the 18th Century the magic lantern was commonplace -and many men were skilled in its use. - - - - -_VIII_ - -MUSSCHENBROEK AND MOTION - - _Magic shadows move in the projector of - Musschenbroek, a Dutchman--Quest for real - “motion pictures” continues--Abbé Nollet - spins a top--Lantern shows in Paris and - London become spectacular._ - - -Not long after Kircher’s death his magic lantern projector was in -use everywhere in Europe but the apparatus did not do all that was -desired. The goal of motion pictures was still around a corner. -Pieter van Musschenbroek (1692–1761), a Dutch natural philosopher and -mathematician, was the first to successfully simulate motion with the -aid of the projector and glass slides. - -The effects of motion produced on the screen through the system -developed by Musschenbroek were crude but progress was made. There was -also further concrete evidence that the primitive urge of the first -painter to re-create nature with all its life and movement was still -powerful and had not been forgotten. - -Previously Zahn, as we have seen, mounted a series of glass slides on a -circular disk which could be revolved before the lens of the projector. -But there the method really only assured quick changes from one still -picture to another. In the very beginning Kircher also had the disk -idea and in other models of his lantern arranged the glass slides on a -long panel so the successive views could be changed rapidly. - -Musschenbroek, working in Holland in the early part of the 18th -century, achieved his effect of motion by fitting two panels of slides -into the same lantern for simultaneous projection. One slide was -stationary and usually depicted the background; the other was mobile -and was set in motion by means of a cord. With a skilled manipulator -the effects were certainly wonderful--for that period. - -The motion magic lantern projector was developed as a hobby by -Musschenbroek, who was unaware of its importance until he had a visit -in 1736 from the French scientist, or more accurately popularizer of -science, Abbé Nollet (1700–1770). - -Abbé Nollet corresponded with scientists throughout the world and -his salon in Paris was crowded each evening with French and visiting -scientists and the hangers-on of the great. While in Holland, Nollet -visited Musschenbroek. One evening after a pleasant dinner and much -serious conversation on educational and scientific matter, the host, -Musschenbroek, proposed a bit of entertainment. He may have told his -distinguished French visitor, “I have a surprise for you. I will show -you something that is as yet unknown in your wise Paris.” It is certain -Abbé Nollet’s curiosity was stirred up and he looked forward with keen -anticipation to the demonstration. He was that kind of a person--eager -for any new scientific development or application. - -Musschenbroek’s show that evening in Holland included, according -to Abbé Nollet, magic lantern views of a wind-mill whose arms -revolved--wonder of wonders! Also a lady bowing as she walked along the -street. And a cavalier removing his hat in courtesy. That would seem to -prove that Musschenbroek, the staid scientist, in his idle moments had -attempted to create the first “boy-meets-girl” motion picture. - -The magic lantern with movement of Musschenbroek’s description was -brought back to Paris by Nollet who started its popularization. -The system became wide-spread following the publication of a book, -_Nouvelles Recréations Physiques et Mathématiques_, by Abbé Guyot which -went through several editions in Paris and was translated and published -also in at least two editions in England by W. Hooper, M.D. under the -title, _Rational Recreations in which the Principles of Numbers and -Natural Philosophy are Clearly and Copiously Elucidated, by a Series of -Easy, Entertaining, Interesting Experiments_. Hooper copied even the -plates from the French book of Guyot. - -The projections of the magic lantern, it was said, “may be rendered -much more amusing, and at the same time more marvelous, by preparing -figures to which different natural motions may be given, which everyone -may perform according to his own taste; either by movements in the -figures themselves, or by painting the subject on two glasses, and -passing them at the same time through the groove (of the lantern).” -It was noted by Guyot-Hooper that in Musschenbroek’s _Philosophical -Essays_ there are many methods of performing all these movements, “by -some mechanical contrivances that are not difficult to execute.” - -An illustration of the Musschenbroek system was given. The subject -sought to portray how, “To represent a tempest by the magic lantern.” - - On one of these glasses you are to paint the appearance of the - sea, from the slightest agitation to the most violent commotion. - Observe that these representations are not to be distinct, but - run into each other, that they may form a natural gradation; - remember also, that great part of the effect depends on the - perfection of the painting, and the picturesque appearance of the - design. - - On the other glass you are to paint vessels in different forms - and dimensions, and in different directions, together with the - appearance of clouds in the tempestuous parts. - -Precise instructions were set down for this first “motion picture” -storm effect: - - You are then to pass the glass representing the sea slowly - through the groove, and when you come to that part where the - storm begins, you are to move the glass gently up and down, which - will give it the appearance of a sea that begins to be agitated; - and so increase the motion till you come to the height of the - storm. At the same time you are to introduce the other glass with - the ships, and moving in like manner, you will have a natural - representation of the sea, and of ships in a calm and in a storm. - As you draw the glasses slowly back, the tempest will seem to - subside, the sky grow clear, and the ships glide gently over the - waves. - -With Musschenbroek the magic shadows began to have real motion and -the effect on the audience consequently was much greater. Kircher’s -projector was growing up. - -In the Guyot-Hooper book it was also noted, “By means of two glasses -disposed in this manner you may represent a battle, or sea fight, and -numberless other subjects, that everyone will contrive according to -his own taste. They may also be made to represent some remarkable or -ludicrous action between different persons, and many other amusements -that a lively imagination will easily suggest.” - -Complete details were given for a “magical theatre” in which regular -magic shadow plays could be presented. An elaborate lantern with a -number of grooves for slides was proposed. The clouds, palaces of the -gods and the like were dropped down from above; the caves and infernal -places rose from below; and earthly palaces, gardens, characters, etc. -came in from either side--all, of course, on glass slides. Projection -was provided by a lamp with a dozen flames. As an illustration a -play based on the siege of Troy was suggested. Slides included the -following: walls of Troy, the Grecian Camp, the background atmosphere, -the Grecian and Trojan troops, ships, the wooden horse, palaces and -houses, temple of Pallas, fire and smoke for the conflagration, -individual characters, etc. Screen directions were given for a complete -magic shadow play in five acts. This surely was among the first--if not -the first--motion picture scenario. The screen was then about three -feet wide. - -Musschenbroek, in addition to being the first credited with introducing -effective, though very artificial, motion into light and shadow -entertainment and instruction, was said to be the first man to create -the illusion of white light by revolving very rapidly a disk painted -with seven colors. That effect must have been as magical to Abbé Nollet -as his “moving” pictures. It also indicates that considerable advance -was being made in the knowledge of vision and the means to create -optical illusions, upon which the principle of the motion picture rests. - -As many other men in this story, Musschenbroek covered the whole field -of science. He studies our old friend, the _camera obscura_, mirrors, -prisms, the eye, the microscope in many forms, winds, waterspouts, -magnetism, capillary tubes, the size of the earth, sound and pneumatic -machines. It is easy to determine from that list of serious studies -that Musschenbroek’s moving shadow projection was the purest kind of an -avocation. - -Abbé Nollet who helped to introduce Musschenbroek’s novel movement -magic lantern is not credited with any great scientific discovery in -any field but he served as a clearing house of scientific knowledge in -his day. He traveled widely, to Italy and England as well as to Holland. - -So far as this tale is concerned, Nollet’s name is of significance, -after his part in making known the Musschenbroek device, by the fact -that he also popularized a very simple little toy--“The Dazzling or -Whirling Top.” - -This little children’s plaything helped to stimulate the study of the -persistence of vision and led to a better understanding of motion. This -in turn resulted, within a half century, in learning a way to re-create -actual motion effects. Around 1760 Nollet developed the top which, -though only an outline in form, when whirled rapidly appears to be a -solid object. Nollet also described the use of the _camera obscura_ and -the various types of lanterns for entertainment and teaching purposes. - -Benjamin Franklin (1706–1790), famed American statesman, writer and -scientist, corresponded with Abbé Nollet. Franklin, though disagreeing -with Nollet on electricity, admired him, calling him “an able -experimenter.” Nollet marveled that such science as manifest by the -publication of certain of Franklin’s works in Paris could come from -America. At first he conceived that his enemies in Paris had falsified -the papers to cause his embarrassment. Franklin made no direct -contribution to the art-science of magic shadows but had a pertinent -remark to make about the medium--light itself--which is nearly as true -today as when he wrote it in 1752 for a paper read to the Royal Society -in London: “I must own I am much in the dark about light,” he said. - - - - -_IX_ - -PHANTASMAGORIA - - _Magic lanterns mounted on wheels and - images projected on screens of smoke - make ghost shadow plays--Robertson - “resurrects” Louis XVI--Théâtre Robert - Houdin, Paris, 1845, Polytechnic - Institution, London, 1848 and Nazi - Army, 1940--all use magic shadows for - supernatural effects._ - - -The tongue-twisting word, Phantasmagoria, stands for a certain type of -light and shadow show popular immediately after the French Revolution. -It marked a definite throwback in the story of magic shadows. It was -essentially a revival of the medieval black magic or necromantic use of -light and shadow to trick, deceive and keep everyone “in the dark about -light.” - -Phantasmagoria is the magic lantern illusion associated with making -phantasms appear before an audience. The only contribution to the -art-science is that it created an illusion of motion through the novel -means of moving the projector instead of the slides or film. - -The Phantasmagoria magic lantern was mounted on rollers and the lens -was adjustable so that ghosts would appear to grow and diminish -and move about. Certain dissolve effects were also produced. For -Phantasmagoria the images--regularly ghosts--were projected not on a -screen but on smoke, a factor which naturally contributed to the weird -effects. - -Phantasmagoria was most popular in Paris in the late 1790s, probably -as some kind of a psychological reaction to the horrors of the French -Revolution. Men and women of the day thought much of death, ghosts and -the like. - -The basic idea for combining motion illusions successfully with the -magic lantern is traced directly to Musschenbroek. The use of smoke for -a screen goes back to the ancient practitioners of light and shadow -trickery. - -Guyot showed, on a small scale, how ghost illusions can be projected -on smoke. He noted, “It is remarkable in this representation, that the -motion of smoke does not at all change the figures, which appear so -conspicuous that the spectator thinks he can grasp them with his hand.” - -These devices were intended primarily for simple amusement on a private -or semi-private scale. - -An indication of the mood of the European people of the time is the -fame granted Alessandro Conte di Cagliostro (1743–1795). This man whose -real name was Giuseppe Balsamo was known throughout Europe in the -latter part of the 18th century. Thomas Carlyle wrote about him under -the title “Count Cagliostro.” He used all kinds of deceptive devices, -and was jailed in France, England and in his native Italy where he died. - -The black magic of Cagliostro, the phantasm images, and a third factor, -the Shadow Plays, were to be combined to make the Phantasmagoria. - -Earlier mention has been made of the Chinese Shadow Plays which -have been in use in the Far East for thousands of years. Towards -the middle of the 18th century the Shadow Plays were very popular -in Germany. Shadows were used to portray action. The audience sat -before a translucent screen on which were cast, by means of a strong -light source, shadows of the various players or objects. In certain -arrangements a regular magic lantern would also be used, projecting, -from in front of the screen, the background scenery or cloud and sky -effects. - -A showman named François Seraphin has been credited with introducing -the Shadow Plays--_Ombres Chinoises_--into France in 1772. He got -the idea during his travels in Italy. Then the shadow entertainment -received its French “first night” at the Palace of Versailles. Light -and Shadow Plays were very popular at the royal court, especially with -the children. In 1784 Seraphin decided that the entertainment was ready -for introduction on a popular basis--the trend of the times may well -have influenced his decision. - -The Shadow Play theatre of Seraphin was moved from Versailles to -the Palais-Royal and its popularity continued for a time. Shadow -entertainment was carried on by members of the same family till past -the middle of the 19th century when an attempt was made to regain -popularity by using marionettes. Other Shadow Plays continued to -attract audiences in Paris until the end of the 19th century, when the -pre-motion picture devices became popular. - -Phantasmagoria reached its peak under an extraordinary -character--Etienne Gaspard Robert (1763–1837), a Belgian and a -practicer of a multitude of professions and hobbies. Robert, for some -reason, called himself Robertson. Robertson started life on a serious -enough basis and in time became professor of physics in his native town -of Liége. - -Robertson tells in his memoirs how he came upon the works of Kircher, -Schott and many others, who, he believed, practiced magic. He read -up on optics and, about 1784, exhibited in Holland, where he was at -the time, an improved magic lantern. He was greatly influenced by -the results of Musschenbroek and the success of the Shadow Plays at -Versailles. Robertson’s characters were ghosts. He commented, “the -encouragements that I received made me try to improve my methods.” More -and more persons were attracted to Robertson’s shows in Holland and -finally even the burgomaster attended. - -At Paris Robertson improved his knowledge of the magic lantern. There -he met Jacques Alexandre César Charles, who was using a lantern for -scientific purposes at his laboratory in the Louvre. Robertson sought a -brighter light source for the lantern and persisted in his quest even -though Charles was said to have tried to discourage him by pointing out -that much money had been spent in vain on that project. - -At the time of the Revolution, Robertson laid before the Government -a plan which would authorize him to build a huge burning mirror, as -Archimedes did, so that he could destroy any attacking English fleet -before it could reach the “invasion coast.” No action was taken on -the proposal. In our own day the English were ready to burn any Nazi -invasion fleet which sailed from France--not by burning glasses but by -equally amazing devices. - -After the Revolution, during the stormy days of the first French -Republic, Robertson held “seances” at the Pavillion de l’Echiquier. A -projector mounted on wheels was used. A patent on the device under the -name of Fantascope or Phantoscope was obtained on March 29, 1799. - -Robertson’s characters or ghosts which would appear to grow and -disappear on the screen of smoke were usually such heroes as Voltaire, -Rousseau, Marat, and Lavoisier. At the end of each performance, a -skeleton would appear and Robertson would remark that this was the fate -awaiting each one in the audience. Grim entertainment! - -A clever artist, Robertson had a large collection of slides and would -call upon his audience--which never quite knew whether to believe that -he was in league with the devil and brought the ghosts into appearance -or not--to ask for whichever ghost they wished. You can imagine the -effect when some Frenchman called for Marat and then, small at first -and gradually growing large until life-size and more, a shadowy, -recognizable image of Marat would appear. - -This “request” part of the program caused Robertson trouble. One night, -a member of the audience who had had a few extra sips of wine, or who -was terrified beyond the others, called for the return of the ghost -of Louis XVI. This was too much. The authorities shut the theatre and -refused to grant Robertson permission to continue his “seances.” They -did not want even the ghost of Louis returned. Political censorship of -screen entertainment had made its first appearance. - -Robertson went to Bordeaux to make sure that he, himself, did not -prematurely join Louis and his other ghosts. - -Later he was able to return to Paris and open another theatre near the -Place Vendôme. This was a particularly startling auditorium. He used an -abandoned chapel of a Capuchin monastery. Robertson’s light and shadow -ghosts came to life among the mortal remains of ancient monks. (The -reader may be aware of the ancient Capuchin custom of using bones of -deceased members of the order as part of the ornament of their chapels -as a constant reminder of death.) - -Even though Robertson had admitted that from childhood he had the -keenest interest in things marvelous, he tired of his magic. Next we -hear of him, he is a pioneer balloonist, credited with the invention of -one of the early parachutes! On July 18, 1803, he made a notable ascent -in a balloon. - -In 1845 there was opened in Paris a theatre which was to play a -part in the light and shadow story. It was called for its proprietor -and chief performer, Théâtre Robert Houdin. Houdin, after whom Harry -Houdini of the 20th century named himself, practiced every kind of -trick and wondrous illusion. He used Phantasmagorial effects and the -French public flocked to the shows. Towards the end of the century -Emile Reynaud took over the Théâtre Robert Houdin and showed the best -magic shadow plays prior to the introduction of the motion picture -itself. - -During the middle of the century, the Polytechnic Institution, at -London, attracted large crowds with magic lantern shows. Ghosts were -created à la Robertson and the Phantasmagorial methods. Regular -entertainment was also provided with such magic lantern stories as -_Puss in Boots_ and versions of Swift’s _Gulliver’s Travels_ and _The -Tale of the Tub_. As many as a half-dozen magic lanterns would be used -to create impressive scenes, such as battles. - -In our own day attempts have been made to use Phantasmagorial effects -to frighten and deceive. An interesting example is contained in the -following Associated Press dispatch telling how the Nazis attempted to -make the English soldiers believe that Heaven was entreating them to -abandon the war: - - Paris, Feb. 15 (1940) (AP)--Press accounts from the front sector - occupied by the British reported today that Tommies manning an - outpost during the night suddenly saw an image of the Virgin Mary - appear in the clouds, with her arms outstretched in entreaty. - - The commander sent out a patrol, which returned with the - information that the Germans were projecting the image from a - machine on the ground. - -Phantasmagoria is not dead yet. Television may even increase the -possibilities of this type of magic shadow diversion. - - - - -_X_ - -DR. PARIS’ TOY - - _An English physician, Dr. Paris, invents - the Thaumatrope, a simple device which - creates the illusion of motion by having - one part of a picture on one side of - a disk and the other on the reverse - side--Scientific instrument and child’s - plaything._ - - -During the period which followed the defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo, -there appeared, first in London and later in Paris and elsewhere, a -small cardboard toy which was at once the plaything of children and a -scientific curiosity which illustrated in a startling way the illusion -of the persistence of vision. This toy was the Thaumatrope. - -The name Thaumatrope means “wonder-turner” (a word reminiscent -of one of Kircher’s titles for the magic shadow projection -art--_thaumaturga_). The Thaumatrope is a small disk with one image on -the face and another on the back. Two short threads or bits of string -are attached to the disk. The Thaumatrope’s effects are observed by -twirling the disk. The eye, as in the case of motion pictures, does not -distinguish the separate pictures on each side of the disk but only the -one, combined impression. - -A variation of the Thaumatrope, however, came even closer to the motion -picture idea--the two ends of cord were not set opposite each other, -which resulted in an irregular motion and an additional illusion. - -John Ayrton Paris (1785–1856), an English doctor, has the best claim to -the invention of the Thaumatrope. At any rate, he was responsible for -the popularity of this scientific toy. Paris was a skilled physician -who was specially known for his talent in judging the health of his -patients by their general appearance. He took interest in affairs well -outside his medical profession and was respected as a conversationalist -whose talk enlivened many a drawing room evening in London. A keen mind -and a great memory, even for the smallest detail, were qualities that -helped to make Paris a charming companion. - -For recreation Paris wrote a “novel” called, _Philosophy in Sport -Made Science in Earnest; being an attempt to illustrate the first -principles of natural philosophy by aid of Popular Toys and Sports_. -The work was published in three small volumes, in keeping with the -19th century custom that every novel must be issued in three volumes. -Paris used a thread of story as a frame-work on which to build the -various scientific illustrations. The book _Philosophy in Sport_, shows -the influence of the novelist-humorist Thomas Love Peacock. It was -dedicated to the novelist, Maria Edgeworth. - -Paris’ work was published anonymously in 1827 and was a “best seller” -all through the rest of his life. On his death-bed in 1856 he was busy -revising the proofs of the 8th edition. - -The first part of the third volume dealt with the Thaumatrope which -Paris informed his readers could be obtained “at Mr. William Phillip’s, -George Yard, Lombard Street, the publisher.” Paris continued, “We -mention this circumstance to guard the reader against those inferior -imitations which are vended in the shops of London.” George Cruikshank, -1792–1878, the skilled illustrator, who worked on books of Scott and -Dickens, made some of the designs for Paris’ Thaumatrope. - -Paris introduced the Thaumatrope amid a great number of puns which -perhaps were very funny in his day. - - No sooner had Mr. Seymour put the card in motion than the vicar, - in a tone of the greatest surprise, exclaimed, “Magic! Magic! I - declare the rat is in the cage!!” - - “And what is the motto?” asked Louisa. - - “Why is this rat like an opposition member in the House of - Commons, who joins the ministry?” replied Mr. Seymour. - - “Ha, ha, ha--excellent,” cried the major, as he read the - following answer: “because by _turning round_ he gains a snug - berth, but ceases to be free.” - - “Show us another card,” said Tom, eagerly. - - “Here then is a watch-box; when I turn it round, you will see the - watchman comfortably sleeping at his post.” - - “Very good! It is very surprising,” observed the vicar. - - “Yes,” observed the major; “and to carry on your political joke, - it may be said that, like most worthies who gain a post, by - turning round, he sleeps over his duty.” - -One epigram, accompanying a Thaumatrope card, had a reference to the -recent activities of Napoleon: - - Head, legs and arms, alone appear; - Observe that nobody is here: - Napoleon-like I undertake - Of nobody a king to make. - -Paris, as inventor of the Thaumatrope, could not avoid the temptation -to have a little speech from the anonymous inventor, himself: “The -inventor confidently anticipates the favour and patronage of an -enlightened and liberal public, on the well-grounded assurance that -‘one good turn deserves another’; and he trusts that his discovery may -afford the happy means of giving activity to wit that has been long -stationary; of revolutionizing the present system of standing jokes, -and of putting into rapid circulation the most appreciated _bon mots_.” - -The Thaumatrope was advertised in the following way: - - The Thaumatrope - being - Rounds of Amusement - or - How to Please and Surprise - by turns. - -Through the characters of his “novel,” Paris then commented on the -illusion of the persistence of vision which makes the Thaumatrope (and -the motion picture) a reality. He discussed the whirling flame which -appeared to make a circle; Homer’s reference to “long shadowed” spear; -and the tail of a rocket. - -Paris also described an improved model of the Thaumatrope. In this -card device a center disk is allowed to change from one position to -another as the whole revolves. In one illustration a jockey was on -one side and a horse on the other. By tightening the strings as the -card revolved the jockey appeared to be falling over the neck of the -horse. In another an Indian juggler was represented as using two, then -three and finally four balls. Other illusions indicated were a sailor -rowing a boat, “a dandy making a bow.” Through the words of the vicar, -Paris then warned, “I hope that, amidst all your improvements (in the -Thaumatrope), you will still keep in view your first and most laudable -design, that of rendering it subservient to classical illustration.” - -It is certain that Paris developed the Thaumatrope, first, for -scientific illustration of the persistence of vision, perhaps to better -explain the phenomenon to one of his patients or students. But being a -clever man, he immediately realized its commercial value and arranged -to have sets of the cards made up and sold in London. Doubtless the -chapter in his book on the Thaumatrope did much to increase the sale of -the toys. - -David Brewster (1781–1868), Scottish scientist whose work on -the polarization of light led him to invent, around 1815, the -Kaleidoscope--an optical instrument which creates and exhibits by -reflection a variety of beautiful symmetrical designs in varied -colors--was the first to comment in print on the Thaumatrope of Paris, -the year before the latter’s book appeared. In the fourth volume of -his _Edinburgh Journal_ Brewster wrote, under the description of the -Thaumatrope, “a very ingenious philosophical toy, invented, we believe, -by Dr. Paris.” Brewster remarked that the circular disks should be -2½ inches in diameter and that the cord should be of silk. Brewster -described the following Thaumatrope cards: Rose-tree and garden-pot, -horse and man, a branch with and without leaves, woman in one dress -and then another, body of a Turk and his head, watchman’s box and the -watchman, Harlequin and Columbine, comic head and wig, a man asleep -and awake, and the use of the cards for cipher writing. According to -Brewster, “the principle of the thaumatrope may be extended to many -other devices.” He also commented on the imperfections of the toy -arising from the hobbling effect of irregular rotation. He suggested -that a “solid axis of rotation is decidedly preferable and will produce -much more pleasing combinations.” - -Brewster himself was deeply interested in light and vision phenomena. -Despite its original scientific purposes, his Kaleidoscope also was a -popular toy. Brewster patented the toy in 1816 but it was pirated. -Some 200,000 were sold in three months. In his _Treatise on the -Kaleidoscope_, 1819, Brewster told it was discovered while he was -testing the successive reflections of gold and silver plates. He also -noted the application of the Kaleidoscope to Kircher’s magic lantern in -order to bring the effects before a large audience at one time. - -The invention of the Thaumatrope has been attributed to others besides -Paris, despite the weighty authority of Brewster and Paris’ own book. -Charles Babbage (1792–1871), English scientist and mathematician noted -for his calculating machine and his campaign against noise (which -he said robbed us of one-quarter of our working life), attributed -the discovery of the Thaumatrope to his friend and classmate, -John Herschel, the astronomer, (1792–1871). Babbage wrote in his -autobiography that one evening Herschel spun a shilling before a mirror -so that both sides of it could be visible--the Thaumatrope effect. -Dr. William Fitton, Captain Kaster and Dr. William Hyde Wollaston -(1766–1828) were told about the method and various Thaumatropes were -made, according to Babbage, about 1818 or 1819. “After a lapse of some -time the device was forgotten. Then in 1826,” Babbage wrote “during a -dinner at the Royal Society Club, Sir Joseph Banks being in the chair, -I heard Mr. Barrow, then Secretary to the Admiralty, talking very -loudly about a wonderful invention of Dr. Paris, the object of which I -could not quite understand.” Babbage then claimed it was his invention. -At any rate, Paris and not Herschel, Fitton, Wollaston or Babbage, was -the one to popularize the Thaumatrope. - -In passing, it may be noted that at the time Paris was making the -Thaumatrope well known Babbage was thinking about submarine craft: -“Such a vessel” (a four-man submarine equipped for a 48-hour stay under -water) “could be propelled by a screw and might enter, without being -suspected, any harbour, and place any amount of explosive matter under -the bottoms of ships.” - - - - -_XI_ - -PLATEAU CREATES MOTION PICTURES - - _Plateau, blind half of his life, - develops devices to show motion from - hand-drawn images, opening the road to - the modern motion picture--Stampfer - independently invents similar - apparatus--Persistence of vision studied._ - - -Plateau, a Belgian scientist who became blind in work that resulted -in making it possible for millions all over the world to see motion -pictures, deserves more than anyone else the title, “Father of the -Motion Picture.” Just as Athanasius Kircher originated projection as we -know it with the magic lantern, Joseph Antoine Ferdinand Plateau has -the best claim of all to credit for making the motion picture illusion -a reality. - -Never interested in profits for himself, Plateau did not trouble to -patent his magic disk picture machines but took pains to issue correct -instructions when commercial imitators made devices lacking in some -essential. - -Plateau was born on Oct. 14, 1801, at Brussels, Belgium, the son of -a landscape and flower painter. His mother was the former Catherine -Thirion. From earliest boyhood, Plateau was trained to be an artist and -the nature of his studies and work in later life indicated that he must -have shown great promise, for he had the temperamental qualities of a -great artist. After his elementary studies, his father lost no time in -directing his son’s attention towards the arts by sending him to the -Academy of Design at Brussels. - -At the age of 14 Plateau was left an orphan, and was made a ward of -his maternal uncle. In delicate health young Plateau was sent into -the country to recuperate from the shock of losing both his parents -in two years. The location selected was near Waterloo and Plateau had -to take shelter in the woods for ten days and nights while the battle -raged. Soon the plans Plateau’s father had made for him to study art -were altered. The uncle was a lawyer and wished his ward to succeed -him in that profession. Plateau himself evidently was strong-willed -and persevering even at an early age, for during the next few years he -studied both arts and sciences. This would make it possible for him to -follow his father’s, his uncle’s, or his own wish. He wanted to strike -out into a new field, and this he did. - -Higher studies were carried on at the Royal College and in 1822, at -the age of 21, Plateau entered the University of Liége as a candidate -for a degree both in philosophy and letters, and in science. As -the years progressed Plateau turned more and more of his attention -toward science, especially problems concerning color, vision and the -perception of motion. But all through life he retained the fullness of -viewpoint of a man with a background and interests in many fields so -his imagination never was dulled, as sometimes happens in the cases of -specialists in a restricted field of science. The art of his father -never left him. - -While studying for the doctorate Plateau carried on his first important -work in vision and motion which resulted in the scientific approach to -the first motion picture machine. He investigated the visual effects of -whirling a disk which was colored half in yellow, half in blue. - -In 1827 part of Plateau’s research was published in Quetelet’s -_Correspondance Mathématique et Physique_. Quetelet (1796–1874) was a -pioneer in statistics and Plateau’s professor at the Royal College, -and also taught at the Museum of Science and Letters in Belgium. The -next year, 1828, Plateau sent another communication to M. Quetelet -on the appearances produced by two lines turning around a point with -uniform motion. In that letter Plateau referred to the work of Roget on -persistence of vision published in the _Philosophical Transactions_ of -the Royal Society, London, 1824. - -Peter Mark Roget (1779–1869), English doctor best known for his -_Thesaurus of English Words and Phrases_, combined his medical work -with interest in the sciences. On December 9, 1824, he read, at the -Royal Society, a paper called, “Explanation of an optical deception -in the appearance of the spokes of a wheel seen through vertical -apertures.” Roget pointed out that the phenomenon had been noted but -not explained by an anonymous contributor who signed himself “J. M.” in -the _Quarterly Journal_ of December 1, 1820. “J. M.” commented on the -curvature of spokes when a wheel is in motion and is viewed through a -series of vertical bars. Everyone has noted the strange rotations of -motor car wheels when viewed under certain conditions, as in the modern -motion picture. “J. M.” pointed out that at times the wheel appeared to -rotate backwards; at other times, forward and still again seem to stand -still. A nod of praise should be bestowed towards “J. M.” (these are -not the initials of any of the better known English scientists of the -period). Ten years later the great Faraday confessed he did not know -the identity of this man who had stimulated those investigations which -we now know led directly to the first actual motion pictures formed -from hand-drawn designs. - -Roget, in 1824, noted that a certain velocity and a certain amount of -light were necessary before the “wheel phenomenon” was visible--both -speed of motion and bright light source are necessary for the motion -picture illusion. Roget said, “It is evident from the facts above -stated that the deception in the appearance of the spokes must arise -from the circumstances of separate parts only of each spoke being seen -at the same moment; the remaining parts being concealed from view by -the bars” (equivalent to the shutters in the motion picture machine). -Roget continued, “so that it is evident that the several portions of -one and the same line, seen through the intervals of the bars, form -on the retina the images of so many different radii.” Roget remarked -that the illusion was the same as when a bright object is whirled in -a circle--“an impression made by a pencil of rays on the retina, if -sufficiently vivid, will remain for a certain time after the cause has -ceased.” - -A few weeks later, on December 24, 1824, Roget lectured on the -persistence of vision with regard to moving objects, a phenomenon first -recognized by the ancient scientists. - -Plateau wrote in 1828 as follows: - - I have made an instrument by means of which I could produce - these fixed images with ease and I also could make visible the - formation of changes in the curvature ... when working at my - first experiments relative to sensations, I observed that while - turning rapidly a wheel whose teeth were perpendicular to its - axis, and placing the eye at some distance from the plane of the - axis, one perceived the image of a series of perfectly immobile - teeth; that also with two wheels revolving, the one behind the - other, with considerable speed and in opposite directions, - produced in the eye the sensation of a fixed wheel. I have - remarked further that, while the two wheels are not concentric, - the fixed image appears to be made up of curved lines. - -Today stroboscopic machines, based on the principles of Plateau’s -devices, are used to study moving objects. In this way modern -scientists learn more about the nature of movement and its stresses on -wheels and other objects. - -Plateau received the degree of doctor of physical and mathematical -sciences from the University of Liége on June 3, 1829, when he was -28. His thesis was on “Certain Properties of the Impressions Produced -by Light upon the Organ of Sight.” It is strange that such a learned -paper would have so much influence on what was to be the modern motion -picture. - -The chief points--all of importance in building motion pictures--of the -Plateau thesis dated April 24, 1829, were: First, the sensation (result -of the picture presented to the eye) must stay for a time to form -completely--this hinted definitely at the necessity of intermittent -movement for a really successful and practical motion picture machine. -Second, the sensations do not disappear immediately but gradually -dim--this makes motion pictures possible. If each image disappeared -all at once, only individual still pictures would be recognized. The -gradually dimming makes possible fusion of one image with the next -which results in appearance of motion. The third point covered was the -relative effect on the eye of various colors. Plateau concluded that -the intensity of the chief colors decreased from white, yellow, red, -blue--in that order. He also announced results of perception of various -colors at different angles, studies made in the shade and in the light. -It was further pointed out that two colors--as two images--changed -rapidly result in only one sensation or image. - -After receiving his doctor’s degree from the University, Plateau taught -at the Royal College of Liége while he continued his research on vision -and related matters. - -[Illustration: - - Annuaire, L’Académie de Belgique, 1885 - -_JOSEPH PLATEAU sacrificed his own eyesight in an effort to enable -others to see pictures in motion._] - -[Illustration: - - Correspondance Mathématique, 1829–1833 - -_PLATEAU’S first real motion picture device, shown above, see page 89. -Below, the Phénakisticope with which a single person could see pictures -in motion._] - -The first machine creating the illusion of motion from a series of -drawings was described by Plateau in a letter to Quetelet dated Liége, -December 5, 1829, with the scientific title, “Different Optical -Experiments.” (_Relative à différentes expériences d’optique._) A -similar instrument was already referred to by Plateau in his paper -written in the preceding year. Although the device made by Plateau in -1828 and described in the 1829 article followed by several years the -introduction of the Thaumatrope, it rates as the first motion picture -machine because the Thaumatrope was really only a scientific toy, just -as Paris called it. - -Plateau illustrated his letter describing his instrument in writing -to Quetelet in answer to an inquiry. The drawing (opposite page) of -Plateau shows that, though a scientist, he never forgot his early -training and was something of an artist. The principles of his machine -could be illustrated by drawings of lines and other geometrical -figures, but Plateau chose a woman’s head. - -In the following words Plateau described his instrument: - - Two small copper pulleys, (a) and (b), drive by means of an - endless cord a large wooden wheel, (c), which has a double - groove; the diameters of the small pulleys are such that the two - cords are equally taut and the system is placed in movement by - means of the handle, (d), the speed of one pulley being an exact - multiple of the other; the axes terminate in the form of a vise - and are divised in such a way that you can attach to them by - little screws the drawings or cartoons with which you wish to - experiment. The pulleys are held by iron supports, (f) and (g), - which slide in two grooves practically parallel with the stand or - base (hk), and are held in position by means of thumb screws. - -Lines or drawings to be studied are mounted on the two pulleys. The -machine is of such a nature, Plateau pointed out, that drawings can be -easily changed, the relative speeds of the two wheels (one serving as -a shutter when drawings are used) can be regulated, alignment can be -readjusted and by crossing the cords the disks can be made to rotate in -opposite directions. - -Plateau continued by explaining that when the speed on one disk is -not an exact multiple of the other they do not keep the same relative -positions after rotation. - - A different image is produced at each revolution and the eye, - instead of seeing one fixed line (or image), sees only a rapid - succession of different lines (or images); however if the swifter - is little more than a multiple of the other, the difference is - very little in a manner which the eye cannot distinguish one from - another. In this case the spectacle will appear to change little - by little.... - -There is the germ of the motion picture--a real instrument which makes -pictures move. - -The diagram illustrates a model in which “a perfectly regular image is -produced from a deformed figure” turning in a speed proportional to the -distortion behind the shutter disk. - -Plateau pointed out that the deformed figure can be painted black and -turn before a white surface, or be white and turn behind a slot pierced -in a black disk. He said, “This last method is preferable to the other -because it gives an image of greater lifelikeness....” This of course -is the quality sought in all dramatic representations--realistic living -pictures. - -“For this effect,” he explained, “you design the deformed figure on -white transparent paper and paint the surrounding space with a very -opaque black, then make the experiment carefully, and place a strong -light behind the paper.” - -In the example shown in the drawing the two disks, mounted one behind -the other, are rotated in an opposite direction, the motion of the -deformed figure is double that of the shutter and the effect produced -is that of the regular image shown in Figure 3. - -Plateau then remarked, “The construction of these images is very -simple.” He gave the method and an example. “While the shutter -will be making a third part of a revolution all the points of the -circle carrying the deformed figure will be present behind it and in -consequence it will produce one regular complete image. Then during -the second and third part of the revolution of the shutter it will -be able to form itself into second and third images resembling the -first.” These were the words Plateau used to explain the nature of the -operations of the first movie machine. - -He concluded: “As you are master of the production of the figures you -can make them as bizarre and as irregular as you wish.” Producers of -the modern motion picture have indeed made pictures that are both -“bizarre” and “irregular.” Plateau would have liked modern motion -pictures because he was fond of the theatre, especially liking comedies. - -While Plateau was making the experiments in 1829 which led to -scientific presentations of visual and optical phenomena as well as -construction of the first motion picture machine to illustrate those -principles as well as to entertain, a tragic event happened. Plateau in -his investigations of seeing light and motion gave special attention to -the chief source of all light on earth, the sun. - -One day, to see for himself the effects of a great stimulus, the -greatest possible in nature on his eye, he stared at the sun for 25 -seconds without glasses or other protection. The intensity was great -and the effect equal. He was blind for the rest of that day. In a few -days his sight came back but it was permanently injured. It gradually -waned and was gone in 1843. A choroid inflammation persisted and -blotted out the vision of one of the greatest investigators of vision -in all history. - -During the period while his sight was gradually going, Plateau -continued work on vision and made great contributions to the then -unknown motion picture. From 1843 he had to discontinue teaching on -account of total blindness but this did not stop his experiments. - -In 1830 Plateau published a further explanation of his wheel device in -Quetelet’s Journal. - -In 1831 and 1832 Plateau and Michael Faraday (1791–1867), English -scientist, had a written argument over certain phases of priority in -observing the “wheel phenomenon” which led to the motion picture. On -December 10th, 1830, Faraday, the son of a blacksmith, who attracted -the attention of Sir Humphry Davy, addressed the Royal Institution -of Great Britain “On the Peculiar Class of Optical Deceptions.” The -paper was published in February, 1831, in the Institution’s _Journal_. -Faraday, called by Tyndall, “the greatest experimental philosopher -the world has ever seen,” was attracted to the wheel phenomenon which -he noted “J. M.” had discussed in 1820 and Roget in 1824. At the lead -mills of Messrs. Maltsby Faraday saw cog wheels rapidly revolving one -in one direction, the other in another. The optical effect was curious. -He designed in his laboratory a disk machine in order to create -the same illusion, noting that the effects produced were sometimes -beautiful. Faraday said that the device of the revolving wheels could -be spun before a mirror and interesting results observed. He did not -propose the use of images or pictures. Mr. Wheatstone, Faraday said, -was engaged in the general exploration of the subject and hoped soon -that the results would be made public. - -Plateau later in the year wrote in the _Annales de Chimie et de -Physique_, a scientific publication printed in Paris and edited by -Guy-Lussac and Arago, that scientists both in France and England were -studying the effects of two revolving wheels, one placed behind the -other and each revolving at different speeds. - -Plateau claimed priority in these words: “Several years ago I observed -those phenomena and from that conducted experiments whose results -were published. My experiments attracted little attention outside the -country and Mr. Faraday without doubt had no knowledge of my work.... -It is because such a man as Mr. Faraday has decided that the phenomenon -in question was not unworthy of his attention that I attach some merit -to the honor of having observed it before him.” - -In the 1832 edition of the _Correspondance Mathématique et Physique_ -of Quetelet, Plateau remarked (in a note dated January 20, 1833) that -following the letter published in the _Annales_ of November, 1831, -“He (Faraday) wrote me and recognized in a manner most flattering for -me the priority of my observations.” Plateau finally concluded that -Faraday had had some knowledge after all of his earlier work when the -Englishman wrote his paper at the end of 1830. - -Plateau acknowledged that Faraday’s paper had some interesting -observations which he explained and enlarged upon. Following the -principle outlined in his work of 1828, Plateau then constructed the -first Fantascope or Phénakisticope, the first machine which created -illusions of motion from a series of pictures. Madou, a brother-in-law -of Quetelet, was credited with copying Plateau’s drawing with extreme -care. - -Plateau conceived the idea of having successively different pictures -which would give the illusion of motion for use on the revolving disk. -With each figure showing some changes of position from the preceding, -the illusion is that the figures move and not the disk; and so it is -with modern motion pictures. We have no consciousness of the movement -of film through the machine before our eyes--only of movement of the -figures on the film as projected on the screen. (Illustration facing -page 89.) - -Plateau also pointed out that a strong light was necessary for the -motion pictures--as today--and that the “projector” must be a certain -distance from the mirror (now a screen) on which the images are seen. - -“I shall not describe the variety of curious illusion which can be -produced by this new method,” Plateau concluded. “I leave to the -imagination of persons who would try these experiences the care to find -out the most interesting.” - -Motion picture producers down to this day, using their imagination, -have followed the challenge of Plateau, and still the field is -inexhaustible. - -In the _Annales de Chimie et de Physique_ for 1833 Plateau gave a -further explanation of his device, named by others the Phénakisticope. -Others had also commercialized it. McLeans’ Optical Illusions, No. 26 -Haymarket Street, London, and other firms were selling models based -on Plateau’s invention. “I wish to take this opportunity to state, -that while the Phénakisticope has been made from an idea which I have -published on this new method of creating illusions, I have no part -whatsoever in the execution of this instrument which leaves much to be -desired according to reports. The theory and experiments have shown -that to obtain results as perfect as possible it is necessary to take -certain precautions which have been omitted in the Phénakisticope.” - -Plateau went on to explain that he had made some models in which the -necessary steps had been taken and “these models now constitute a -new instrument which has been published in London under the name of -Fantascope.” - -The improved instrument was described with the original dancer and -marching men as illustrations. He also pointed out that the disks must -revolve at a certain speed--if too slow, the illusion of motion is not -present, and if too rapid the figures become blurred. - -At about the same time Plateau invented his Phénakisticope or -Fantascope independently, the same device was invented by Simon Ritter -von Stampfer, an Austrian geometrician and geologist. Stampfer was -born October 28, 1792, in the Tyrol. As a young boy he stared at -the sun for a long period but recovered his normal sight after the -image of the sun persisted for 24 days. When a professor of practical -geometry at the Polytechnical Institute at Vienna, Stampfer published -his account of the Stroboscope, as he called it, in 1834. Stampfer in -his article mentioned Dr. Paris’ Thaumatrope, Dr. Roget’s paper on -the persistence of vision in regard to wheel spokes and the paper of -Faraday--all mentioned above. Stampfer’s treatment of the disks to -create the illusion of motion was a mathematical one. He explained -many complicated mathematical formulae and unlike the Plateau papers -his were not accompanied by a drawing. Stampfer, though not having -Plateau’s artistic talent, was a more practical man. On May 7, 1833, he -took out an Imperial patent on his invention. Stampfer died on November -10, 1864, in Vienna. - -Plateau himself is the best authority for the respective claims of -himself and Stampfer, though as always he may have been much more -modest and generous than the facts warranted for basically his disk had -much greater influence than Stampfer’s and his research was started -first. - -While describing an improved form of his original Anorthoscope, or -machine used to create distorted images developed first in 1828 and -1829, Plateau wrote on the invention of the Phénakisticope, Fantascope -or Stroboscope, in 1836 in the _Bulletin_ of the Royal Academy of -Belgium: - - I would like to take this occasion to say here a few words on the - question of my priority to the invention of another instrument, - the Fantascope or Phénakisticope, priority which is shared - equally with Mr. Stampfer, professor at Vienna, who has published - a similar instrument under the name of Stroboscopic Disks. - - In the notice which accompanies the second edition of these - Stroboscopic Disks printed in July of 1833, Mr. Stampfer stated - that he had commenced in December of the preceding year to repeat - the experiments of Mr. Faraday on certain illusions of optics - and that these experiments had resulted in the invention of the - instrument which he had published. Also the editors affirmed in a - foreword that in the month of February of the following year Mr. - Stampfer had assembled a collection of these disks and had shown - them successively to his friends, including prominent persons. - They brought it about that on May 7 of that year he was given an - exclusive Imperial patent to the rights to his invention. - - So much for what concerns Mr. Stampfer. One sees that the - patent above mentioned was not obtained until May 7, 1833. - The professor has not been able to place his first publication - prior to that time. But, on the other hand, the letter which - gives first description of my Fantascope is dated January 20, - 1832. Thus my first publication is over a year before that of - Mr. Stampfer. As for the time when I first got the idea for this - instrument, the idea to which I was also led by the paper of - Mr. Faraday, it is difficult for me to be precise; however, the - drawing which accompanies that letter proved that I had already - at that time finished the first disk and when I recall my labor, - the difficulties which I encountered in the first construction - and the extreme care which I had given to it, I believe that I - can place the invention at about the same time, that is to say, - as Mr. Stampfer, in the month of December, 1832. - -Roget also may be considered a pioneer in this field. In 1834 he -wrote that Faraday’s writing had called again to his attention wheel -devices and that in the Spring of 1831 he had constructed several -“which I showed to many of my friends,” he wrote, “but in consequence -of occupations and cares of a more serious kind I did not publish -any account of this invention which was last year reproduced on the -continent.” - -From 1835 until 1843 Plateau continued his work and teaching at the -University of Liége in his capacity of professor of experimental -physics, taking time off to be married in 1840 to Fanny Clavareau. But -all the while the man who had helped to bring visual education and -entertainment to millions who were to come after him was gradually -going blind. He was a popular teacher, despite his handicap. - -From 1844, when his vision was entirely gone, Plateau worked -continually at home, having set up there a laboratory in which friends -and relatives acted as his assistants. Plateau himself gave all the -instructions to his aids; they reported to him every detail of the -results of the experiments and he then dictated the notes covering -the work, relying on a remarkable memory. Later the notes would be -revised for publication. Plateau supplied the imagination and piercing -intelligence; his helpers supplied the eyes and were the reporters. -Plateau was the editor. Scientific critics have held that he not only -overcame his handicap but actually did better work. - -In 1849 Plateau published in the _Bulletin_ of the Royal Academy of -Belgium further studies on revolving disks and the use of a shutter. -This time he also treated the effects when colored, and vari-colored -disks are used. The system was similar to the Anorthoscope. Sixteen -images were mounted on the margin of a glass disk. Another disk with -four slots was revolved four times as swiftly. A number of spectators -could see the effect at the same time. The chief illusion was a devil -blowing up a fire. Edison’s peep-show film machine of 1891 also had a -revolving disk with four slots. - -The last time Plateau wrote for publication directly on the motion -picture machine was in 1852, 20 years after his invention. Once more he -had to lash back at critics, this time at those who said he stole not -from another of his own time but from the ancient Romans. - -In the May 30, 1852 issue of _Cosmos_, a French weekly review of -science, edited by Abbé Moigno, comments were made about an article -written by one Dr. Sinsteden in the German science review, _Annalen der -Physik und Chemie_, which asserted that Lucretius in the fourth book of -_De Rerum Natura_ described the Fantascope or Phénakisticope invented -by Plateau “with such exactitude that, if it were not for the long -series of theoretical considerations and practical experiments that led -the Belgian scientist to arrive at the construction of the apparatus -one would suppose that he took the idea from the Roman philosopher.” - -To back up the position, the text from Lucretius was quoted in Latin -and French and Abbé Moigno made another comment, “What is the effect of -that but the Phénakisticope--could Lucretius have described it in terms -more precise or more clear?” - -Plateau replied in the issue of July 25 of the same year and answered -for all time the assertion that Lucretius had invented the first motion -picture machine many hundreds of years before. - -Moigno realized his mistake and prefaced Plateau’s words with an -apology, “We are always ready to retract the errors which we print. -Our learned friend, Plateau, has written us today about a translation -written from a preconceived idea. He has a hundred reasons for -complaint.” - -Plateau’s few lines were devastating. He pointed out that the passage -of Lucretius used by Dr. Sinsteden and picked up by Abbé Moigno had -suppressed one line of the text and had mistranslated others. It was -proved that Lucretius was describing not an optical instrument but -dreams. - -Plateau concluded, “These few words suffice, I hope, to show the true -relationship which exists between the passage of Lucretius and the -Phénakisticope, and to remove from me all suspicion of having stolen -the idea of my instrument from antiquity.” - -A re-examination of the Latin text of Lucretius leaves no doubt -whatsoever that Plateau was correct and Lucretius was writing about -dreams and not the first movie device. The lines of Lucretius talk -about images, the imagination and dreams. Dr. Sinsteden and others -in the 19th century who believed that Lucretius was describing an -instrument were confused by failing to understand his words and -confusing his theory of vision with an actual piece of apparatus and -its effects. It was a simple mistake and accounts for Lucretius’ -recorded connection with the origin of the motion picture which has -been repeated in many books. - -A few years before his death Plateau published a complete, annotated -bibliography of works on vision from the earliest time to his own day. -He started with Aristotle and followed the entire historical trail. -About 100 years before his own experiments, the first efforts to -measure the persistence of vision were made. All the many years he was -blind he was most interested in light, color, vision, the illusion of -motion and related phenomena. Plateau regularly attended scientific -meetings and his fame was well known throughout the scientific world. -He was well known for his religious devotion and piety. - -Plateau, honored by his scientific colleagues and the Belgian -Government, died at Ghent on September 15, 1883, a few years before the -motion picture was presented to the public and acclaimed throughout -the world. The art science of magic shadows had made great progress -under this Belgian who was endowed with rare talent and an indomitable -spirit. - - - - -_XII_ - -THE BARON’S PROJECTOR - - _First impact of war on magic - shadows--General Uchatius invents a - projector combining Kircher’s magic - lantern and the Plateau-Stampfer picture - disks--Motion pictures reach the screen._ - - -The first man to combine Kircher’s magic lantern and the -Plateau-Stampfer disk and thereby achieve moving images on a screen -visible to an audience was Baron General Franz von Uchatius. A type of -bronze was named for this Austrian ballistic expert but, though his -machine was the pattern for motion picture projectors until the advent -of film at the end of the century, his name was not linked with the -device. With Uchatius also came the first impact of projected pictures -on the science of war. From these small beginnings, in less than a -century, the motion picture--in our day--became a great weapon of -psychological warfare. - -Franz Uchatius, the second son of a former artillery officer and -instructor in the cadet school who resigned after 19 years’ service -to become street commissioner in a small Austrian town, was born on -October 20, 1811, at Theresienfeld, Wiener Neustadt, Austria. The -father had married a woman from Bavaria and lived comfortably, for in -addition to his town job he managed an estate and derived income from -an agricultural sowing machine which he had invented. - -After elementary and high school education near his home, Franz was -apprenticed to a Viennese merchant. His father had to pay an annual -fee of some 300 gulden (about $120) for the privilege. Franz, a small, -sensitive boy, was very unhappy as an apprentice, having no interest -in merchandising. After much persuasion, for his father evidently had -found life happier outside the army, Franz received permission to -join his eldest brother, Joseph, in the artillery. There was another -difficulty. Franz was under the minimum height established for that -branch of the army. Special permission had to be received from Archduke -Ludwig, the youngest son of Emperor Francis and the general inspector -of artillery, before he could enter the artillery school. - -But everything was arranged and on August 5, 1829, when Uchatius was -17, he was taken to the Rennweger armory in Vienna to start training as -an artillery sub-cadet. Uchatius was especially interested in physics, -mathematics and chemistry. Chemistry was not highly regarded then and -was usually reserved for non-commissioned officers. Uchatius overcame -this prejudice by becoming the laboratory assistant to the professor. - -Military advancement came slowly to Uchatius. At 25 he was a gunner -but also was able to attend lectures at the Polytechnical School. The -next year, 1837, he again became assistant to the chemistry professor -at the artillery school, keeping this position until 1841. During that -period he served as special tutor to Turkish officers, then studying in -Vienna, and also worked in the gun foundry. - -Finally in 1843, at the age of 32, he was commissioned a lieutenant. It -was at this period that he did his first inventing. A special fuse for -guns was his initial achievement. Somewhat later he invented the first -European hydrocarbon lamp. This was a special lantern designed for use -aboard ship. It was so constructed that it would not go out even when -completely overturned. A modification of this lamp was used by Uchatius -in one model of his pre-film motion picture projector. - -The description of Uchatius’ “Apparatus for the presentation of motion -pictures upon a wall” was not published until 1853. The account -appeared in the _Sitzungsberichte_ of the Kaiserliche Akademie der -Wissenschaften of Vienna. - -But, as Uchatius himself said, he was asked to develop the invention -as far back as 1845, at the request of Field Marshal Lieutenant von -Hauslab. That general very probably thought that if moving figures of -the Plateau-Stampfer magic disks could be projected on the wall there -would be available a potent instrument for military instruction. In our -own day the motion picture has come to be an important aid in military -training all over the world. - -Uchatius wrote as follows: - - The well known illusion caused by means of the Stampfer disk - arises from the fact that the eye receives on the same portion of - the retina pictures succeeding one another at short intervals, - which present some recurring motion in its various phases, and - through this arises an effect which equals that of one picture - observed in motion. - -The method used by Uchatius to throw a connected series of images on a -wall “in any desired size” is indicated by the illustrations. - -Uchatius noted that the Plateau-Stampfer disk had a certain -disadvantage not only because but one person could observe the effects -at a time but also because the pictures were not sharp and clear. - -The first model developed by Uchatius was described as follows: - - The pictures (a), (a) ... are painted on transparent glass and - mounted on a disk, (A), at equal intervals, and the lowest of - the pictures was illuminated from behind by the lamp (S) and the - illuminating lens (B). A second disk, (C), contained the slits - (b), (b) ... (the modern shutter) to be brought before each - picture. The slits correspond to those in the Stampfer disk. Both - disks are mounted on the same axis, (D), and are rotated by the - crank (E). The slit, (c), corresponds to the pupil opening of - the eye and the achromatic lens, (F), to the crystal lens of the - eye. The lens is adjustable to allow the picture to be focussed - sharply. The surface, (G) (the screen) finally corresponds to the - position of the retina of the eye. - - When the disks are turned, the successive pictures appear on - the wall, (G), just as they are seen in the Stampfer disk, in - intervals so short that they are not noticed by the eye. - -This machine was satisfactory but limited. Uchatius was a sharp critic -of his own work: “The apparatus produced very good motion pictures -whose size, however, could be enlarged to a maximum of only six inches -in diameter, because should the wall, (G), be moved far from the -projector the pictures became too dark on account of the light cut off -by the slits. And an enlargement of the slits brought about greater -indistinctness. However, a projected motion picture had been attained -which could be viewed simultaneously by a considerable number of -people. But it still remained desirable to project this picture in a -suitable size on a wall and thus show it in an auditorium or theatre.” - -The first model had shown that the use of slits, even with the -brightest light, could not result in a successful picture, according to -Uchatius. (Illustration facing page 105.) - -He then constructed the improved model. - - The pictures (a), (a) ... are painted transparently and set - upright in a circle as close together as possible on the wooden - slide (A). In front of each picture is a projection lens (b), (b) - ... which can be inclined towards the center of the apparatus - by means of a hinge and set screw. The inclination of all - the projection lenses is so adjusted that their optical axes - intersect at the distance at which the picture appears (in other - words on the screen). It follows there that all the pictures must - appear at one and the same point on the wall, (W). - - The light source consists of a lime cylinder, (B) glowing in a - stream of oxyhydrogen gas and the condensing lens, (C), which - gives somewhat converging rays and illuminates only one picture - at a time. The light is turned in a circle by a simple mechanism - by means of a crank, (D), either rapidly or slowly as desired, - (the first slow motion projector as well). During the movement - the light source retains its upright position because of its own - weight, since it is suspended from its support, (c), so as to be - easily movable. The two rubber gas tubes rise and fall through - the opened bottom of the cabinet. The lead weight, (E), serves as - a counterweight to the light source. - -Uchatius was pleased with this machine. “The result is now evident. The -successively illuminated pictures appear on the wall in the same way as -the so-called dissolving views but much more rapidly, thereby causing -the effect of a moving picture. The size of the picture is not limited -by the slits and the sharpness is not affected since no motion of the -object picture occurs.” - -In this manner Uchatius solved the problem of projecting these pre-film -hand-painted motion pictures. In the very beginning of magic shadow -projection Athanasius Kircher had sought the same results but did not -have the apparatus or the knowledge of vision and movement necessary to -carry out his wish. The lantern model of Zahn equipped with a revolving -disk approximates the plan of Uchatius but failed, as did Kircher’s, -and for the same reason. So far as Plateau was concerned, the illusion -of moving images visible to one person at a time was sufficient. -Anyway, the blind man--missing his own sight--probably did not feel -impelled toward arranging simultaneous viewing for others. Doubtlessly -he thought that to see motion pictures--one person at a time--was a -sufficient marvel. Edison, more than half a century later, tended to -the same opinion. - -Uchatius said that his model projector was equipped with space for -twelve pictures painted on glass slides, but he added: “There are no -insuperable obstacles in the way of constructing a similar apparatus -with 100 pictures, thereby a moving tableau with an action lasting -one-half minute could be presented. The apparatus would not need to be -more than six feet high.” - -This shows that Uchatius also was looking ahead to the story motion -picture. Until the middle 1890s there were no real motion picture -scenes on any screen for more than the one-half minute indicated by -Uchatius. His machine was the basic model for four decades and had an -influence on the design of many early motion picture projectors and -cameras. - -Uchatius pointed out that the projector would be useful in -demonstrating its own principle in physics and vision classes and could -show in a vivid way action of sound waves and “indeed all motions which -cannot be demonstrated by mechanism.” - -The first motion picture projector dealer was W. Prokesch, an optician -and lens maker of 46 Lainbruge Street, Vienna, who, Uchatius said, -“prepares apparatuses of this sort with greatest precision and upon -request also furnishes pictures therefor.” Prokesch wrote many years -later that the records show that Uchatius began his correspondence with -the optical firm about the motion picture projector on February 16, -1851. - -It is possible that Uchatius solved the problem of the projector soon -after the assignment was given to him by General von Hauslab in 1845. -But he was a very busy man from that year, when he became a member of -the Academy of Science, until the 1851–53 period when he had time to -complete the work, arrange for commercial construction of projectors -and write the report for the journal of the Polytechnical School, -Akademie der Wissenschaften, _Sitzungsberichte_. - -In 1846 Uchatius was given orders to open up a section of the gun -foundry and astounded military circles by producing the then great -quantity of 10,000 six-pound cannon balls in three months. He taught -the Emperor’s brothers at the Polytechnical School in 1847. At the age -of 37, in 1848, when he had a family of three children and had been in -the artillery service for 19 years, he received a promotion to first -lieutenant. Advancement was slow because this extremely talented man -had no influence in political circles. - -In 1848 Uchatius was assigned to Italy and assisted at the siege -of Venice. There he started the unenviable precedent of the aerial -bombardment of cities. In three weeks he had constructed more than 100 -balloons fitted to carry explosive charges to be dropped on the heads -of the “besieged, rebellious Venetians.” Uchatius and his brother, -Joseph, studied the problem on the spot. The experiment was only -partially successful. The Venetians were probably as terrified by rumor -of bombs falling from the heavens as were the invaders under Marcellus -before Syracuse when Archimedes developed his Burning Glasses. - -Uchatius’ relations with the Navy which was directing the siege were -not the best and he was glad to be able to return to Vienna. During the -next few years he continued to make little progress in the military -world but was doing excellent scientific work. He began to test guns -and had an opportunity to travel and inspect foreign ordnance and -manufacturing methods. In 1867, at the age of 56, he received his first -important recognition. He was decorated for his work and made colonel -commander of the artillery ordnance factory in 1871. Previously he had -helped to direct the construction of the arsenal at Vienna. - -In 1874 he developed the first steel-bronze cannon out of “Uchatius” -bronze. Through the next few years he carried on a struggle for the -establishment of a native ordnance industry so that Austria would not -depend upon a foreign munitions supplier. Some in authority wanted the -heavy guns made at Krupp, in Prussia, but Uchatius finally won and -was promoted to the rank of major-general by the Emperor, given the -Commander’s Cross of the Order of St. Stephen, a lifetime personal -annual bonus of 2,000 gulden, together with baronship. - -Uchatius’ weapons were used by Austria in the occupation at Bosnia and -Herzegovnia in 1878–79, when the Turks withdrew, in accordance with the -Treaty of Berlin. - -It is easy to see that a man of such activity had no time to further -work on the motion picture projector which he had invented as a -young man, passing away tedious years while awaiting promotion and -responsibility. - -Eventually Uchatius became a Field Marshal, but he died unhappy. He -wrote a farewell note, “Forgive me, my dear ones, because I am unable -to endure life any longer,” and killed himself on June 4, 1881, at the -age of 69. He was broken-hearted. Though his artillery weapons had -been a great success, he had yet to perfect coast defense guns. The -final blow was a remark passed on from the Austrian War Department, -that the officials doubted they would live to see successful completion -of Uchatius’ coastal guns. Also, an order was sent to Krupp for four -such guns for the harbor of Pola, then an Austro-Hungarian seaport, -and after World War II, a port in the area disputed by Italy and -Yugoslavia. It was said that the general was ill, suffering from an -incurable cancer of the stomach. - -Uchatius was naturally a hero of the Austrian artillery. A monumental -obelisk was raised to his memory by subscriptions from the men who were -using his weapons. His biographer, Karl Spaĉil, wrote: “As often as -this country (Austria) begins to rearm, it is no wonder that the name -of Uchatius is mentioned and praised anew.” - -But Uchatius then and now should have been praised not for his -engines of war but for his important contribution to the magic shadow -art-science. For by perfecting a motion picture machine which would -bring living pictures before audiences, Uchatius, together with Kircher -and Plateau, the other great magic shadow pioneers, deserves credit and -the gratitude of untold millions who down through the years have had -their lives enriched through this great new medium of expression. - -The use of Uchatius’ projector spread rapidly. It satisfied a natural -urge. Man from the beginning sought to recreate life naturally and -realistically. Large screen motion pictures, even of but one scene, -repeated over and over, represented a definite step on that road. - -[Illustration: Abb. 1. Franz Freiherr von Uchatius. - -_Ölbildnis von Sigmund l’Allemand im Besitz des Wiener Heeresmuseums._ - - Schweizerische Zeitschrift, 1905 - -_FRANZ VON UCHATIUS in 1853 combined Kircher’s projector of 1645 and -Plateau’s revolving disk of 1832 to achieve the first projection of -animated designs._] - -Within a few years after the publication of accounts of the Uchatius -motion picture projector, models were brought out by English and French -inventors. Projectors, including one which threw onto a screen by means -of a mirror system images of living persons, were used at the London -Polytechnic Institute. - -For many years after the announcement of the Uchatius picture -projector, only hand-drawn designs were used. The new photographs were -available only in single stills. But now the modern motion picture was -just around a not too distant corner. - -[Illustration: - - K. Akademie der Wissenschaften, 1853 - -_PROJECTORS by Uchatius. Shown are two versions of the 1853 picture -projector. In the one above a picture disk is revolved by a crank. -Below, the drawings are in fixed mounts, each before a projection lens, -and the light source is revolved._] - - - - -_XIII_ - -THE LANGENHEIMS OF PHILADELPHIA - - _Brothers Langenheim perfect a system - of printing photographs on glass - slides permitting projection on the - screen--Projectors are made by Duboscq - in France; Wheatstone and Claudet in - England; Brown and Heyl in the United - States._ - - -William Penn’s “City of Brotherly Love”, Philadelphia, was the home -of several important American contributors to the magic shadow -art-science. The first of these were two brothers, Frederic and William -Langenheim. - -William Langenheim came to the United States from Germany in 1834, the -year Ebenezer Strong Snell, a professor at Amherst College, introduced -in America the Plateau-Stampfer magic disks. Successively, he served -in Texas during its war for independence from Mexico; was present at -the recapture of the Alamo by American forces; was captured himself and -sentenced to be shot; escaped, and served in the United States Army in -the Second Florida Seminole War. - -After three years of adventure, William decided in 1840 to settle in -Philadelphia and enter business. He had his brother, Frederic, come -to America to be his partner. Frederic Langenheim brought to his -brother news of the latest developments in photography and they decided -to embark upon that pursuit. The year before, 1839, Louis Jacques -Mande Daguerre (1789–1851), in France, and William Henry Fox Talbot -(1800–1877), in England, had announced successful still pictures made -with a modified portable form of our old friend, the _camera obscura_, -fitted with a chemically coated plate which after development made the -picture permanent. - -Frederic Langenheim was familiar with all these advances when he came -to Philadelphia in 1840 and he either brought with him a good camera -or one was ordered from Vienna shortly afterwards. In the winter of -1840–41 the Langenheim brothers opened a studio at the Merchant’s -Exchange, 3rd and Walnut Streets, Philadelphia. They were not the first -photographers in the United States but were among the pioneers. - -Pictures from the size of a pea to very large ones were advertised. -President Tyler and Henry Clay were among those who sat for Langenheim. -In an early adventure in the use of photography for advertising, -the Langenheims had something less than a complete success, from -the client’s point of view. A picture was made showing a number of -prominent persons drinking at a local establishment. It was not good -for business--a rigorous public objected to the “drinking scene.” - -Frederic, who was the “outside man” of the business and the principal -photographer of natural subjects--William handled the business end -and the portraits--went to Niagara Falls in 1845 and made scene -pictures that brought fame and renown to the firm of Langenheim Bros. -Copies were sent to Queen Victoria, the Kings of Prussia, Saxony and -Wurtenberg and the Duke of Brunswick, the province in Germany whence -the brothers originally came; and to Daguerre himself. The latter -praised the successful photography in a letter transmitted to the -Langenheims. - -In 1848 William went abroad and in England concluded a deal with -William Henry Fox Talbot, British pioneer in photography, giving -the Langenheims exclusive contract rights to the Talbot calotype -process which used a negative from which any number of paper prints -could be made. It was a vast improvement over the Daguerreotype -negative-positive system which did not make possible printing of copies -but the Langenheims were not successful in sub-licensing the Talbot -process in America. - -Shortly after this the Langenheims made an important contribution to -the art-science of light and shadow pictures by developing a system -which made it possible to project the photographs in the old Kircher -magic lantern. This prepared the way for the projection of a series of -photographs showing a single movement. - -Kircher and the others who used his magic lantern, including the -projection model of Uchatius, painted or drew their various scenes on -glass slides. Until about 1850 when the Langenheim development was -announced, there was no satisfactory method of making glass plates of -positive photographs. Of course, the heat of the projecting lamp made -it impossible to use pictures printed on paper. - -Frederic Langenheim, with U. S. patent No. 7,784, dated November 19, -1850, solved the problem. The Langenheim system was called “Hyalotype,” -from the Greek, meaning “glass” and “to print” or to print on glass. -Prior to the invention, some time in the winter of 1847–48, the period -of the California Gold Rush, it was said the Langenheims, by means of -a Viennese camera converted into a magic lantern equipped with a gas -lamp, projected Daguerreotype pictures. This probably was achieved with -the aid of a mirror system. - -The early Langenheim glass projector slides were circular and of a -deep sepia tint; later excellent black-and-white plates were made. The -Langenheim glass photo slides reproduced nature on the screen “with -fidelity truly astonishing.” The two plates of the slide were made -adherent with Canada Balsam, which is still used in this way as well as -to attach parts of projection lens systems. Only very recently have new -synthetic resins begun to displace Canada Balsam for these purposes. - -In 1851 the Langenheim Hyalotypes made their debut in Europe under -great auspices, at the famous Exposition of the Works of All Nations -at London. The glass projection photos were “very remarkable and well -appreciated by competent visitors,” according to Robert Hunt, a pioneer -British photographic authority, who inspected the exhibit and wrote -about it. - -There is no evidence that the Langenheims combined their glass -projection slides with the magic disk of Plateau to achieve motion -pictures. They made one contribution and seemed to be satisfied with -that. And it was successful for them, for in the next twenty-five years -many thousands of these slides were sold in the United States. - -Others who perhaps were much more familiar with the Plateau-Stampfer -magic disks than the Langenheims combined their process with the Wheel -of Life. The link nevertheless with the Langenheims is direct and -immediate. All the followers used the photos on glass slides and the -method was popularized by the Langenheim exhibition at the Exposition. -Relatively little was done, however, in combining the glass photo -slides in motion picture sequence with the magic lantern, because at -the time there was no method of obtaining a number of successive photos -of the same action. - -Jules Duboscq (1817–1886) in Paris copied the Langenheim process -of glass plates with great success. Duboscq was an exhibitor of -optical instruments at the Exposition of 1851. He had been the -licensee of Daguerre for England, but the method was never popular -there as it was in the United States. On February 16, 1852, Duboscq -received a French patent on an apparatus which combined photos and -the Plateau Phénakisticope or Fantascope. His device was called the -Stereofantascope or Bioscope. - -One Duboscq model had two strips of pictures made with a binocular -camera running next to each other on a vertical disk, as the original -Plateau model, and the whole was rapidly revolved before a mirror by a -spectator who wore specially-made glasses. The second and better system -had the pictures mounted on the horizontal Fantascope or Wheel of Life, -as developed by Horner in 1834, with one picture mounted above the -other. There was, however, slight distortion because the pictures were -bent to fit around the inside of the cylinder. - -Sir Charles Wheatstone (1802–1875), who also combined photos and -the magic disk, in 1852, had a marked influence on magic picture -development during the middle part of the 19th century. In fact, it -may well be that the efforts expended in trying to combine the third -dimensional effect of his stereoscope with the magic disk retarded -development of screen projection of motion pictures. - -Wheatstone was a timid man, though a great scientist, and frequently -had the great Michael Faraday announce his inventions at the Royal -Society meetings. The Stereoscope was invented in 1838. (The reader may -recall that centuries before d’Aguilon had coined the name “Stereo” -for “seeing solid” effects). The Stereoscope achieves its effect by -blending into one image pictures or drawings of an object taken from -slightly different points of view so that the impression of relief is -obtained in our sense of vision. Without our two eyes the stereoscopic -effect would not be possible. - -It had been known for a very long time that the two eyes did not -see the identical picture. Wheatstone made an instrument which took -advantage of this fact. He said he conceived the idea in 1835 and -made the first presentation of the Stereoscope in August of 1838 at a -meeting of the British Association held at Newcastle. - -In 1850 Wheatstone was in Paris and showed his improved Stereoscope to -Abbé Moigno, to Soleil and his son-in-law, Duboscq, who were commercial -instrument makers, and to members of the French Institute. Its value -was immediately recognized not only for amusement but for the arts and -sciences, especially portraiture and sculpture, Moigno reported in _La -Presse_ of December 28, 1850. Duboscq immediately started to make one -and used Daguerreotypes in it. Moigno praised Duboscq’s “intelligence, -activity, affability, indefatigable ardour.” In 1851 Moigno brought -Duboscq to the attention of the Queen by presenting her with a -Wheatstone-type Stereoscope which he had made. That was the year Louis -Napoleon seized power and was named president for a ten year term. In -November, 1852 he proclaimed himself Emperor. - -Wheatstone also developed a combination of photos and the Plateau disk -which was fitted with a cog which made each photo rest momentarily as -it was held before the mirror. The same instrument was made in France -under the name of Heliocinegraphe. - -Antoine François Jean Claudet (1797–1867), was a Frenchman who married -an English girl and moved to London in 1827. In 1852 he combined the -Plateau-Stampfer disk with the Langenheim method of photographs on -glass plates. It is claimed that, while Claudet started work ahead of -him, Duboscq had satisfactory results first. Claudet’s experiments were -successful in May of 1852, about one year after the Langenheim exhibit -at the Exposition. In 1853 Claudet became a member of the Royal Society. - -Claudet, at a meeting of the British Association for the Advancement -of Science held at Birmingham in September, 1865, spoke “On Moving -Photographic figures, illustrating some phenomena of vision connected -with the combination of the stereoscope and the phenakisticope by means -of photography.” Claudet noted that from the beginning of photography -those acquainted with Plateau’s disk thought that pictures would be -more suitable than hand drawings to show the illusions of motion. -But they also sought the third dimensional effect. Duboscq’s efforts -were not completely successful, according to Claudet who described -a machine he had worked out. The illusion of motion was effected by -having one eye see one picture and the other eye the next picture. This -resulted in a simultaneous motion and solid effect. The spectator was -not conscious of the vision being transferred from one eye to another. -Claudet’s example was a boxer about to strike and then delivering the -blow. - -The pictures in Claudet’s machine must have left much to the -imagination but an interesting perfection of this device was shown -in New York in late 1922 and early 1923, under the name of Hammond’s -Teleview. An entire theatre was equipped with a special shutter device -for each spectator. The shutters were synchronized with the shutter -of the motion picture projector and the spectator, looking through -the device, saw motion in three dimensions. The development was not -commercially practicable because the apparatus was expensive, a -nuisance to the spectators and the many little motors operating the -shutters created an annoying hum in the auditorium. - -In the United States the Langenheim brothers did much to popularize the -Stereoscope and its various modifications. About 1850 they started to -make and sell stereoscopic views in Philadelphia, by mail and through -agents throughout the country. In those days, with the Gold Rush in -California just subsiding, there was great interest in scenic wonders -and views of remote places. Stereoscopic photos had a great sale and -were eventually found in almost every parlor of the day. - -Before the Civil War the Langenheims opened at 188 Chestnut Street the -“Stereoscope Cosmorama Exhibit.” There each spectator sat and could see -one stereoscopic view after another by turning a crank. It may very -well have been this turning crank system which suggested an interesting -motion picture device to the fellow citizen of Langenheims, Coleman -Sellers. - -Coleman Sellers (1827–1907) was a skilled engineer. He reproduced -Faraday’s electric experiments in this country; constructed locomotives -in Cincinnati chiefly for the Panama Railroad; he also worked on -the Niagara Falls power development. Even for hobbies he turned to -scientific toys and gadgets. In 1856 he was called to Philadelphia -again to take his place in the family engineering company. Sellers’ -family dated from one Samuel Sellers who received a royal grant of land -in Pennsylvania in 1682. - -Sellers patented on February 5, 1861 a device which he called the -Kinematoscope, evidently the first use of the word “cinema” if we -exclude the Frenchman who copied Wheatstone’s device under the name of -Quinetoscope. - -The Sellers device revolved a series of posed still pictures, -paddle-wheel fashion, before the eye of the observer. A period of -relative rest was achieved through this motion as each picture was -coming towards the observer for a specific time and then out of view as -the next photo came into position. Sellers’ motion photos include his -wife sewing, his two sons, Coleman, Jr. and Horace, playing and rocking -a chair. Sellers tried to combine motion and solid effects. He found -the wet plate photographic process invented by Frederick Scott Archer -(1813–1857) in 1850 quite unsatisfactory for “posed” motion work. -Archer did not trouble to patent the process. - -During the Civil War the Langenheims took nearly 1,000 pictures which -were mounted for showing in the projection magic lanterns, and during -the Franco-Prussian War in 1870–71 several hundred photographs and -drawings were released by the Langenheim brothers for lantern use. -The last catalogue of the firm was published in 1874 and included -some 6,000 colored slides priced at $33 a dozen, and those specially -photographed and made at $4 each. William Langenheim died on May 4, -1874. Frederic tried to continue the business for a time but he, too, -was getting old and eventually sold out in the Autumn to Caspar W. -Briggs, another early Philadelphia photographer. At the Philadelphia -exhibit Frederic had a showing of the Voigtlander lenses made in Vienna -which were the best then available for certain types of photographic -work. - -Another Philadelphian, Henry Renno Heyl (1842–1919), a friend and -associate of Sellers on the Board of Trustees of the Franklin -Institute, was the first person in America to develop a projector which -used “posed” motion photographs. The individual pictures were taken by -the same method used by Sellers for his Kinematoscope. - -[Illustration: - - American Museum of Photography - -_LANGENHEIM BROTHERS, William (seated) and Frederic, pioneer -Philadelphia photographers, who developed, in 1850, picture projection -using glass slides._] - -Somewhat earlier, O. B. Brown, of Malden, Mass. obtained U. S. patent -No. 93,594, dated August 10, 1869, on what is the first American -“motion picture” projector. It, however, used only drawn designs and -not photographs. In principle it was based, as other projectors of the -time, on the system developed by Uchatius. In Brown’s projector -the Plateau magic disk with the figures was mounted between the light -source and the projection lens and was rotated by a gear arrangement. -In front of the lens there was a rotating shutter with two holes which -interrupted the light when the pictures were in intermittent motion. - -[Illustration: - - Maurice Bessy Collection - -_ETIENNE JULES MAREY, French physiologist, whose research on the -movement of men and animals contributed to progress in photography of -motion, 1870 to 1890._] - -Heyl perhaps may have obtained his basic idea from Brown or it may have -come to him independently because the urge to combine the new photos -and the older magic lantern was felt by many persons. At any rate, -the Heyl apparatus bears very little relation to Brown’s. There is no -evidence that Heyl attempted to patent his device, so the Patent Office -never was called upon to decide the point. - -Heyl, a native of Columbus, Ohio, who designed many types of machinery, -including boxes and paper and book stitching devices, has been -hailed by some as the first to use photos in a projection device. He -himself, however, never claimed that honor. He published a letter -dated Philadelphia, February 1, 1898, in the _Journal_ of the Franklin -Institute, “A contribution to the history of the art of photographing -living subjects in motion and reproducing the natural movements by the -lantern.” - -“Among the earliest public exhibitions” of such a combination was -one given by him at an entertainment held in the Academy of Music, -in Philadelphia on February 5, 1870. A catalogue note announced as a -feature of the varied entertainment the showing of “The Phasmatrope, a -most recent scientific invention,” whose effects are similar “to the -familiar toy called the Zoetrope.” The management expressed pleasure at -having “the first opportunity of presenting its merits to our audience.” - -Heyl and a dancing partner posed for six pictures in the various phases -of the waltz at O. H. Willard’s photographic studio at 1206 Chestnut -Street. Other photo slides were made of a then popular Japanese -acrobatic performer--“Little All Right.” The time exposures were taken -on wet plates, then prints were transferred to thin glass plates with -the images only about three quarters of an inch high. - -The six stills were duplicated three times to fill the eighteen spaces -in the wheel of the projector. - -The Heyl projector had an intermittent movement controlled by a ratchet -and pawl mechanism operated by a reciprocating bar moved up and down by -the hand. The fast movement was used for the acrobats with a complete -stop at the end of each somersault, and a slow tempo for the waltz -which was accompanied by an orchestra. - -The problem of a shutter to interrupt the light while the pictures -were moving was solved in the following way, according to Heyl: “This -was accomplished by a vibrating shutter placed back of the picture -wheel that was operated on the same drawbar that moved the wheel, only -the shutter movement was so timed that it moved first and covered the -picture before the latter moved and completed the movement after the -next picture was in place. This movement reduced to a great extent the -flickering and gave very natural and life-like representations of the -moving figures.” - -Heyl’s Phasmatrope was an ingenious apparatus but the imagination had -to compensate for its many imperfections. When it was demonstrated on -March 16, 1870, at a meeting of the Franklin Institute, it created -so little notice that mention of the showing was not included in the -minutes. It is interesting to note it was at this meeting that Sellers -was elected head of the Franklin Institute. We can wonder what his -reaction was to the fact that Heyl, a man fifteen years his junior, had -added projection to the principle of his Kinematoscope which had also -used “posed pictures” in a peep-show apparatus. - -In 1875, in Philadelphia, Caspar Briggs, who had bought out the -Langenheim interest the year before, introduced a device similar to the -Heyl projector which also used still photographs made of drawings to -simulate motion. His most popular subject was “The Dancing Skeleton,” -a selection reminiscent of Phantasmagoria and the “black arts” or -necromancy. The little pictures were mounted on the edge of a mica disk -which revolved before the projection lens. Briggs also improved the -Langenheim magic lantern slide process and gave a further impetus to -photographic activity in Philadelphia. - -From the Langenheims and their contemporaries in America the spotlight -of magic shadow development shifts back to the Old World, to France, -and to a scientist of distinction. - - - - -_XIV_ - -MAREY AND MOVEMENT - - _Marey in Paris, and Muybridge and - Isaacs in San Francisco, record motion - by photographs--Ducos du Hauron has an - idea for a complete system--Janssen makes - a “movie” camera--Reynauld keeps magic - shadow showmanship alive--Anschütz uses - electricity._ - - -The development capital in the story of the magic shadow art-science -shifted many times. Seas, mountains, oceans and time itself were -no barriers. Successively, Greece, Arabia, Persia, England, Italy, -Holland, Belgium, Austria and the United States took the lead in -showing the way toward the goal of genuinely life-like pictures. After -the great spurt of activity in Philadelphia, during the working life of -the Langenheims, the chief center of activity was Paris and the leader -was Etienne Jules Marey. - -Plateau in Belgium came to the invention of the magic disk, which -was the first “motion picture” device, through his study of vision -and the desire to understand more about it. Marey, by his own action -and the work of others influenced by him, gave great impetus to the -photographing and projection of motion pictures, through his wish to -learn more about movement, the movement of life--animals, birds, and -men. - -Marey was one of the first great physiologists and conducted for years -what was then the only private, scientific laboratory in France. He -was born in Beaume, France, in 1830, and when nineteen went to Paris -to study medicine. Six years later he became an interne and, in 1859, -received his doctor’s degree, doing at this time his first important -work on animal locomotion. In 1869 he became a professor at the College -of France and three years later he was admitted to the Academy of -Medicine, and, in 1878, to the Academy of Science. - -About 1867 Marey started to study the attitudes of animals in movement -through the aid of a Plateau magic disk and drawings made with the aid -of Mathias Duval, professor of anatomy at the School of Beaux Arts. -Some of the designs used by Marey in the Wheel of Life and a magic -lantern projector were drawn by Col. Duhousset, a great horseman and -artist, from very early and imperfect instantaneous photographs. - -Prior to Marey there had been a number of attempts to record motion -by photography. The most successful was by the French astronomer, -Pierre Jules César Janssen (1824–1907) who used a photogun, _Revolver -Photographique_, to record the transit of Venus in Japan in 1874. -Janssen may have been influenced by Marey’s earliest work. Dr. R. L. -Maddox in 1871 had developed in England dry plate photography, based -on Scott Archer’s wet plate process. This helped to make instantaneous -photography, or Chronophotography, as it was called, possible. - -Janssen perfected the first workable motion picture camera. But it -was a large, stationary piece of apparatus, limited in scope and -sensitiveness. The device was described by a French astronomer, C. -Flammarion, in the magazine _La Nature_ of May 8, 1875, and by Janssen -himself in the _Bulletin of the French Photographic Societies_ of -April 7, 1876. Janssen’s device took forty-eight pictures on a simple -revolving plate but he said the number could easily be doubled or -tripled. A time clock mechanism controlled the revolutions of the -photographic plate but it was so arranged that it could also be rotated -by hand. An electrical hook-up also was possible. - -The influence of Plateau’s magic disk is clear and so acknowledged by -Janssen. The device simply reversed the old Plateau disk which showed -motion pictures through two revolving disks, one with the pictures and -the other with the shutter slits. In the Janssen astronomical gun the -one disk was coated with photographic chemicals and the other had the -usual slits; the necessary intermittent movement was provided by the -gear driven mechanism which rotated the disks. - -Janssen pointed out that the apparatus could be used for physiological -purposes--to study walking, running, flight and the movement of -animals; but he never had time to develop the device for physiological -uses, which was not in his immediate field. He was, however, interested -in Marey’s later refinements and applications. - -The most important “precursor” of motion picture photography and -projection, so far as the basic idea was concerned, was Louis Ducos -du Hauron (1837–1920), a Frenchman who developed the first successful -method of printing color pictures. Louis liked science, painting and -music but was held back in school on account of poor health. At the age -of 15, he was a good pianist. He began his experiments in natural color -printing around 1859 and by the Fall of 1868 had achieved success. The -public reaction was not enthusiastic and Louis became discouraged. Many -persons were hostile to his method which he hoped would bring books, -illustrated with many color plates, within reach of everyone (as others -following his system eventually achieved). It was for this reason that -he failed to exploit his camera and picture projector idea. - -In March and December of 1864 Louis Ducos du Hauron took out the first -patents on a complete motion picture system, including an apparatus to -register and reproduce motion by photography. The French patent was -described in these words, “Apparatus for the photographic reproduction -of any view together with all changes the subject undergoes during a -certain time.” A mechanic of Agen where Louis lived for many years -with his older brother, Alcide, constructed a model of the device. It -was not successful because the available photographic materials were -not sufficiently sensitive. Ducos’ patent even provided for the use -of “bands” of paper; bands or reels of film finally solved the motion -picture problem but not until near the end of the 19th century. As in -one of Uchatius’ projectors, the camera and projector of Louis Ducos du -Hauron used a number of small lenses. - -Other patents taken out by this small, slender, timid Frenchman who -only became truly animated when talking about one of his inventions, -included color photography in 1868, a horizontal wind-mill in 1869, a -combined natural and photographic camera in 1874, photographic devices -in 1888 and 1892. In 1896 he again turned to motion pictures, after -others had perfected them, proposing an optical system intended to do -away with all interruption of light in motion picture projection and -photography. - -Honors came very late in life to Ducos du Hauron and to his dying day -he reproached himself for not exploiting sufficiently his ideas. But -when he had tried to do this he encountered only indifference because -the scientists were not interested in the work of one who was without -academic status. Now Ducos du Hauron is regarded as one of the greatest -geniuses of photography. He actually predicted and described a monopack -color film. The many good color processes of this type are modern -realizations of his extraordinary scientific analyses. - -Marey was familiar in a general way with all these developments and -ideas, but he was essentially a scientist and not a photographer. -Motion picture photography to him was just a good way of learning more -about living movement. About 1870 he had made studies of movements in -other ways in addition to primitive photographs and drawings made from -such photographs. The results of these studies were known all over -the world and had a direct influence on the photographers who first -successfully took successive pictures of animals in motion. These -photographers were Eadweard Muybridge and John D. Isaacs. - -Eadweard Muybridge (1830–1904), or Edward James Muggeridge, as he was -originally named, was born in England, at Kingston-on-Thames. As a -young man he was an adventurer who called photography his profession. -He made a number of trips back and forth between the United States and -England. He was seriously injured in a run-away stage coach accident -in July of 1860, in Arkansas, and later obtained several thousand -dollars in damages from the Southern Overland Stage Company. Returning -to the United States after a visit in England, following the accident, -Muybridge received an assignment to photograph, for the United States -Coast and Geodetic Survey, the new territory of Alaska, purchased by -the United States in 1867. After this assignment he settled in San -Francisco. - -In 1872 Governor Leland Stanford of California made a $25,000 bet -in connection with a dispute as to whether or not all the legs of a -horse running at a full gallop are off the ground simultaneously. The -eye was not quick enough to find the answer. Horsemen had never been -completely satisfied with the drawings and pictures made by artists of -horses in motion. Sanford, as Terry Ramsaye describes in his history of -the motion picture, _A Million and One Nights_, in 1872 sent for the -photographer Muybridge and had him go to the Sacramento race track to -get photographic proof in order to settle the dispute. Over a period of -years Stanford spent considerably more than the $25,000 wager on the -photographic experiments. And out of the experiments grew the legend -that Muybridge had invented “motion pictures.” - -About 1870 Marey had established the movement of the legs of a horse -in a gallop through his physiological investigations. But at that time -he had no photographic proof of his theory. Years later Muybridge said -that Stanford obtained his basic ideas for photographs to win the bet -from the writings of Marey. - -Muybridge might have been successful in his early experiments if -it had not been for an interruption which was of about five years’ -duration. He had domestic troubles of a nature that ended in violence. -In October 1874, he shot and killed Major Harry Larkyn who had eloped -with his wife. After a sensational trial in which the defense was able -to succeed in putting the jurors mentally in Muybridge’s place, he was -acquitted on February 5, 1875, at the courthouse in Napa, California. - -Stanford maintained a friendly interest in Muybridge because he had -become increasingly interested in the problem of the movements of a -horse in fast action and he wished to obtain evidence to confirm the -new theory of animal locomotion which had been developed chiefly by -Marey in France. Stanford was primarily interested in the running gaits -of horses and other movements secondarily. - -The stories of what really happened in 1877 are not identical. -Muybridge said in 1883 at a lecture at the Franklin Institute in -Philadelphia, “Being much interested with the experiments of Professor -Marey... I invented a method of employing a number of cameras .... -I explained my intended experiments to a wealthy resident of San -Francisco, Mr. Stanford, who liberally agreed to place the resources of -his stock breeding farm at my disposal and to reimburse the expenses -of my investigation, upon the condition of my supplying him, for his -private use, with a few copies of the contemplated results.” - -On the mere statement, Muybridge’s position is subject to serious -question. It certainly is unlikely that Stanford would pay all expenses -just to obtain a few copies of the “intended results for private use.” -The ownership of the results was subject to considerable dispute. -Stanford copyrighted the pictures in 1881 and had them published -in a book edited by Dr. J. D. B. Stillman, entitled _The Horse in -Motion_. In that book the story is that when Muybridge returned to -San Francisco in 1877, he was engaged to continue the experiments by -Stanford. According to Stillman, in 1877 pictures were taken of one of -Stanford’s horses, with a single camera and “one of these, representing -him with all his feet clear of the ground, was enlarged, retouched and -distributed to the parties interested.” This then was just another -effort to obtain a good, sharp, fast, single picture of action. - -John D. Isaacs, later chief engineer for the Harriman Railroad System, -had designed and supervised all the installation of the battery -camera apparatus. His name was suggested to Stanford by Arthur -Brown, then chief engineer of maintenance of the Central Pacific, -one of Stanford’s interests. Isaacs was a young man fresh from the -University of Virginia, where he had graduated in 1875. He was an -amateur photographer and very familiar with Marey’s work and that of -the photographers in France and England and in the eastern part of the -United States. - -In 1878 further efforts were made at Stanford’s private track at -Palo Alto, where the battery system of cameras was introduced and -good results obtained. Each camera in the battery was equipped -with a fast-acting shutter and was set off successively by a -mechanical-electrical device. (Illustration on opposite page.) - -The most successful results, which were little better than silhouettes, -were obtained when twenty-four cameras, set about one foot apart, -were used. The photographs actually were not made at equal intervals -of time but of space. The cameras and background were lined up for a -measurement of distance and not of time. - -Although Isaacs contributed engineering skill to the development of the -apparatus, because he was chiefly interested in railroad engineering -and this assignment in his photographic hobby was a favor for the “big -boss,” Muybridge alone obtained the patents on the method. On June 27 -and July 11, 1878 he applied for a patent on, “A method and apparatus -for photographing objects in motion” (the battery system), and for -the double action shutter controls. The patents were issued in March, -1879. Wet collodion plates were used in each camera and a speed of up -to 1/5000th of a second was claimed by Muybridge in his applications. -Isaacs later became chief engineer of the Southern Pacific Railroad -System while Muybridge made “scientific” photography a profession. - -[Illustration: - - The Horse in Motion, 1882 - -_CAMERA SYSTEM developed by John D. Isaacs, engineer, and Eadweard -Muybridge, photographer, which made pictures at equal intervals of -space rather than of time. It settled a wager on the nature of the -movements of a horse._] - -During later life Muybridge sought to establish himself as a scientist -and in this effort he drew heavily on physiological data which -originated with Marey in France. Muybridge was a photographer, who, -through the resources of Stanford, a rich and determined backer, came -into possession of a method of taking successive pictures of action. -Even though the method was cumbersome and inexact, Muybridge never -changed it but continued to exploit it for the rest of his life. - -[Illustration: - - La Nature. 1882 - -_PHYSIOLOGICAL PARK. Paris, above, the first motion picture studio. -Marey installed the camera in a box on rails. Below, Marey’s photo gun, -first portable camera for photographing motion._] - -Marey, in France, was delighted to hear of the results of Muybridge’s -work and to inspect them, for here at last was excellent confirmation -of his physiological theories. Marey, while praising the work of -Muybridge, noted certain errors resulting from the battery camera -system--the landscape and not the animal appeared to be moving when the -resulting photographs were analyzed in the Plateau magic disk and also -the time interval, as noted above, was not exact. - -Marey was the first to synthesize motion from the photographs by -mounting them so the action could be reconstructed. Muybridge had no -interest in this phase of the subject until he met Marey and learned -from him. Even afterwards Muybridge continued to be interested chiefly -in taking pictures and not in studying and analyzing them. Technically -speaking, Marey analyzed and synthesized the results obtained in the -Muybridge photographs. - -In addition to using the simple Plateau disk which only one person at -a time could see, Marey somewhat later had the photographs copied on -glass slides, mounted on a revolving disk and projected onto a screen -with the Uchatius type projector, equipped with a revolving slit -shutter. This scientific demonstration was the first actual motion -picture show of real motion and not posed as in the Heyl, Bourbouze and -other demonstrations of about 1870. - -Gaston Tissandier, editor of _La Nature_, in the December 7, -1878, issue wrote on “The Attitudes of the Horse, represented by -instantaneous photography,” and discussed the photographs of Eadweard -Muybridge of San Francisco which were on display at the firm of Brandon -and Morgan Brown, 1, Rue Lafitte, Paris. The early work of Marey was -mentioned and the importance of the new pictures was stressed. - -On December 28, 1878, a letter of Marey’s, published in _La Nature_, -expressed the hope that Muybridge would also record and analyze the -action of birds in flight as well as animals in motion. Marey mentioned -how effective such pictures would be in the Wheel of Life disks and -their value in zoology. There also Marey spoke of a photographic gun -which he was to invent later. - -A return letter from Muybridge was published on February 17, 1879 in -the same magazine: “Please have the goodness to transmit to Professor -Marey the assurance of my highest esteem and tell him that the reading -of his celebrated book on animal mechanism had inspired Governor -Stanford with the first idea of the possibility of solving the problem -of locomotion with the aid of photography. Mr. Stanford consulted me in -this matter and, on his request, I decided to undertake the task. He -asked me to follow a most complete series of experiments.” Muybridge -said also that he was using as many as thirty cameras, mounted twelve -inches apart, and that he planned to study all movements, including -flights of birds in which Marey was so interested at the time. - -In the March 17 issue of _La Nature_, Marey expressed pleasure that -Muybridge was undertaking study of birds in flight. In the same issue -there appeared an interesting letter from Eugene Vassel, Captain -of Armament at the Suez Canal, dated January 20, 1879, commenting -on Marey’s idea of a photographic gun and telling of an idea for a -similar automatic camera. This illustrates that at the time, even at -the ends of the earth, farthest removed from principal educational and -scientific centers, the problem of photographing objects in natural -movement was under study. It was then a long way, indeed, from Paris to -San Francisco to Suez. - -By 1880 Plateau magic disks equipped with Muybridge photographs were on -sale in England and at about the same time in France. In the December -31, 1881, issue of _La Nature_ several of these were illustrated and -the possibilities of their use for instruction and entertainment were -discussed. It was evident that they were common as toys in Paris. -Subjects included the original one of a horse in motion and even a -comedy item of a mule kicking a ball. - -Muybridge, in the Summer of 1881, went to Paris and there came directly -under the influence of Marey who was always most generous in expressing -his appreciation of valued work. In this Marey’s nature reminds one -of Plateau, the Belgian. Evidently Muybridge had not dreamed of the -importance of his pictures for physiological study and other such -purposes until it was explained to him. It was the pressing quest -of Marey for greater perfection in duplicating nature that gave a -great stimulus to the development of the motion picture art-science. -Perhaps he, too, would have been surprised had he known that the motion -picture, while a great instrument of science, would for many years -at least find its chief use as an entertainment medium. To the last, -Marey always thought of it for science and, while he did not disdain -amusement uses, his interest was exclusively in broadening the field of -knowledge. - -In Paris Muybridge met many notables, including Jean Louis Ernest -Meissonier (1815–1891), French painter who specialized in great detail -and exact duplication of nature. Meissonier appreciated the value of -the Muybridge photos, as he did Marey’s work in analyzing motion in -animals and men, as an aid to painting. From that time on Meissonier -always kept a Plateau disk and projection device in his studio so that -photographs of objects which were to be painted could be studied first -by himself and his colleagues. Muybridge evidently took a liking to -Meissonier and his work because he singled him out in later years as a -painter (one of the few) who was exact in his representation of animals -in movement even before the evidence of instantaneous photographs was -available. - -During his visit in Paris Muybridge not only obtained scientific -knowledge from Marey and his associates but took up a practical -projection device, even to the extent of appropriating the name from -Charles Reynaud, a French inventor who was later to be the first great -motion picture showman, even though he preferred using hand-drawn films -to photographs. - -Charles Emile Reynaud (1844–1918) in 1877 developed the Praxinoscope -which was an ingenious arrangement of the Plateau magic disk device. -The several pictures were mounted on the inside of a horizontal wheel -and were viewed on a polygonal-mirror in the center. In this device -a number of spectators could watch the moving figures. Light was -reflected from a lamp mounted above. Photographs were also used in -various of the Praxinoscope models. It was useful for color research. -In an article in _La Nature_ of February 1, 1879, it was stated that -Mr. Reynaud had already planned a projection model which would throw -life-size figures from the Praxinoscope onto a screen before a large -audience. In 1880 the French Society of Photographers was asked to -interest itself in this problem. - -In 1881, or in the following year, Reynaud achieved success with the -Projection Praxinoscope or Lamposcope described by Gaston Tissandier, -in the November 4, 1882, issue of _La Nature_. One lantern threw the -background and the moving device projected the motion pictures. The -designs were colored on glass slides which were joined in a band. A -special advantage of the Reynaud Projection Praxinoscope or Lamposcope -was that no special light source was required. A common table lamp was -suitable. Of course, only one scene at a time could be shown in the -device for it had no reels to handle the band of glass slides. - -One evening, early in 1882, Marey had Muybridge present at a large -gathering. Helmholtz, Bjerknes, Govi, Crookes and others of the French -Academy of Science also were present. The projector fitted with -Muybridge’s photos of action was given its debut. Marey, years later, -commented that those scientists never had seen anything that went so -far in the reproduction of nature as Muybridge-type photographs mounted -in his Zoopraxinographoscope disk and projector. - -In March of 1882 Muybridge was in his native England and presented -two showings of his photographs, illustrated with a projector which -he called the Zoopraxiscope, borrowing the name almost entirely from -Reynaud and the scientific data from Marey. Muybridge gave a lecture, -“Attitudes of Animals in Motion, illustrated with the Zoopraxiscope,” -at a special meeting of the Royal Institution of Great Britain, held on -March 13, 1882, with His Royal Highness, the Prince of Wales, honorary -member, presiding. The material was previously presented in a paper -read before the Royal Society. Muybridge said, “The analyses of some of -the movements investigated by the aid of electro-photographic exposures -... are rendered more perfectly intelligible by the reproduction of the -actual motion projection on a screen through the zoopraxiscope.” - -The walk, trot, amble, rack, canter, run and gallop--which are the -several gaits of a horse--were discussed at length with much emphasis -on the physiological aspects. Figuratively, Marey must have been -standing beside Muybridge as he talked. The lecture, virtually word -for word, was given by Muybridge in February, 1833, at the Franklin -Institute in Philadelphia. But it is significant to note that then -there was no mention of the Zoopraxiscope. Muybridge evidently was -not a good operator and there seems to have been difficulty with the -projector. Operation of the projector was a problem then because there -had to be a relation between the number of pictures and the slits in -the projection shutter. Muybridge seems to have found it all too much -trouble and turned to the task of taking successive stills which could -then be made up into handsome illustrated books. - -Meanwhile, Marey in the Spring of 1882 finally finished work on his -Photographical Gun which he had conceived several years previously. -By this time Marey had a large open air studio set up in the Bois de -Boulogne. (Illustrations facing page 121.) - -Marey said that he had worked twelve years on the general subject -of movement, thereby placing his first efforts back in 1870. The -“beautiful instantaneous photographs of Muybridge proved his work,” -he declared. He continued, saying that in 1878 he had the idea of a -photographic gun somewhat analogous to the astronomical revolver of -Janssen. Finally, he resolved to devote the Winter of 1882 to the -realization of the project. - -Marey used his gun to study his favorite project of birds in flight. -Marey’s photographic gun was the first practical motion picture camera, -primitive and limited though it was. In this sense it was the original -of all newsreel and other portable motion picture cameras. It is worth -noting that in our own time cameras are mounted as “photographic guns” -in airplanes as a substitute for gunnery in peacetime and as a check on -results during war. - -About this time, Georges Demeny (1850–1917) became associated with -Marey in this work. Marey always gave credit to his pupil, aide -and collaborator. Eventually, however, they parted company because -Demeny was interested in commercializing the work and Marey wished -to continue with pure science. Later Demeny asserted that his motion -picture ideas were superior to Marey’s and that he was responsible for -the actual execution of all the plans. Demeny at thirteen had begun -inventing at his home, but his father, a musician, wanted him to be -a university professor. In 1874 he went to Paris and at the Sorbonne -was a pupil of Marey in physiology and of Mathias Duval--who also -worked with Marey--in anatomy. He did some medical studies and opened -one of the first physical education establishments called, _Le Cercle -de Gymnastique Rationnelle_. From 1880 on he supervised many of the -studies at Marey’s Physiological Park. - -In July, 1882, Marey proposed the use of a band of sensitized paper in -the camera. For various reasons the paper was not satisfactory and, -of course, was impractical for direct projection as it might be set on -fire by the projection lamp. The Langenheims of Philadelphia had solved -the problem of projecting photographs in the magic lantern by devising -a method of printing the picture on glass. However, a projector -equipped, as the original model of Uchatius, with a revolving disk -could only hold a few glass slides. This limited the projected pictures -to brief action. - -In 1887 and 1888 Marey achieved his first real success in what he -called chronophotography, using a box machine which took eight pictures -a second on a single metal plate, or on a sensitized paper band. Marey -had difficulty controlling the paper film because it was not perforated -and the pictures were not equally spaced. This, however, made no -difference to Marey since his main purpose was to obtain data for -physiological study, and not entertainment motion pictures. - -In 1888 Marey obtained a successful series of photographs of fishes -swimming, taken with intermittent action on a paper roll film. The -images were taken at the rate of either twenty or sixty per second. -This method of using paper strips obviates the necessity of operating -in a dark camera chamber. At first the paper photographic strips were -loaded in a dark room, limiting the scope of the camera, but later -light-proof cameras were perfected. Marey also proposed an optical -system featuring a turning mirror which would make intermittent action -unnecessary. But this method was wasteful of film. - -A contemporary of Marey and Muybridge, and a skilled photographer in -his own right, was Ottomar Anschütz (1846–1907), a German who worked -out one of the best systems for exhibiting a series of pictures prior -to Edison on whom he had an influence. Shortly after the Muybridge -pictures came to Europe, Anschütz began similar experiments. According -to Marey, he achieved better results than Muybridge, though the results -were not perfect, having a certain amount of distortion. Anschütz -obtained sharper photographs of action than Muybridge for his pictures -could be used in the Plateau magic disk or the projector without being -copied as silhouettes as was done with Muybridge’s photographs until a -late date. - -In 1883 Anschütz tried to use a single camera on the Marey gun -principle but achieved better results with a battery of as many -as forty-eight cameras. The shutter openings in the Zoetrope or -magic disk were modified according to the number of pictures in the -particular series. - -Anschütz’s chief claim to fame rests on the fact that he was the first -to combine successfully the instantaneous pictures of an object in -motion with the brilliant intermittent flash of the electric Geissler -tube. Heinrich Geissler (1814–1879), a German mechanic and physicist, -about 1854 invented an electric tube for the purpose of studying -discharges in rarefied gases. The apparatus consisted of a thin tube -of glass, equipped with platinum wires sealed into each end and filled -with a rarefied gas, and an electric battery connection. - -In 1889 Anschütz announced the Electrical Tachyscope, a motion picture -viewing machine which became popular all over the world. His action -photographs were mounted on a wheel and were lighted successively by a -Geissler tube’s intermittent electric flash. The large photographs were -viewed directly by the audience in an adjoining room. Anschütz’s device -was first depicted in the United States in the _Scientific American_ of -November 16, 1889. A slot machine model was also devised and was shown -at Frankfurt, Germany in 1891, and at the Chicago World’s Fair in 1893, -where several persons saw it and were given the idea of attempting to -achieve projection of life-size motion pictures of complete actions -instead of mere phases of motion. (Illustration facing page 149.) - -The general technique developed by Anschütz in his Electrical -Tachyscope is now used in the taking of stroboscopic motion pictures. -It also may be applied in new photographic, motion picture and -television processes for increased depth of field. - -In 1893 Muybridge lectured at the World’s Fair in Chicago at the -Zoopraxographical Hall, where hundreds of his pictures were shown. The -same material was published by the University of Pennsylvania under -the title of _Descriptive Zoopraxography, or the science of animal -locomotion made popular_. - -Muybridge had settled down in 1885 with a position at the University of -Pennsylvania, where he took many pictures with the same battery system, -borrowing, however, some ideas about the studio arrangements from -Marey. Muybridge never improved his technique or realized that such -a cumbersome method could not produce satisfactory results. This did -not seem to disturb him for there is no evidence that he sought large -screen projection of the magic shadows before audiences. - -In February 1886, Muybridge visited Edison at his New Jersey laboratory -and showed him plates of successive motion pictures, or, more -accurately, a succession of stills of various phases of the same action. - -When Muybridge lectured at the London Institution in the Fall of 1889 a -complete report was published in the _British Journal of Photography_ -for December 20, 1889, in an article by W. P. Adams. From this we -learn that Muybridge was then using a simple projector fitted with -a gear system which revolved before the lens a glass disk of some -fifteen inches in diameter on which the photos were mounted; in front -of this was a zinc shutter disk with radial slits totalling one more -than the number of pictures, in order to give a forward motion to -the figures. That was the old Plateau magic disk idea. With the same -number of openings in the shutter as pictures, the figures would appear -to move their arms and legs and yet stay in the same place; if less -shutter openings, there would be an appearance of backward motion. -“The disks are rotated at the same speed in opposite directions, and -the figures rapidly following each other appear on the screen as a -continuous movement of the animal,” the English reviewer remarked. -Muybridge showed slow and normal action motion. The subjects included -a mule kicking, a woman emptying a pail of water, a girl walking down -steps carrying a breakfast cup and saucer, and what was said to be the -best of all, a little girl finding and picking up a doll. In passing, -we may note that in addition to singling out Meissonier for praise, -Muybridge asserted that the Japanese were far ahead of everyone else in -representing motion in art! - -Muybridge eventually retired to his native Kingston, England, after -winning fame through his work in America. But he obtained more than -fame, for he was able to leave a considerable sum of money, in addition -to his instruments, to the local museum. Efforts to locate the -Muybridge instruments at the Kingston-on-Thames Museum in 1943 were -unsuccessful. - -In 1889, Thomas A. Edison, already working on the problem of motion -pictures for a year or two, visited the Exposition at Paris and -there met Marey who showed him the results obtained with his methods -of motion photography, and the reproduction of the scene with a -Plateau-disk combined with a projector and the disk illuminated by an -electric Geissler tube. - -This electrically driven machine, displayed at the exhibit of Fontaine, -a French engineer, showed pictures of animals in motion, as well as -men and birds. The old photo stand-by of horses in motion in different -gaits again was featured. This system rather pleased Marey, as he -remarked that it would be hard to construct a better Wheel of Life, -though Edison had even then accomplished it in his laboratory at West -Orange, New Jersey. The limitations of the method, however, were fully -recognized by Marey who mentioned the small number of images which -could be shown, the restricted enlargement, and the intermittent -movement troubles. Also, the device was noisy and the flicker had not -been eliminated. - -Thus the year of 1889 brought together two great figures, Marey, a -pure scientist whose zeal for learning about locomotion resulted in -improvements in what was to be the motion picture art-science, and -Edison who invented the first entirely practical motion picture camera -and the first film peep-show device which was to be the inspiration for -projectors as they were finally established, setting the pattern even -to our day. - - - - -_XV_ - -EDISON’S PEEP-SHOW - - _Edison turns to motion - pictures--Donisthorpe of England works it - all out on paper--Eastman manufactures - film--Edison perfects a motion picture - camera, the Kinetograph, and a peep-hole - viewer, the Kinetoscope--World Premiere, - New York--April, 1894._ - - -In the laboratory of Thomas Alva Edison the development of a -practicable motion picture camera and viewing apparatus was really -achieved. Leadership in the magic shadow art-science came with Edison -once again to the United States and it has not left this country since. -As a sequel America and motion pictures are linked in the minds of -millions throughout the world. - -Edison came to the motion picture through his Talking Phonograph, which -he had developed not as an entertainment machine but as a device which -would be a substitute for the court reporter and in other proceedings -requiring exact recording. The motion picture experiments were made -rather as a hobby and a diversion from more serious research and -invention; the aim was to combine the automatic hearing and speaking of -the phonograph with the sight and action of the motion picture. - -Curiously enough Plateau, a man who went blind, made the first motion -picture possible; Edison who was quite deaf made a great contribution -to recording and reproducing sound. - -Edison, in November of 1877, sent to his friend Alfred Hopkins, editor -of the _Scientific American_, several sketches of models of his new -invention in which “speech was capable of indefinite repetition from -automatic records.” The next month a model was perfected. The incident -was described as follows in the December 22, 1877, issue of the -_Scientific American_: “Mr. Thomas A. Edison recently came into this -office, placed a little machine on our desk, turned the crank, and the -machine inquired as to our health, asked how we liked the phonograph, -informed us that _it_ was well, and bid us a cordial good night.” It -was noted that the sound was fully audible to a dozen members of the -staff who gathered around. The writer also noted, “When it becomes -possible to magnify the sound, as it doubtless will, the witness in -court will have his own testimony repeated. The testator will repeat -his own will.” - -The editor of the _Scientific American_ concluded his comment on -the Edison “Talking” phonograph by saying: “It is already possible -to throw stereoscopic photographs of people on screens in full view -of an audience (i.e., still pictures). Add the talking phonograph -to counterfeit their voices and it would be difficult to carry the -illusion of real presence much further.” - -The description of the Edison phonograph attracted wide attention. -The article referred to above was quoted fully in _Nature_, a British -publication. This led Wordsworth Donisthorpe to set down the first -complete plan of the talking motion picture. Others, of course, had -had the idea but up to that time the plan had never been expressed so -clearly and completely. - -Wordsworth Donisthorpe, born in 1847, was an English lawyer who -throughout life maintained a lively interest in many affairs. He was an -outspoken individualist, being a firm believer in local government. He -wrote books on such subjects as _Law in a Free State_, and _Love and -Law_, as well as on scientific matters. When he designed his device, -the Kinesigraph, he was living at Princes Park, Liverpool. - -After reading about Edison’s phonograph, Donisthorpe wrote to the -_Nature_ magazine and referred to the idea of combining the phonograph -and still projection suggested by the Editor of the _Scientific -American_. Donisthorpe quoted that comment and then said: - - Ingenious as this suggested combination is, I believe I am - in a position to cap it. By combining the phonograph and the - Kinesigraph I will undertake not only to produce a talking - picture of Mr. Gladstone which, with motionless lips and - unchanged expression, shall positively recite his latest - anti-Turkish speech in his own voice and tone. Not only this, - but the life-size phonograph itself shall move and gesticulate - precisely as he did when making the speech, the words and - gestures corresponding as in real life. Surely this is an advance - upon the conception of the _Scientific American_! - - The mode in which I effect this is described in the accompanying - provisional specifications, which may be briefly summed up thus: - Instantaneous photographs of bodies or groups of bodies in motion - are taken at equal short intervals--say quarter or half seconds, - the exposure of the plate occupying not more than an eighth of a - second. After fixing, the prints from these plates are taken one - below the other on a long strip of ribbon or paper. The strip is - wound from one cylinder to another so as to cause the several - photographs to pass before the eye successively at the same - intervals of time as those at which they were taken. - - Each picture as is passes the eye is instantaneously lighted - up by an electric spark. Thus the picture is made to appear - stationary while the people or things in it appear to move as - in nature. I need not enter more into detail beyond saying that - if the intervals between the presentation of the successive - pictures are found to be too short the gaps can be filled up by - duplicates or triplicates of each succeeding print. This will not - perceptibly alter the general effect. - - I think it will be admitted that by this means a drama acted by - daylight or magnesium light may be recorded and reacted on the - screen or sheet of a magic lantern, and with the assistance of - the phonograph the dialogues may be repeated in the very voices - of the actors. - - When this is actually accomplished the photography of colors will - alone be wanting to render the representation absolutely complete - and for this we shall not, I trust, have long to wait. - -It is not known whether or not Edison read Donisthorpe’s suggestion. At -any rate, it was ten years, not till 1887, that Edison decided to see -about trying to combine the phonograph, greatly improved by this time, -and a motion picture apparatus. - -After completing improvements on the phonograph in 1886 and awaiting -the opening of new laboratory quarters, Edison found himself with -some idle moments. Sometime, in the middle or late part of 1887 Edison -started work on what was to become his Kinetograph, the first motion -picture camera that could photograph a few seconds of action at a time, -and the Kinetoscope, the popular peep-show film device which brought -the magic shadow art before the modern public and opened the way for -the establishment of the motion picture industry. - -Edison was assisted in his motion picture experiments by William -Kennedy Laurie Dickson, a man who had about the same relation to Edison -as George Demeny had with Marey in France. In keeping with the Demeny -tradition, Dickson eventually broke with his master and engaged in -controversy over priority of ideas and actual contributions to various -developments. But Edison and Marey both supplied the ideas and directed -the work, while Dickson and Demeny were responsible for carrying out -the experiments. Both contributed importantly. - -Edison had employed Dickson as a young man, just after he came from -England to the United States, and he was a trusted associate, having -first been with Edison in the installation of the underground wires -in New York City. In 1887 Dickson was called to Edison’s private -laboratory and given two major projects to supervise: (1) a magnetic -device for separating ores, and (2) a device to combine the sounds of -the phonograph and pictures. - -Late in 1887, in “Room Five” of the Edison Private Laboratory, Dickson -started to work on Edison’s ideas for a motion picture device. The -first efforts were centered on a cylinder recording system, analogous -to the cylinder phonograph which Edison preferred to the disk type. He -did not bother to patent the disk phonograph style and thereby lost a -fortune as he did in other patent matters, including foreign rights to -his motion picture camera and peep-show apparatus. The first Edison -moving pictures were extremely tiny and had to be inspected through a -microscope arrangement. Around 1870 Talbot, the photographic pioneer, -in England had done some work on a similar system. The results of -Edison’s experiments in this connection were not successful. - -Next, during 1888 or early 1889, Edison turned to celluloid, made by -the Hyatt Company in Newark, and adapted to photographic purposes -by Carbutt in Philadelphia. This material was found to be too -thick to be rolled conveniently on reels, and did not make a good -photographic base. Edison found that notches or perforations were -needed to keep the film passing through the camera and viewing device -at a uniform rate. He first used notches on the bottom, and finally -four perforations on each side for each picture or frame. Edison’s -arrangement has continued as the work standard. - -Edison looked around for a more suitable substance on which to mount -the pictures--the age-old need. He found it in film just being -manufactured for the first time by George Eastman at Rochester, N. Y. -An order was placed and the solution appeared at hand. - -For several years Eastman had been seeking a suitable substance for -his Kodak cameras in order to make photography simple and foolproof -and make widespread amateur use possible. For a time his “roller -photography” system used paper rolls coated with a detachable -photographic emulsion. This was an improvement over glass plates but -the method was cumbersome as the Kodaks had to be returned to Rochester -for reloading and processing. Early in 1889 Eastman found the answer -in a flexible photographic base--a plastic--and film was born. In -August of that year manufacturing began in his Court Street plant in -Rochester. The film strips were prepared on glass sheets mounted on -100-foot long tables. Eastman applied for his film patent on December -10, 1889. - -When Edison returned from the Paris Exposition of 1889, where Marey -had shown him motion picture photographs mounted on a large disk -and projected, and also illuminated by an electric flash as in the -Tachyscope of Anschütz, Dickson was able to announce success in the -motion picture project. That was in October, 1889. - -It can never be decided exactly what was shown at the first -demonstration, because the interests of Edison and Dickson split and -the testimony was contradictory. Nothing was done about it for nearly -two years, and the peep-show film machines did not go on public display -until the Spring of 1894. - -Dickson claimed that the pictures, synchronized with a phonograph, -were projected screen size in the Fall of 1889. Edison said there was -no projection at the time. Some time between 1889 and 1894, projection -experiments were made but Edison did not think screen projection of -motion pictures would be commercially successful, believing that a -few machines would exhaust the world’s demand and once the novelty -wore off the business would die. It is also possible that he was not -satisfied with the experiments at projection because they must have -been quite imperfect. The Edison magic-disk device had continuously -running film and a shutter revolving at the rate of ten times a second. -No light source then available would give projection with that set-up. -Intermittent movement was required for efficient operation in the -projector as in the camera. - -_Harper’s Weekly_ of June 13, 1891, carried a two-page story on the new -Edison invention. The device was not claimed to be perfected but one -having very wonderful possibilities. The writer said, “To say that the -Kinetograph can be nothing more than a marvelous toy would be nasty.” - -Edison said, “All that I have done is to perfect what has been -attempted before, but did not succeed. It’s just that one step that I -have taken.” On August 24, 1891, Edison applied for an American patent -but decided not to invest the required sum, approximately $150, to make -foreign applications. Too often in the past he found that a patent -application by him was simply a form of general advertising to his -imitators and competitors to start using his newest invention. - -In 1891 the Kinetograph of Edison was not perfected or highly regarded. -In the Engineering News of May 30, 1891, a brief note read: - - The Kinetograph is the latest reported invention of Mr. Thomas - Edison. In an interview published in the _New York Sun_, Mr. - Edison described this still unperfected machine as an instrument - with which he photographs a man or a company of men in action - at the rate of 46 per second. The negatives are one-half inch - square, taken on a continuous film of gelatine of any length - desired. By an ingenious arrangement the images from the gelatine - ribbon are later thrown upon a screen and this ribbon is made to - move at a rate corresponding to the original rate of action, and - at the same time a phonograph is made to repeat the words of the - speaker represented. To thus photograph a 30-minute act of an - opera, for example, a ribbon 6,400 feet long would be required, - each photograph one-half inch square and requiring an inch of - linear space. - - The commercial sphere of the Kinetograph has not yet been defined. - -That last observation was very true for the time being. - -In late May of 1891 an indifferent account of the device was cabled -to the _London Times_ by its New York correspondent. The matter was -commented upon in the _Engineering_ magazine of London for June 5, -1891. That publication observed that since the time of the invention of -the telephone there had been efforts to do for sight what the telephone -did for sound. Of Edison’s invention of the motion picture camera and -viewer it was said, “It is a matter of much less importance and much -less originality than thought.” It was asserted that it would not be -possible to photograph interiors at the rate of 46 pictures per second. -But Edison was doing just that in his first motion picture studio. - -In the early part of 1893 it was decided to market commercially the -peep-show motion picture devices. After a year’s postponement, the -Chicago World’s Fair was scheduled to open in the Spring of 1893 and -this was thought an ideal place for the debut of the apparatus. In -January of 1893 the famous “Black Maria” Edison Studio was constructed -chiefly of tar paper at a cost of about $600, and the first commercial -films made. Dickson was producer, director, cameraman and laboratory -expert. Fred Ott, a laboratory mechanic, and his sneeze were among -the first actors and film “acts.” Other subjects included dancers and -similar entertainment subjects of a vaudeville character, together with -scenic views. - -The debut of the projection apparatus had been heralded long before -it actually arrived. The _World’s Columbian Exposition Illustrated_, -published for the Chicago Fair of 1893, said: - - Edison will show his kineto-graph. This machine is a combination, - first of the camera and phonograph and then the phonograph - and Stereopticon (magic lantern projector). By means of this - machine, when a man makes a speech the phonograph takes his - words. Connected electrically and in synchronism with the - phonograph is a camera which takes pictures of the speaker at - the rate of forty-seven per second on a long transparent slip. - This is developed and fixed and then placed in a stereopticon - which is also in electrical synchronism with the phonograph. - The stereopticon shows these photographs on the screen at a - rate of forty-seven per second, while the phonograph reproduces - the words, and thus a life-like representation of the speaker - is given, with his words, actions and gestures precisely as he - delivered the speech in the first instance. - -[Illustration: - - Eastman Kodak - -_EASTMAN and EDISON. George Eastman and Thomas A. Edison, the two -greatest American contributors to the practical development of motion -pictures, at a meeting in 1928._] - -[Illustration: - - Edison Archives, 1894 - -_KINETOSCOPE PARLOR, presenting Edison’s peep-hole viewer, opened at -1155 Broadway on April 14, 1894. Subsequent showings in London and -Paris inspired European inventors._] - -Edison’s projection apparatus was not perfected by the time of the Fair -or indeed for several years afterwards. Even the peep-show Kinetoscope -machines had not been manufactured in sufficient number for exhibition -there. The mechanic on the job was reported to have spent too much time -at the local bar instead of working in the West Orange laboratory. -During the Fair Edison’s agents waited for the first shipment of the -Kinetoscopes but none arrived in time. - -The patent applications made in 1891 by Edison for “an apparatus for -exhibiting photographs of moving objects” and his Kinetograph camera -were granted in the Spring of 1893. - -The premiere of Edison’s Kinetoscope did not take place until April -14, 1894. That first night was one of the most significant for magic -shadows because out of the Kinetoscope and the Kinetograph camera -evolved the modern motion picture devices. - -Edison supplied the peep-show Kinetoscope to his agents, Raff & Gammon -at $200 each, and they were retailed to showmen at prices from $300 -to $350. Andrew M. Holland, a Canadian, acquired ten Kinetoscopes and -opened up the first Kinetoscope Parlor at 1155 Broadway, New York City. -The location previously was occupied by a shoe store and a half century -later it was again a shoe store. (Illustration on opposite page.) - -The Kinetoscopes on Broadway were successful. $120 was taken in the -first night. The original show of films was a kind of “double feature” -in that the spectator was charged 25¢ to see the second line of five -Kinetoscopes. The films included the famous “Fred Ott’s Sneeze.” - -In the _Century Magazine_ for June, 1894, there was an article -by Dickson and Antonia Dickson on “Edison’s Invention of the -Kinetophonograph.” Edison wrote a forward which said in part that -he had the idea that it was possible to devise a sight and sound -combination apparatus in 1887. “This idea, the germ of which came -from the little toy called the Zoetrope (i.e., the Plateau-Stampfer -magic disk) and the work by Muybridge, Marie (i.e., Marey) and others -has now been accomplished, so that every change of facial expression -can be recorded and reproduced life-size. The Kinetoscope is only a -small model illustrating the present stage of progress but with each -succeeding month new possibilities are brought into view.” Edison then -prophesied that with his work and that of others “grand opera can be -given at the Metropolitan Opera House at New York without any material -change from the original, and with artists and musicians long since -dead.” - -On June 16, 1894, the _Electrical World_ reported on “The -Kinetophonograph” and on the nickel-in-the-slot peep-show models on -display at the Broadway store. The review was not enthusiastic even -then. It concluded: “As to the future of this most ingenious and -interesting bit of mechanism, time only will demonstrate whether it is -to be a new scientific toy or an invention of real practical value.” - -Time did demonstrate all that and more. - -The reaction to Edison’s Kinetograph in Paris, showplace of the -world, was much more enthusiastic than in New York. In _La Nature_ -the wonderful mechanical perfection of the film peep-show apparatus -was praised with special note given to the fact that it was driven -by electricity. The Werner firm had opened a demonstration of the -Kinetoscope at 20 Boulevard Poissonnière, Paris, and the machines were -in use all day and every evening. - -The Kinetoscope also went on display in Oxford Street, London, in -October, 1894, brought there from New York by two Greeks, George -Georgiades and George Trajedis. From the showings of the Edison -peep-show in New York, Paris, and London, there arose an increased -interest in the motion picture. Out of these demonstrations grew -projection machines which at last brought the shadow art-science before -the world in full development. - - - - -_XVI_ - -FIRST STEPS - - _In the United States, England, France - and Germany efforts are made to project - motion pictures on the screen--Half - successes, whole failures, bitter - disappointments and yet--perennial hope - to harness magic shadows._ - - -During the period between the time Edison achieved his first success -with motion pictures, in 1889, until his peep-show viewing machines -were put on public display in New York, Paris and London in 1894, -hesitant, unsteady steps, like those of a baby learning to walk, were -being taken in advancing the magic shadow art-science. - -Progress was made in England under Wordsworth Donisthorpe, an -interesting character named Louis Aimé Augustin Le Prince, three -associates, Greene, Rudge and Evans, and others. In France, there were -Marey and Demeny, with Marey developing what was probably the first -real motion picture projector capable of projecting more than one short -scene--the limitation of all disk models though it was only intended -for laboratory use; and Reynaud with the first popular motion picture -theatre which, however, did not use photographic pictures. In Germany, -Anschütz, inventor of the Tachyscope, was working on a projector, as -were others on both sides of the Atlantic. - -Donisthorpe, with the help of W. C. Croft, whom he later described as -“a good draughtsman” but not a person skilled in optics, constructed -about 1889 a Kinesigraph which Donisthorpe had originally suggested -in 1877, at the time he wrote concerning Edison’s phonograph and -a plan to combine it with a motion picture machine. Describing the -circumstances in a letter to the British _Journal of Photography_ of -March 12, 1897, Donisthorpe said: “I agreed to give him (Croft) an -interest in my invention for drawing and supervising construction of -the instrument, as I was at that time busy with other work.” He noted -that Croft had never claimed to be its inventor. As the reader will -recall, Donisthorpe had named his idea, the Kinesigraph, twelve years -before this arrangement with Croft. - -Donisthorpe and Croft obtained a British patent in 1889 but that -expired when not renewed after four years. Donisthorpe complained -that an adverse report of some alleged experts killed his plan when -he attempted to obtain financing from Sir George Newnes, who might -have been the film’s first patron. Newnes had made his fortune as a -newspaper and magazine owner. He invested a large sum in the Norwegian -South Pole expedition of 1898 but was dissuaded from backing motion -pictures. Donisthorpe’s idea was called “wild, visionary and ridiculous -and that the only result of attempting to photograph motion would be an -indescribable blur.” - -“I shall ask in the future,” Donisthorpe continued, “to give me all -I shall ever get in return for my time and thought, namely, the -credit of having been the first to invent, and the first to patent -the Kinesigraph, the photography of motion.” He also noted that as a -barrister he would not care to defend the monopoly of any patentee -after 1889. But he was never called upon for that, for in England, as -elsewhere, the motion picture patent situation eventually became a -hopeless muddle. - -In the March 26, 1897 issue of the same publication, the British -_Journal of Photography_, Donisthorpe also commented on his -Kinesigraph: “The instrument was patented, made and worked before any -other saw the light. I do not pretend the results were in all respects -satisfactory. What first machine ever is?” Donisthorpe expressed -surprise that some had not attempted to copy his machine which operated -with a single moving lens and took pictures two and one-half inches in -diameter on sensitized paper. This was later made transparent by the -application of petroleum jelly or castor oil, a process which Eastman -had used, for still pictures, with paper roll film in the United States -from 1884 until his film base was developed late in 1889. Donisthorpe -held that the continuous action with the moving lens providing the -necessary intermittency was a decided advantage over other types: “In -one particular, my own invention is so vastly superior even now to -all that have come after it, that I am surprised practical men have -not adopted it, now that it is open to the English public to do so.” -As interesting as Donisthorpe’s idea was even in 1877 and also in -1889, it is very unlikely that his machine was satisfactory. Even now -the intermittent motion picture camera and projector hold practical -supremacy except in the case of very high speed photography for -scientific purposes. - -Louis Aimé Augustin Le Prince (1842–1890), who worked in England, the -United States and France, was the son of a French officer who was a -friend of Daguerre, the pioneer in photography. Le Prince became a -photographer, under the influence of Daguerre and in 1870 went to work -in Leeds, Yorkshire, England, where he had his own shop. From shortly -after 1880 to 1889 he was in the United States, returning then to Leeds. - -Le Prince proposed a multiple-lens camera-projector system. On -January 10, 1888 he applied for an American patent, which was issued -on November 16 of the same year, on a “Method of an apparatus for -producing animated pictures of natural scenery and life.” In Le -Prince’s method, two strips of sensitized paper or other material would -be fed alternately through a camera and projector equipped with two -sets of rotating lenses. It has been said that Le Prince also had an -idea of a system using only one lens. - -Years later, at the trial of the American Mutoscope and Biograph -Company against Thomas A. Edison, a model of the Le Prince -camera-projector was introduced together with results purportedly -made by Joe Mason of Biograph, but it was unsatisfactory--the double -lens system did not produce evenly spaced pictures and each had to -be printed separately. Furthermore, the background had to be treated -specially or the figures would appear to jump right and left, because -each lens took pictures from a slightly different angle. - -Le Prince disappeared in 1890 when he was visiting in France prior to -returning to the United States, some investigators have asserted, to -show a perfected model of his projector-camera. The mystery of his -disappearance has never been solved. - -John Arthur Roebuck Rudge, an optician and instrument maker of Bath, -England, had developed about 1866 the Bio-Phantoscope, an application -of the Plateau magic-disk. He maintained a continuing interest in -photography. - -About 1882 William Friese Greene (1855–1921), a young man who was a -friend of the English photographer Talbot, came into contact with -Rudge. In 1885 Greene opened a camera shop in London. A few years later -he demonstrated before the Photographic Society a little projection -instrument made by Rudge which showed four pictures in rapid succession -as, for example, the change of an expression from grave to gay, or -a face in the act of blushing. That device was considerably more -primitive than the projector first invented by Uchatius, long before -Greene was born. - -In May of 1890 Rudge showed at a meeting of the Bath Photographic -Society a new optical lantern fitted with a mechanism which aimed -to represent, by means of a series of photographic slides, men and -animals moving as in life. That device, an improvement of the earlier -Rudge projector, had one condenser to gather the light and four small -projection lenses. Greene suggested the addition of the coloring -effects by coating parts of the slides with pigments. - -However, the machine was described as unfinished, though in the -_Photographic News_ of May 30th it was stated, “The effects were, from -an entertainment point of view, vastly superior to those produced -by Mr. Muybridge and others by the application of the Thaumatrope -principle, the unpleasant jerkiness of which is well known.” But it was -stated that Rudge’s machine had several serious defects. The pictures -were small and limited to only a few in number. Greene also had a model -and gave a demonstration in London which seemed to impress only a Mr. -Chang of the Chinese Embassy, one of the invited guests. - -The Greene-Rudge or Rudge-Greene machine was partially the work of -Mortimer Evans, a civil engineer, with whom Greene made contact in -1889. That year they applied jointly for a patent on a film device. The -same year Evans sold out his interest for a reported £1,200 and Greene -was in financial troubles. - -The Greene-Rudge-Evans device was a box film camera which, it was -claimed, could be converted into a projector. By this time celluloid -film was available in England as well as in the United States and -France. According to the February 28, 1890, _Photographic News_, -the camera could take ten photographs a second. The Greene camera, -measuring eight by nine by nine-and-a-quarter inches, could take 300 -pictures, and a smaller model turned out by Evans, 100 pictures. The -reviewer of 1890 wrote, “the object of it is to obtain consecutive -pictures of things in motion which can afterwards be rapidly -consecutively projected on a screen so as to reproduce, say, a street -scene, with the horses, human beings, and other things moving as in -nature.” Greene this same year claimed that his machine camera would -have important military uses. In this he was farsighted, as the -modern motion picture camera is an important instrument of military -reconnaissance, record and instruction as World War II has so amply -demonstrated. - -In the British _Journal of Photography_ for December 5, 1895, A. T. -Story defended Greene’s priority of invention and claimed that Greene’s -projection apparatus of 1889–90 was a success. That conclusion is not -inescapable. There appears no concrete evidence that Greene-Rudge-Evans -achieved screen projection, for it is obvious that had they done so -it would have been widely acclaimed at the time. But they did make a -camera and attempted a projector. The camera apparently was practical. -Marey and others in France, Anschütz in Germany, Edison, and Wallace -Goold Levison in Brooklyn and W. N. Jennings of the U. S. Weather -Bureau in Chicago, among others, were making successful motion picture -films at that time. Projection remained the great problem. - -In 1893 Greene obtained a patent on a device related to the -Chronophotographe developed by John Varley, a member of the English -landscape painting family. His projection idea included a loop formed -by means of intermittent pressure on the film passing before the lens. -Greene’s November 29, 1893, patent application, accepted exactly one -year later, was “to produce by means of reflected light artificial -scenery to take the place of the ordinary scenery or background.” -It included “improvements in apparatus for exhibiting panoramic, -dissolving or changing views and in the manufacture of slides for the -use thereof.” From this it is clear that even as late as 1893 Greene’s -idea was limited in scope and effectiveness. At this time Greene made -some pictures in Hyde Park with a large portable camera. - -It was described as a camera and projector in one, but that -combination, without many modifications, has never been entirely -practical. - -Greene had an unhappy, ill-starred life and though not a great -inventor deserved better. About 1899 he made attempts at color motion -pictures, using a rotating lens with a filter, but here again he was -unsuccessful. About 1911 he was brought to the United States to testify -in the motion picture patent suit but he did not impress the American -attorneys representing Edison’s opponents, and he never was called to -the witness stand. About 1915 it was reported that he was destitute and -Will Day, English motion picture expert, and others, organized a relief -fund in his behalf and later he had a minor position with a color -photo-engraving firm. At a dinner in his honor in 1921, just after he -had once again told the story of his pioneer work on motion pictures, -he dropped dead. Apparently his projection efforts were doomed to -failure, because they never were based on sound principles. The double -lens system has never been made to work satisfactorily. - -Marey, who was now using strips of coated celluloid for his -instantaneous photographs, sought to devise a suitable projector. This -he accomplished in 1893 with what was perhaps the first efficient -motion picture projector which could handle more than one brief scene, -using long strips of coated celluloid film instead of pictures set on -a disk. In order to obtain sufficient illumination, it used sunlight -instead of an electric arc or other source of light. This limited -Marey’s projector to laboratory use, though as late as 1915 some -experts claimed that sunlight was better than the electric arc for -magic lantern projection. - -An available illustration of Marey’s projector shows the path of the -rays which are reflected from the sun by a heliostat. That device -was invented by the Dutch scientist, Willem Jacob, and is simply a -mechanically driven reflector which keeps the light of the sun focused -on a single spot by compensating for the movement of the earth. In -Marey’s projector the sun’s rays are interrupted by a hand driven -shutter wheel and reflected by two mirrors through the film, the light -then passing through the projection lens and throwing the pictures onto -the screen. - -“The motion of the film,” Marey wrote, “as it halts at each flash, is -brought about by an apparatus not shown in the figure. It is similar -to that of the simple chronophotographic apparatus (camera), with the -difference that the positive film, having its ends fastened together to -make an endless belt, passes over a series of rollers which stretch it -taut.” This roller system was probably similar to that used by Edison -in his peep-show Kinetoscope. - -The projector, Marey himself admitted, was not perfect. “The principal -imperfection of the chronophotographic projector was a jerkiness due to -imperfect equality of the intervals.” This resulted from the fact that -Marey did not perforate the film because he thought the space along -the edge should not be wasted. He knew that Edison had been successful -through the use of four perforations on each side of every frame, or -picture. He was free to copy this, had he wished, because Edison did -not patent the method abroad. - -Meanwhile, Marey continued his work and finally, in 1898, announced -a successful projector system which overcame his chief difficulty -which was the even spacing of the pictures without using the Edison -perforations. - -His system featured specially constructed rollers which gripped the -edges of the film. The next year Marey worked out a combination of the -motion picture camera and the microscope, opening the way for much -progress in scientific research. He continued to study motion and in -1899 improved his early photographic gun camera so that it would handle -about 65 feet of film at one loading. Marey, who was interested only -in science and not in commercial exploitation, needed funds which he -eventually received from the American Smithsonian Institute, whose -secretary, Samuel P. Langley, the aeronautical pioneer, had been -following the French physiologist’s motion picture studies, including -his pioneer work in photographing air currents. - -Marey’s motto, so far as motion pictures were concerned, was: “It is -not the most interesting motion pictures that are the most useful.” In -this he stood against commercialization, and always for instructional -uses. - -In 1893 Demeny broke with Marey and patented on October 10, 1893, under -his own name, a modification of the Marey camera, which he called the -Bioscope. This he was able to do, even though the method had been known -at Marey’s laboratory, simply because Marey had never actually adopted -it. French patents were regularly issued upon application. - -Demeny was the motion picture amateur or home-movie-maker’s first -friend. The instantaneous photographic devices of Marey and others -were relatively clumsy and expensive. Demeny brought out a portable -camera suitable for amateur use. In operation this model was held over -one arm, making it necessary for the cameraman to photograph a scene -which he did not see at all, or only imperfectly out of the corner of -his eye. Demeny’s film was given an intermittent action through two -eccentrically mounted pins used as the roll holders. Demeny realized -that the pictures must be taken at equal intervals of time and also -evenly spaced on the film for successful results. His eccentric camera -never actually achieved this result. - -In 1891 Demeny became interested in studying speech. In this work he -was associated with H. Marischelle, then a young professor at the -French national institute for deaf mutes. Marischelle and Demeny had -the idea that through photographs of speech the deaf could learn to -talk. Demeny developed the Photophone and the Photoscope, which were -modified versions of the Marey camera system and a lantern projector -equipped with an oxyhydrogen light. Demeny made close-up instantaneous -photographs of persons speaking. The phrase, “_Vive la France_” was a -popular subject. - -Demeny said that the apparatus, “conserves the expression of the face -as the voice is preserved in the phonograph.” He added that it was, -“possible even to join the phonograph to his phonoscope to complete the -illusion.” That was the idea expressed by Donisthorpe in 1877 and on -which Edison had been working since 1887--the combined projector and -phonograph or the talking motion picture which indeed was not to be -perfected for many decades. - -In the Spring of 1892 Demeny tried to exploit commercially the system -of Talking Photographs or, more accurately, moving pictures of the -action of the mouth in speaking. Demeny always blamed the organization, -the _Société Générale du Phonoscope_ with which he was associated, -for not developing his work. It is probable however, that the Demeny -machines were not entirely satisfactory. A few years later, after -successful projection of motion pictures had been achieved on a -commercial basis, Demeny became associated with Léon Gaumont, and -a number of early French machines carried Demeny’s name though he -alone was not entirely responsible for the design. Demeny and Gaumont -developed a projector which included a gear wheel which fitted into -perforations on the film and an eccentric pin similar to Marey’s camera -system. - -Anschütz, one of the first successful photographers of motion, after -Muybridge, and the one who introduced the electric Geissler tube as -a method of illumination and projection of a series of still photos -to create the illusion of motion, was continuing his work in Germany -in this period. On November 15, 1894, he obtained a French patent -on a “process of projection of images in stroboscopic movement.” -This projector had an intermittent light arrangement and may have -been better than Marey’s sun model of 1893, because Anschütz was a -professional photographer and maker of optical instruments while Marey -was a professional physiologist. - -In November of 1895 Anschütz showed an improved model of his projector -at the Postal Building in the Artilleriestrasse, Düsseldorf, Germany. -A contemporary account in the journal, _Photographisches Archiv_, -published by Dr. Paul E. Liesegang, reported that the demonstration was -“before an invited crowd and was rightly received with great enthusiasm -by all the persons present.” Anschütz had improved his projection -apparatus to a point at which images could be thrown life-size on -a screen. Before that time pictures projected by his _Elektrisch -Schnellseher_ were only the size of the original pictures and thus -could be seen by only a few spectators at one time. Anschütz had both -motion pictures and many stills on his program, including scenes taken -when the cornerstone of the Reichstag Building was laid. Once again the -military connection of magic shadows was shown as Anschütz projected -scenes of army life. After the demonstration Colonel A. D. Tanera -stressed the importance of motion picture photography for the study of -military history and also for making observations in the field. - -Reynaud, the first magic shadow showman of modern times and the -immediate forerunner of the motion picture exhibitor of our day, -was now operating his _Théâtre Optique_ in Paris. He achieved the -first solid commercial success of the art. From 1892 to 1900, when -the competition of real motion pictures forced him to close, 500,000 -persons attended the Reynaud screen entertainments which were presented -every day from three to six in the afternoon and eight to eleven at -night. (Illustration facing page 148.) - -The projection apparatus used at the _Théâtre Optique_ was a -modification of Reynaud’s original Praxinoscope of 1877 and his simple -projector model of 1882. The scenes were painted on transparent -celluloid and one magic lantern provided the background and another -optical system which handled the moving film cast the motion effects -onto the screen. Rear projection was used with the apparatus concealed -on the theatre stage behind the screen. In 1889 Reynaud had obtained a -patent on a perforated band of film and he was the first to introduce -on a commercially practical basis reels or spools to handle the film. -Reynaud was not content to show merely scenes of action but wished to -tell a story. Before long it was found that the story film or familiar -feature picture was the most popular all over the world. - -“Poor Little Peter” (_Pauvre Pierrot_) was one of the most popular -of Reynaud’s film shows. Harlequin and Colombine were other popular -characters. Reynaud provided some of the earliest uses of trick -projection, for his apparatus was fully reversible and at times he -would create novel and hilarious effects by making the characters jump -backwards. - -Reynaud stood between the Shadow Plays and pantomimes of the ancients -and the modern motion picture. Though he took no part in the -development of motion picture photography and its application to the -screen, he influenced the art-science by pioneering in the dramatic -use of the medium, as well as introducing technical devices which were -readily adaptable to motion picture use. - -Reynaud was, as Porta two-and-a-half centuries before, a showman. But -while he was entertaining the public with screen pictures, the efforts -of Marey, Greene, Rudge, Evans, Donisthorpe and many others, including -Edison, were preparing the way for the screen art and science of magic -shadows. At last the valid motion picture was ready for its public -screen debut. - -[Illustration: - - Scientific American, 1892 - -_THEATRE OPTIQUE of Emile Reynaud used hand-painted film to tell -entertaining stories. The screen plays received wide approval from -audiences in Paris._] - -[Illustration: - - Scientific American, 1889 - -_ELECTRICAL TACHYSCOPE of Ottomar Anschütz was an attraction at the -Chicago World’s Fair, 1893. It used an intermittent light source._] - - - - -_XVII_ - -WORLD PREMIERES - - _Success at last--Magic shadows reach the - screen in living motion--Edison-Armat and - the Vitascope--Les Frères Lumière and the - Cinématographe--Paul of London and the - Animatograph or Theatrograph._ - - -The motion picture made its commercial debut in 1895 and 1896, more or -less simultaneously, in Paris, London, New York and elsewhere. That -debut is duplicated occasionally at the present time when important -Hollywood films have a number of simultaneous “world premieres.” - -With the introduction of a satisfactory projector of life-size moving -pictures which were not limited to a few seconds’ duration but could -run for a number of minutes, the story of the origin of magic shadow -entertainment comes to an end. From that day the phenomenal progress -in entertainment and instruction of the motion picture is particularly -history of that art-science. Magic shadow history is being written -currently every evening on tens of thousands of screens before millions -of spectators. - -The motion picture projectors which finally were entirely successful -and from which the history of the motion picture, properly speaking, -arises were all principally based on Edison’s Kinetograph film -peep-show which in 1894 was shown in New York, Paris and London. - -In the Fall of 1894 Louis Lumière saw the Edison Kinetograph -demonstrated at the Werner firm exhibit in Paris at 20 Boulevard -Poissonière. From this he conceived the idea of combining such an -apparatus with the Reynaud-type, which was already providing screen -entertainment in Paris. Doubtless, Lumière was also familiar with -Marey’s work. - -Louis Lumière and his brother, Auguste, operated a photographic -establishment at Lyons which their father had established. Lyons -figured once before in the magic shadow show; it was here that -Walgenstein, the Dane, first introduced Kircher’s magic lantern in -France. - -Lumière, who was a successful photographer, decided that the number -of images used by Edison per second, forty-eight, was more than -necessary so he used sixteen. Lumière, however, borrowed from Edison -the idea of perforating the edge of the film, having one on each side -of every frame instead of Edison’s four. Lumière adopted a claw type -intermittent drive for the apparatus which was designed by an engineer, -Charles Moissant. Léon Gaumont, who later became associated with -Demeny, was Moissant’s secretary. The machine was constructed by the -Jules Carpentier manufacturing firm. - -First experiments were made with coated paper but this was found -unsuitable. Celluloid was ordered from the American Celluloid Company -and this the Lumières coated themselves because, unlike Edison, they -were skilled in photography before they took up the motion picture -problem. The Lumières were able to use celluloid but it was not as -good as the Eastman motion picture film which Edison had found so -satisfactory. - -On February 13, 1895, the Lumières obtained a French patent on their -camera-projector device, the Cinématographe. The name Cinématographe -probably was derived from a French patent issued February 12, 1892, to -Léon Bouly who had an idea for a camera which evidently was not reduced -to practice. - -_Le Repas de Bébé_, “The Baby’s Meal,” was the first Lumière film. -Other scenes were made in the Lumière photographic plant, together -with views of the city, including the Bourse. A demonstration of the -apparatus was given there on March 22, 1895, but the Lumières were -already established in business and in no haste to develop the new -invention. The Cinématographe was shown at Marseilles in April, the -month an English patent was obtained, and next shown at the Congress of -the National Union of French Photographic Societies, held in June of -the same year. There the Lumières created a sensation by filming the -delegates arriving for the opening meeting on June 10, developing the -film and showing it before the conference was adjourned on June 12. -This was the first newsreel use of the motion picture. - -On December 28th, the Lumières opened a commercial establishment for -the Cinématographe in the Salle au Grand-Café at 14, Boulevard des -Capucines. An admission charge of one franc was made, but only a few -dozen curious people stopped in the first day. Soon however the fame -of the Cinématographe spread throughout Paris. Within a few weeks the -Lumière films were playing to “standing room only,” averaging more than -two thousand admissions per day. - -The Lumière Cinématographe was widely hailed. In his usual generous -manner, Marey praised the accomplishment even though he must have been -disappointed that others had achieved what he had long been seeking. -The Cinématographe was shipped to England and the United States at -an early date. In New York it was exhibited first in June, 1896, at -Keith’s 14th Street Theatre, on Union Square. In both countries it was -a stimulus to imitators. It continued to be one of the best projectors -available for some time. The Lumière claw drive, however, was not as -satisfactory as the Maltese-cross type used on some projectors from -about 1870 and adopted by Edison for the camera, and it gradually -yielded to the newer models. - -The Lumières continued to maintain a lively interest in motion picture -developments even after their success with the camera and projector. -In 1897 they devised a safety condenser as a protection against the -fire hazard; in 1898 a peep-show viewing model, and in 1903 they -began a study of the possibilities of direct photographing of colors. -This research led to a good color process which was later introduced -commercially. - -In England, Robert William Paul (1869–1943), scientific -instrument-maker, who was the son of a London ship owner, was asked by -George Georgiades and George Trajedis, two Greeks, to duplicate the -Edison Kinetoscope. Georgiades and Trajedis had bought Kinetoscopes in -New York from Holland Bros., eastern agents of the first Kinetoscope -Company and brought them to London where they were exhibited in -October, 1894, at a store in Old Broad Street. Paul inspected the -Kinetoscope and knew he could copy it. But he did not believe he was -free to do so, feeling sure that Edison had already patented the -machine in England. Investigation showed that no such action had been -taken. Thereupon at his work shop in Hatton Garden, London, Paul made -Kinetoscopes for the two Greek exhibitors and also for himself. With -his own machines he opened a display at Earl’s Court, London. Soon Paul -began work on a camera and projector based on the Kinetoscope peep-show -device. - -Paul had become interested in creating a machine which would take the -spectators into the past or future after reading a fantastic tale of H. -G. Wells called _The Time Machine_, published in 1894. Paul and Wells -talked the matter over, the one a designer and inventor, the other a -successful writer gifted with an extravagant imagination. A British -patent was applied for but no model or apparatus was ever devised -because the money for such an undertaking was not found. The Paul-Wells -Time Machine was to be an elaborate affair. Spectators were to be -seated on platforms which would move about; adding to the illusion, -magic lanterns and motion picture projectors were to flash pictures on -all sides. It was another application of the old Phantasmagoria idea -to achieve effects by moving the projectors--and in this case, the -audience also. Similar effects are achieved with much less trouble, -both for the showman and the spectator, in the modern story motion -picture. - -In the Spring of 1895, Paul made an agreement with Birt Acres by which -Acres would make films with a camera constructed by Paul. Previously -Paul had been using Edison films but the supply was cut off. His camera -was much smaller and more portable than the Edison model. Acres claimed -that he had started work on a motion picture camera as far back as -1889 but the effort had not been very successful. By the end of 1893 -Acres said he had developed a camera which used one lens or a battery -of twelve (Uchatius fashion) and had devoted himself to improving the -apparatus instead of “seeking a bubble reputation as a music hall -showman,” as he himself put it. In 1897 when he had correspondence with -Wordsworth Donisthorpe over the latter’s early work in motion pictures, -Acres was not happy about his motion picture associations, for he said: -“Every Tom, Dick and Harry is now claiming to be the inventor and first -exhibitor of these animated photographs and I can fully sympathize with -Mr. Wordsworth Donisthorpe, inasmuch as some one else has obtained -credit for his invention. My own experience with various adventurers is -not unique.” - -Paul’s first camera design had an intermittent movement featuring -a clamping and unclamping action which was rather hard on the -celluloid film made by the Hyatt brothers in Newark, N. J., imported -to England and coated for photographic use by the Blair Company. -Shortly thereafter, Paul changed to an intermittent movement having a -seven-point Maltese Cross. This was an important development. - -Paul’s projector, called the Animatograph, had its first showing -at the Finsbury Technical College on February 20, 1896. Eight days -later it was demonstrated at the Royal Institute. Its success came to -the attention of a theatreman, Sir Augustus Harris, operator of the -Olympia Theatre. A deal was made by Harris with Paul and the projector -rechristened the “Theatrograph.” After a short but successful run at -the Olympia in London, the device was booked for two weeks at the -Alhambra, Leicester Square. This motion picture show stayed there four -years. - -Subjects projected at twenty pictures per second by the Paul device in -the early programs were: “A Rough Sea at Dover,” a hand colored film; -“Bootblack at Work in a London Street,” sporting events and many other -scenes. - -Acres and Paul filmed the Derby of 1896, making some of the first -successful topical pictures. Scenes showing the Prince of Wales’ horse, -Persimmon, winning the Derby were exhibited at the Alhambra the evening -after the race, creating a sensation and numerous curtain calls for -Paul. The public was amazed. - -Paul continued to be interested in motion pictures, especially their -scientific aspects, as a kind of hobby, for about 15 years. However, -in 1912 he destroyed practically all his films and gave no further -attention to the cinema. In addition to his early work in projection -and camera design Paul himself had filmed many pictures including a -series of animated drawings, _à la_ Walt Disney, to show electrical -phenomena resulting from the approach of two magnets. These scientific -films were made in association with Professor Silvanus Thompson. Paul -also produced a number of comedies and used trick camera work to show -motor cars flying to the moon and other bizarre effects. During World -War I Paul invented secret war apparatus including an anti-aircraft -height finder and anti-submarine device. - -Charles Pathé, a great name in the early French film world and carried -on by several companies in the United States and elsewhere, bought -one of the first Paul motion picture projectors. Previously he had -roadshowed the Edison phonograph. - -Acres had a projector of his own called the Kinetic Lantern, which -he said was finished in January, 1896, but the title was changed to -Kineopticon and later to Cinematoscope for a special program for the -Prince of Wales. Probably this projector also was made by Paul or he -assisted in its design. Acres, however, was primarily interested in his -profession of photography, and motion pictures appeared to him to be -only one aspect of the subject. In 1897 he said: “There is something -in photography and, in particular, in animated photography. Indeed, I -think there can be no doubt that animated photography is destined to -revolutionize our art-science, both as regards matters historical and -scientific, in addition to giving us life-long portraits.” - -By the time Acres thus spoke the revolution was well under way. - -As in France, a number of men immediately started making cameras and -projectors in England. The patent rights were confused, chiefly because -Edison neglected to secure foreign coverage, leaving the field wide -open. - -In the United States two factors dominated the experimentation: (1) -the Anschütz Electrical Tachyscope, shown at the Chicago Fair in 1893 -and (2) the Edison peep-show film device on display in many places, -starting in New York in the Spring of 1894. - -The projection of life-size motion pictures on a screen before an -audience might have been achieved considerably earlier had Edison -not felt that there would be no commercial market for such a device. -The little peep-show models could be manufactured at rather low cost -and sold at a profit, so no impetus was given to the development of -a screen projector which might, he thought, quickly dissipate the -public’s interest and destroy the market. But, it may be recalled, -the screen projector, combined with the talking phonograph, had been -Edison’s original goal when he started the experiments in 1887. - -One of the men who was impressed by Anschütz’s Electrical Tachyscope at -the Chicago Fair was a young Virginian, Thomas Armat. He was a man of -means and though associated in a real estate office in Washington, D. -C., still had time to follow his scientific interests which induced him -to attend the Bliss School of Electricity in Washington. At this time, -Armat had already invented a conduit for an electric railway and had -refused an offer to interest himself in the distribution of the Edison -peep-show film Kinetoscope. He wanted screen projection. - -At the Bliss School Armat was introduced to C. Francis Jenkins, a -young Government clerk, who also was interested in scientific matters. -He had studied the Edison Kinetoscope and, for the Pure Food Show in -Convention Hall, in November of 1894, had shown a model which instead -of Edison’s revolving shutter had revolving electric lights, based on -the Uchatius idea. In March of 1894 Jenkins received a patent on a -motion picture camera which used a revolving lens system called the -Phantoscope. There is no evidence that Jenkins ever made that camera -operate efficiently. It was described in the _Photographic Times_ of -July, 1894, as being only five by five by eight inches in size and -weighing ten pounds. Pictures of an athlete in action, said to have -been taken with Jenkins’ device were reproduced. - -Jenkins was having difficulty achieving projection. Armat and he -decided to form a partnership. Armat was to build a projector after -Jenkins’ design and, in return, he would receive rights to the rotating -lens camera patent. The results were a failure. Armat decided to -continue with his own ideas and there was no objection, as he was -supplying the money and the place for the work in the basement of his -real estate office at 1313 “F” Street, in Washington. - -Armat decided that the Jenkins idea of continuous movement with -revolving lights was unworkable and chose an intermittent action. A -variation of the Maltese-cross gear system was tried. The eventual -legal dispute between Armat and Jenkins has obscured data on the system -first used. It is certain the results were not wholly successful. - -Three of these machines were built in the Summer of 1895 and the -first showing was held at the Cotton States Exposition at Atlanta, -Georgia, in mid-September. There the chief picture competition was the -inspiration--the Anschütz Electrical Tachyscope. There was also an -extensive display of the Edison peep-show machines. Armat must have -been glad to see the Edison activity because it was from that source -that he was getting his film for the projector. - -The projector at the Cotton States Exposition was not well received. -The show finally burned up in a fire that swept the area. Fifteen -hundred dollars was borrowed from Armat’s brothers to continue -activities. Jenkins went home to Richmond, Indiana, for his brother’s -wedding, taking one of the projectors with him. - -Meanwhile, Armat hit upon a loop to ease the strain of projection. -Jenkins gave a demonstration of the projector on October 29, 1895, and -by November 22nd, Armat and Jenkins had disagreed. Jenkins tried to -patent some modification on his own, without his partner, but found -that he was in interference with the Armat-Jenkins projector patent and -signed a concession of priority. From his invention Armat made a great -profit which was obtained not without many law suits. Later Jenkins -produced a non-intermittent projector of clever but impractical design. -He also contributed some original ideas to television development but -again the results were not very practical. - -Certain other attempts were made to achieve projection of the -magic shadows and complete the motion picture system at this time. -Most of them also were stimulated by the exhibition of Anschütz’s -Electrical Tachyscope. One of these was made by Rudolph Melville -Hunter (1856–1935), a consulting engineer and inventor of considerable -prominence in America. In 1883 Hunter had suggested a Dover-Calais -tunnel, something that might have made the Dunkirk evacuation of 1940 -much easier; the year before, 1882, he had suggested torpedo boats; -later he devised smokeless powder for the French Government and sold -some 300 patents to the General Electric and Westinghouse companies. -He was also a consultant on acoustics. In his biography, last printed -in the 1920–21 edition of _Who’s Who_ (at which time he evidently -retired), Hunter asserted that he “designed and built the first motion -picture projector in the world in 1894.” His show, scheduled for -Atlantic City, never opened. No details are known of his projector. - -In the Summer of 1894, two gay young men, Grey and Otway Latham, drug -company salesmen operating out of New York, became concessionaires for -the Kinetoscope and formed the Kinetoscope Exhibition Company. That -firm’s chief purpose was to photograph and exhibit prize-fight films. -In September of 1894 the young Lathams decided that there never would -be much to the peep-show motion picture business and determined to try -to get life-size pictures on the screen. They called upon their father, -Major Woodville Latham, for assistance. - -Major Latham had had a distinguished career as an ordnance officer -of the Confederacy during the American Civil War. For a time he was -professor of chemistry at the University of West Virginia. - -In December, 1894, the Lathams formed the Lambda Company--the Greek “L” -for Latham--and a start was made in their quest for a motion picture -projector. Dickson was in on the deal although he was still working for -Edison. Eugène Lauste, a somewhat secretive friend of Dickson, who was -born in Paris in 1857 and had come to the United States in 1887, was -the mechanic who worked in Latham’s shop. Lauste previously had been -employed by Edison. - -By the end of the Winter of 1894–95 the Latham project was showing -signs of success. A demonstration was held on April 21, 1895, at 35 -Frankford Street, New York City and on May 20, 1895, a public showing -opened in a small store at 153 Broadway. The Latham projector was -found to be inadequate and the following comments were made in the -_Photographic Times_ for September, 1895: “Even in this, the latest -device, there is considerable room for improvement and many drawbacks -have yet to be overcome.” Specific objections were made to the grain -of the film, the fact that it was not entirely transparent, and other -factors. It was noted that Major Latham was “persevering” in efforts to -improve the device. But some word of encouragement was given: “Even in -the present state the results obtained are most interesting and often -startling. Quite a crowd of people visit the store at each performance, -many making their exit wondering ‘How it’s done’.” It is worth noting -that no illustration of the Latham machine was given but instead the -Reynaud Optical Theatre of Paris was shown. Latham’s projector was -called the Pantoptikon and later the Eidoloscope. Latham indignantly -denied that parts of his device were borrowed from Edison’s machines. -It is likely the Major was not aware of all that went on in his work -shop. - -Dickson eventually joined an organization called the KMCD syndicate, -for E. B. Koopman of the Magic Introduction Company; Henry Norton -Marvin, a former Edison Associate; Herman Casler, the actual inventor -of a camera designed to evade Edison methods, and Dickson. The Casler -camera or Mutograph, and the peep-show viewer or Mutoscope, sought to -evade the Edison patents, so everything that Edison had they tried to -avoid. The Mutoscope in its simplest form was really a step backwards -to the old Thaumatrope principle of flashing successive card views -before the eye. The Casler camera used unperforated wide gauge film -with the pictures irregularly spaced. This made no difference, for the -pictures were each mounted on cards. - -The Mutoscope and the Mutograph stimulated interest and competition in -films, and was the father of the concern around which opposition to -Edison centered. The “independents” relied on the American Mutoscope -Company, or Biograph as it became, to supply films which would be -outside the restriction of the Edison patents. The ensuing patent -war was long and bitter but did not materially interfere with the -development of the motion picture. - -Meanwhile, Edison’s agents, Raff & Gammon, were becoming important. The -sale of the peep-show Kinetoscopes was only serving to increase the -demand for projection and it was feared that the imitators of Edison, -such as Lumière, Paul and Latham and others would control the field. -Edison, however, was not able--for lack of time or other reasons--to -meet the demands of his film agents with perfection enough to satisfy -himself. His researches continued but his agents and the public were -impatient. - -Gammon, of the Raff & Gammon firm, decided to investigate the Armat -projector which he had heard about in Washington. A five or six minute -show was given on December 8, 1895, by Armat in the basement of his -real estate office. In January of 1896 a deal was made whereby Edison -would manufacture the projector and it would be introduced under his -name, but as “Armat designed.” The agents wanted, of course, to play -up the name of Edison for commercial reasons. Edison was induced to -accept this arrangement by his general manager W. E. Gilmore--who, -incidentally, had discharged Dickson. - -A demonstration of the Armat-Edison projector was held on April 3 and -on April 23, 1896, the Vitascope, as it was called, made its debut at -the Koster & Bial’s Music Hall on Herald Square, 34th Street, New York -City. This was a banner day in the history of the screen. The many -hesitant and uncertain steps down through the centuries quickened into -an assured march of progress. The public reaction to the Vitascope was -excellent, although the programs presented were crude and immature. For -several years to come the films offered were only short items which -found their chief use as audience “chasers,” run as the final number in -vaudeville shows. (Illustration facing page 161.) - -The _New York Herald_ reported on May 3, 1896, that the subjects would -soon be lengthened from 50 feet to 150 feet and 500 feet. “Gone With -the Wind,” the mammoth of 1941, was 20,000 feet long. New attractions -promised in the first days were to include Niagara Falls, which -Langenheim had photographed with marked success a half-century earlier; -a steamer going down the Lachine Rapids, and an ocean liner leaving its -dock. - -The _Herald_ said: “The result is intensely interesting and pleasing -but Mr. Edison is not quite satisfied yet. He wants now to improve the -phonograph so that it will record double the amount of sound it does -at present, and he hopes then to combine this improved phonograph with -the Vitascope so as to make it possible for an audience to witness a -photographic reproduction of an opera or a play--to see the movements -of the actors and hear their voices as plainly as though they were -witnessing the original production itself.” - -The “world premiere” newspaper review concluded: “And when it is -remembered what marvels Edison has produced, it would not seem at all -improbable that he may yet add this one to his many others.” - -The talking picture, however, did not make its real debut for three -decades. - -The _New York Tribune_ on Sunday, May 3, 1896, said: “Edison’s -Vitascope has made a decided hit at Koster & Bial’s Music Hall. -Tomorrow evening all the pictures will be in colors. The Vitascope, -together with Albert Chevalier, is drawing large audiences.” - -Raff & Gammon now had something that could be sold easily; the -Vitascope was everywhere well received. Eighty projectors of the Armat -design were delivered by the Edison company from April to November -of 1896. And Edison started renewed work on his own “Projecting -Kinetoscope,” independently of Armat. - -An advertising brochure for the Vitascope told the story this way: - - Several years ago Mr. Edison conceived the idea of projecting - moving figures and scenes upon a canvas or screen, before an - audience. - - Owing to the pressure of his extensive business, he could not - fully develop his inventive ideas at the time. However, he put - his experts to work upon a machine which should reproduce moving - pictures upon a small scale, and the Kinetoscope was the result. - - After perfecting the Kinetoscope, Mr. Edison turned his attention - to his original plan of inventing a machine capable of showing - the moving figures and scenes, life-size, before a large - audience. His ideas soon took practical form, and as long ago as - last Summer a very creditable result was obtained; but Mr. Edison - was unwilling to give his unqualified approval until the highest - practicable success had been achieved. Since then, Mr. Edison’s - experts have been putting his ideas and suggestions to practical - test and execution and, in addition, some of the original ideas - and inventive skill of Mr. Thomas Armat (the rising inventor, of - Washington, D. C.) have been embodied in the Vitascope; the final - result being that today it can almost be said that the impossible - had been accomplished, and a machine has been constructed which - transforms dead pictures into living moving realities. - -On the last page of the advertising brochure for the Vitascope it was -asserted that the rights were controlled for the world. If that had -been true the Edison firm would have reaped an incalculable fortune. -But by this time many projection machines and cameras by diverse -manufacturers were coming into use in many countries. - -Magic shadows--living reproductions of people and the world--at last -had reached the screen. - - * * * * * - -But there still remained a long and important step to be taken in -order that the true fidelity of living pictures could be achieved. -Sound needed to be added to sight. So again, thirty years later, magic -shadow history was made--this time at the Winter Garden theatre in New -York City, on October 6, 1927. The event was the premiere of “The Jazz -Singer,” starring Al Jolson and presenting the Vitaphone system of -talking motion pictures. This rounding out of the faculties of magic -shadows came through the enterprise of the Warner brothers--Harry, -Sam, Albert and Jack--and the technological achievements of Dr. Lee -DeForest, Theodore Case, Charles A. Hoxie and the others who gave the -screen its voice. - -[Illustration: - - French Information Service - -_LOUIS LUMIERE, inventor of the Cinématographe camera and projection -system._] - -[Illustration: - - Cambridge Instrument Co. - -_ROBERT W. PAUL, instrument maker, constructed cameras and projectors -in England._] - -[Illustration: The Vitascope being Exhibited in a Theatre or Public -Hall. - -(The machine can be just as successfully exhibited in vacant -store-rooms, etc.) - - Vitascope Brochure, 1896 - -_VITASCOPE, Edison made, Armat designed, as an artist saw it in -action--drawn for the first advertising promotion booklet, New York in -1896._] - -Generally, the motion picture industry was skeptical of talking -motion pictures and their future. But soon public opinion registered -emphatically and the addition of sound was accepted as an -indispensable faculty of the medium of the screen. And now finally the -ancient and persevering urge for true living pictures was satisfied. - - * * * * * - -And thus the motion picture, like many another achievement of -the human heart and hand and mind, has come down to us as the -result of incalculable effort on the part of many. This great -benefaction to humanity the world over is the realization of the -aspirations of many who labored unceasingly and well down through -the centuries--Archimedes, Aristotle, Alhazen, Roger Bacon, Leonardo -da Vinci, Porta, Athanasius Kircher, Musschenbroek, Paris, Plateau, -Uchatius, Langenheim, Marey, Muybridge, Edison and others. It is the -creation of men of many centuries and many nations and from these -diversities of time and persons it has gained its amazing power, its -universal appeal. - - -THE END - - - - -_Appendix I_ - -MAGIC SHADOWS - -_A Descriptive Chronology_ - - - B. C. - ? First artist’s aspiration to recreate life and the movement - of the world of nature. - - 6000 Babylonians and Egyptians acquire first scientific knowledge - to of the light and shadow art-science. Crude magnifying - 1500 glasses are fashioned. Light and shadow are used for - entertainment and deception. - - Chinese Shadow Plays make use of silhouette figures cast - on a screen of smoke. - - Japanese and English mirrors are devices for reflecting - strange optical illusions. - - 340 Aristotle gives impetus to all studies. First recorded magic - shadow experiment--“the square hole and round sun.” - - Euclid demonstrates that light travels in straight lines, - a fundamental for all projection and photography. - - 225 Archimedes devises the famous “Burning Glasses” for - destroying ships of the enemy, which may or may not have - been a factor in the defense of Syracuse. - - 60 Lucretius, the Roman poet, writes _De Rerum Natura_, “On - the Nature of Things,” combining verse and philosophy - and a bit of science. The work contains a reference erroneously - interpreted as a description of a magic lantern show. - - A. D. - 50 Pliny and Seneca advance scientific knowledge. The effect - of the atmosphere on silver is noted by Pliny. Seneca writes - on the persistence of the sensation of vision. - - 79 Pompeii and Herculaneum are destroyed by the eruption - of Vesuvius. Excavations have recovered a lens and a - sound effects system probably used by the priests to trick - the people. - - 130 Ptolemy writes the _Almagest_ which was the standard work - on optics for centuries. Subjects treated included the - persistence of vision, the laws of reflection and studies of - refraction. - - 170 Galen, an early medical authority, considers the problems - of vision, fundamental to the scientific application of light - to create the illusion of motion. - - 510 Boethius tries to measure the speed of light. Charges of - treason and magic result in his decapitation in 525 at the - order of his former patron, King Theodoric, Ostrogoth - dictator of Italy. - - 750 Geber, Arabian alchemist, notes the effect of light on silver - nitrate, a basis of photography. - - 870 Alkindi, an Arab, advances scientific learning, including - work in the fields of astronomy and navigation. - - 1010 Alhazen, greatest of the Arab scientists in optics, advances - the art-science of magic shadows and succeeds Ptolemy as - the standard authority. - - 1020 Avicenna, another Arab, studies the movements of the eye - in vision. - - 1175 Averroës, famed Arab philosopher, studies vision and eye - movement. - - 1267 Roger Bacon, English Friar, describes the use of mirrors - and lenses and attacks necromancers who use such devices - to deceive the people. - - 1270 Witelo, a Pole called Thuringopolonus, writes on all - phases of optics and with Bacon dominates experiments - in this field for generations. - - 1275 St. Albertus Magnus, Dominican scholar and teacher of - St. Thomas Aquinas, takes special interest in the rainbow - and assigned a finite but very great velocity to light. - - 1279 John Peckham, English Franciscan and alchemist, in his - _Perspectiva Communis_ points out that the rays of the sun - can be shown in any desired place, indicating a knowledge - of the “dark room.” - - 1300 Spectacles are introduced in Italy. - - 1438 Gutenberg develops printing from movable type which - hastens the exchange of all knowledge, an aid to the - growing interest in all light and shadow problems. - - 1450 Leone Battista Alberti, an Italian cleric and architect, - designs the _camera lucida_, a light and shadow device similar - to a large box camera for the use of artists in copying, - drawing and nature. - - 1464 Nicholas of Cusa writes the first book about eye glasses. - - 1500 Leonardo da Vinci sets down the first accurate description - of the portable or “dark room” _camera obscura_ and shows - its relation to the human eye. - - 1520 Francesco Maurolico, a mathematician and astronomer of - Messina, develops the scientific but not experimental - principles of light as reflected by mirrors and the use of - light theatres. The next year he describes the construction - of a compound microscope. - - 1521 Cesare Cesariano, an architect and writer on art, asserts - in his introduction to a new edition of Vitruvius that a - Benedictine monk, Don Papnutio or Panuce, constructed a - satisfactory _camera obscura_. Construction details are given - for the first time in a published work. - - 1540 Erasmus Reinhold uses a _camera obscura_ to observe an - eclipse of the sun at Wittenberg. Ancient astronomers had - found it impossible to observe an eclipse unless there were - clouds in the sky or the sun was near the horizon to cut - down the light. - - 1550 Girolamo Cardano, an Italian physician and mathematician, - describes how the box _camera obscura_ can be used - for entertainment purposes. - - 1558 Giovanni Battista della Porta of Naples writes of making - many light and shadow devices and earns the right to the - title, “first screen showman.” - - 1568 Monsignor Daniello Barbaro introduces the projection - lens in the _camera obscura_. - - 1585 Giovanni Battista Benedetti, a patrician of Venice, publishes - the first complete and clear description of the _camera - obscura_ or box camera equipped with a lens. - - 1589 Porta’s book, _Natural Magic_, reprinted with a new section - on the use of the _camera obscura_ for entertainment - purposes. - - 1604 Johannes Kepler explains the use of the “dark chamber” - device for astronomical work. - - 1612 Christopher Scheiner, a German priest, uses the device to - study sun spots. - - 1613 François d’Aguilon, another priest, stimulates the study - of all branches of optics and is the first to coin the name - “stereoscopic.” - - 1620 Sir Henry Wotton, diplomat and author, gives one of the - first descriptions in English of the _camera obscura_ for - drawing purposes. He describes a portable tent camera. - - 1626 Willebrord Snell promulgates his “law” on the angles of - reflection and refraction, essential data for grinding and - polishing lenses and other phases of advanced optics. - - 1644 - or Athanasius Kircher invents the magic lantern at Rome. - 1645 This is the first projector of magic shadows. - - 1646 Kircher’s book, _Ars Magna Lucis et Umbrae_, “The Great - Art of Light and Shadow,” is published. - - 1652 Jean Pierre Niceron shows how irregular figures can be - made into plain figures through a mirror projection lens - system. - - 1658 Gaspar Schott develops Kircher’s projection lantern in his - _Wonders of Universal Nature and Art_. - - 1665 Walgenstein, a Dane, shows a Kircher-type magic lantern - in France and elsewhere. - - 1669 Robert Boyle furthers interest in magic shadows with a - description of a “Portable Darkened Room” in his _Systematic - or Cosmical Qualities of Things_. - - 1671 The second edition of Kircher’s _Ars Magna Lucis et Umbrae_ - is published with an expanded treatment of the magic - lantern and specific instructions on how it may be used - for entertainment and instruction. - - 1674 Claude Milliet de Chales, a Frenchman, describes the use - of an improved projection lens system for the magic lantern. - - 1680 Robert Hooke develops his _camera lucida_ in England. His - plan was suggested in 1668 but by 1680 it had been improved - and showed images in a room which was only - partially darkened. - - 1685 Johann Zahn develops Kircher’s lantern to its highest - state prior to the introduction of improved light sources - of electricity or gas in the 19th century. - - 1692 William Molyneux, of Dublin, in his _Dioptrica Nova_ introduces - the improved magic lantern, scientifically described, - in the British Isles. - - 1704 John Harris, divine and scientific writer, describes a better - camera fitted with a “scioptic ball” or perforated globe - of wood which could be turned in different directions to - show diverse views. - - 1711 Willem Jakob Van’s Gravesande, a Dutchman, discusses - projection and is credited with inventing the heliostat - which made it possible for scientists to use the light of the - sun in projection work, as well as in astronomy. - - 1727 Publication of the revised _Dictionnaire Universel_ of Abbé - Antoine Furetière edited by M. Brutel de la Rivière--with - a description of the magic lantern spreads the use of the - projector in France. - - Johann Heinrich Schultze, a German professor of eloquence - and antiquities, observes that light has an effect on - a bottle of chalk and silver nitrate solution. He explains - how others can duplicate his effects by concentrating the - sun’s rays on a bottle of the solution by means of a burning - glass. - - 1736 Pieter van Musschenbroek introduces “motion” into the - magic lantern by using a multiple slide system and a - mechanical means of shaking one of the glass slides. - - 1747 Leonhard Euler, a Swiss mathematician, describes a camera - for Empress Catherine of Russia. - - 1752 Benjamin Franklin, pioneer American scientist, writes: “I - must own I am much in the dark about light.” - - 1753 Three different types of the camera in fixed and portable - models are described in the famous French _Encyclopédie_. - - 1760 Abbé Nollet’s “Whirling Top,” a toy which shows the - illusion of motion in a striking fashion, is a popular - children’s plaything in Paris. - - 1772 François Séraphin, a magician, is credited with introducing - the art of shadow plays in France. - - 1777 Carl William Scheele, a Swedish chemist, discusses the - action of light on silver chloride. - - 1780 Jacques Alexandre César Charles, working under the - patronage of Louis XVI at the Louvre, invents the Magascope - or a projection microscope. This was a development - of an earlier device he had for throwing on a screen images - of living persons. - - 1790 Pierre L. Guinard, a Swiss glass worker, makes improvements - in the processes of grinding and polishing optical - glass. - - 1798 Etienne Gaspard Robertson resurrects “ghosts” of the - French Revolution with his Phantasmagoria shows, featuring - a magic lantern mounted on wheels and a screen - of smoke. - - 1802 Tom Wedgwood repeats the experiments of Schultze and - Scheele and announces a process of copying paintings on - glass and making profiles by the action of light upon - nitrate of silver. - - 1807 Dr. William Hyde Wollaston invents a new model of the - _camera lucida_. - - 1814 Joseph Nicéphore Niepce begins work on photography. - - 1815 David Brewster, Scottish scientist, invents the Kaleidoscope, - an optical device which creates colorful designs. - - 1820 - to English and French scientists study the optical phenomena - 1825 arising from the rotation of wheels. - - 1820 “J. M.”, anonymous English scientist, comments on wheel - phenomena in the English _Quarterly Journal_, stimulating - study of a basic factor in motion picture photography and - projection. - - 1824 Peter Mark Roget, of _Thesaurus_ fame, discusses wheel - phenomena and gives an explanation--an early scientific - account of the “persistence of vision” with regard to moving - objects. - - 1825 William Ritchie, rector of Tain Academy, England, develops - an improved lantern for “ghost” projection using - a gas light source. - - 1826 John Ayrton Paris’ Thaumatrope, or small disk with part - of the complete scene on one side and part on the other - side, becomes a scientific plaything. (Charles Babbage, - English scientist and mathematician, claims an earlier - invention on the same lines. The invention of the Thaumatrope - has also been attributed to Sir John Herschel, Dr. - William Fitton and Dr. William Hyde Wollaston.) - - 1827 Niepce’s Heliotypes, which were photo silhouettes obtained - after as much as six or twelve hours’ exposure, are shown - in London. - - 1827 Sir Charles Wheatstone invents the Kaleidophone, or - Phonetic Kaleidoscope, to illustrate “amusing acoustical - and optical phenomena.” - - 1828 Joseph Antoine Ferdinand Plateau, a Belgian, makes the - first motion picture machine--a device which changes a - distorted drawing into a correct and natural one. - - 1829 Niepce and Louis Jacques Mandé Daguerre, a painter and - showman, form a partnership for the development of - photography. - - 1830 Michael Faraday takes up the study of wheels and spokes - and motion, and the effects of motion on the human eye. - - 1832 Plateau and Simon Ritter von Stampfer, Austrian, independently - introduce the magic disks which show real - motion. These spinning wheels with a series of designs are - called the Fantascope, Phénakisticope or Stroboscope. - - 1834 William George Horner in England devises an improved - model of the magic disks by arranging the designs on a - horizontal instead of vertical wheel. This made it possible - for several persons, instead of one, to see the movement - at the same time. - - Ebenezer Strong Snell, a professor at Amherst, introduces - the picture disks in the United States. - - 1835 William Henry Fox Talbot begins his photographic - investigations. - - 1838 Wheatstone invents the Stereoscope which gives the illusion - of depth by presenting two slightly dissimilar pictures - to the two eyes. - - Abbé François Napoléon Marie Moigno, in France, uses - magic lanterns made by François Soleil, Parisian optician - and father-in-law of Jules Duboscq, to illustrate chemical - reactions. - - 1839 Talbot in England and Daguerre in France announce - practical photographic systems which make it possible to - permanently record the age-old images of the “dark room” - or _camera obscura_. Hippolyte Bayard experiments with - paper photographic prints. - - 1845 Johann Müller in Germany uses the Fantascope disks to - study the wave motion of light. Similar work is carried out - by others. - - 1848 E. M. Clarke demonstrates, at the London Polytechnic - Institution, a good magic lantern fitted with an - oxygen-hydrogen lamp. He publishes a booklet on lantern - projection--“Directions for using the philosophical apparatus - in private research and public exhibition.” - - 1849 Brewster introduces a binocular camera for photographing - stereoscopic pictures. It is copied in Paris by M. Quinet, - a photographer, who calls it the Quinetoscope. - - 1850 Frederic and William Langenheim, of Philadelphia, patent - the Hyalotype, a process for making positives on glass - slides suitable for use in the magic lantern. This makes it - possible to combine photography and the Plateau-Stampfer - disks. - - Wheatstone shows in Paris an improved stereoscope which - uses photos specially made for it. - - 1852 Photographs instead of drawings are used in the magic - disks by a number of scientists and photographers, - including Wheatstone, Jules Duboscq in Paris, Antoine - François Jean Claudet. The imperfect photographic equipment - as well as the limits of the individual disks resulted - in unnatural moving pictures. - - 1853 Franz von Uchatius, an Austrian army officer, develops a - motion picture projector which combines the Plateau-Stampfer - disks and the magic lantern of Kircher. - - 1854 Sequin, a Frenchman, obtains a patent on an improved - projector. - - 1860 Claudet, Duboscq, Shaw and others experiment with the - to magic disk and the stereoscope in an effort to combine the - 1865 illusion of motion and the illusion of depth. - - 1860 Thomas Hooman Dumont draws up on paper a motion - picture camera. Other attempts are also made but the - apparatus is not yet ready. - - Pierre Hubert Desvignes obtains a French patent on a system - which suggests the use of an endless band and an - apparatus for looking at stereoscopic views and small - objects in motion. He also used models instead of designs - or photographs in his efforts to recapture motion. - - 1861 William Thomas Shaw announces the Stereostrope which - mounted eight stereoscopic pictures on an octagonal drum. - These were viewed in an ordinary Wheatstone Stereoscope. - “The effect of solidarity is superadded so that the object - is perceived as if in motion and with an appearance of - relief as in nature.” - - Coleman Sellers in the United States patents the Kinematoscope - which is a toy using a paddle wheel action to show - “posed” motion pictures. - - 1864 Louis Ducos du Hauron patents a motion picture - photography-projection system, but there are no adequate - materials available to make it practical. - - 1865 James Laing announces the Motorscope--another solid-plus-motion - device akin to that of Shaw. - - About this time the following also showed similar devices: - Léon Foucauld, French astronomer, the Stereofantascope - or Bioscope; Cook and Bonelli, the Photobioscope; Humbert - de Moland, Reville, Almeida, Seely and Lee. - - A. Molteni, optician, of Paris, invents the Choreutoscope - Tournant which uses a Maltese Cross movement, a type - which was of considerable importance in the development - of intermittent movement in projectors. - - 1866 Lionel Smith Beale, a specialist in the use of the microscope, - perfects the Molteni turning wheel. - - 1868 John Wesley Hyatt of New York invents celluloid while - seeking a substitute for ivory for billiard balls. (Prior to - this time Alexander Parkes in England worked on a product - somewhat similar to celluloid but the process was - different.) - - Langlois and Angiers patent an improved Thaumatrope - which uses microscope views seen through a lens system. - - Linnett develops the Kineograph or little book which, - when thumbed rapidly, flashes successive pictures before - the eye, creating an illusion of motion. - - 1869 O. B. Brown obtains the first U. S. patent on a projector--it - is the old familiar model of Uchatius and uses hand-drawn - designs. - James Clerk Maxwell, famed for his work in color and - electricity, develops what is hailed as the perfect Zoetrope - or Wheel of Life by substituting concave lenses for the slots - in order to eliminate distortion. Hand drawn figures were - projected in a similar system. - - 1870 Henry Renno Heyl, of Philadelphia; Bourbouze, French - scientist; Sequin, a printer and artist, and others combine - “posed” motion pictures with the magic lantern so that - flickering, brief and imperfect moving images appear on - the screen. Bourbouze uses pictures at the Sorbonne University - to show the actions of pistons, vapor and air - machines. - - 1872 Eadweard Muybridge or Edward James Muggeridge and - others make progress on the road to the photographing of - successive still pictures of objects in motion. - - Lionel Smith Beale, in England, despairs of obtaining - enough light by ordinary methods so he cuts his images - on a thin brass rim and uses a primitive intermittent movement - and shutter in projection. Device was called the - Choreutoscope. - - 1874 Pierre Jules César Janssen, French astronomer, perfects the - photographic-revolver, a fixed-motion picture camera, to - photograph the transit of Venus in Japan. - - 1875 Caspar W. Briggs, successor to the Langenheims in Philadelphia, - brings out a projector. - - 1877 Thomas A. Edison invents the Talking Phonograph. - Wordsworth Donisthorpe, an English lawyer, suggests the - Kinesigraph to combine the effects of the phonograph and - the magic lantern. - - Charles Emile Reynaud develops the Praxinoscope, an - ingenious arrangement of the Plateau-Stampfer magic - disks, using a mirror set in the center. - - 1878 Muybridge and John D. Isaacs, an engineer, achieve - photographic success with a “battery” of still cameras - hooked up to take successive pictures of moving objects. - Etienne Jules Marey, physiologist, in Paris analyzes the - motion pictures made by the Muybridge-Isaacs system by - means of the magic disks. - - 1879 Reynaud works out a projection model of his Praxinoscope. - - 1881 Jean Meissonier, French painter, uses a magic disk device - with photos to analyze motion and assist him in his work. - - 1882 Muybridge, guided by Marey in Paris, mounts his photographs - on a Uchatius magic lantern and actual motion pictures - briefly are thrown on the screen before an audience - with the Zoopraxiscope. - - Reynaud has a projector called the Lamposcope--as all - early projectors, limited to showing the one scene made up - of a set of stills mounted on the edge of a disk. - - 1884 George Eastman begins at Rochester, New York, the - manufacture of roll paper film for use in his Kodak camera. - - 1887 Hannibal Williston Goodwin, an Episcopalian minister, - obtains a patent on Photographic Pellicle which is described - as transparent, sensitive and like celluloid. His - efforts came after becoming interested in photography - through magic lantern entertainments he conducted for - his congregation. His patents ultimately led to the business - of Anthony & Scoville, now known as Ansco. - - Marey, in France, achieves first success with his - chronophotographic or motion picture system using slips of - coated paper film. - - Edison begins experiments aimed at producing an apparatus - which would do for sight what the phonograph had - done for sound--i. e., motion pictures; and a device which - would combine both--i. e., a sound motion picture system. - - 1888 John Carbutt achieves success in his efforts, started several - years before, to treat with photographic chemicals long - strips of celluloid obtained from the Hyatt Company. - - Eastman continues work which lead to successful motion - picture film. - - Louis Aimé Augustin Le Prince patents a multiple lens - camera-projector system which, however, never produced - satisfactory results. - - 1889 Ottomar Anschütz stimulates interest in motion pictures - with his Electrical Tachyscope--a good viewing apparatus - for a series of pictures successively illuminated by a - Geissler tube. This device was the progenitor of modern - stroboscopic photography. - - Edison and Kennedy Laurie Dickson, his assistant for - motion picture research, continue investigations. Film - stock is ordered from Eastman. First successes are claimed. - In Paris, Marey shows Edison a magic disk equipped - with photos and lighted by electric flashes. - - Eastman applies, on December 10, 1889, for a patent on - “the manufacture of flexible photographic films.” The - patent was not issued until 1898 and a long legal battle - ensued with the Goodwin estate until a compromise was - reached. - - 1889 - to Edison investigations aimed at producing a motion picture - 1894 camera and projector continue. - - 1889 Wordsworth Donisthorpe and Croft obtain the first real - motion picture patents in England but never had sufficient - financial backing to perfect the system or even make an - efficient model. - - 1890 John Arthur Roebuck Rudge and William Friese Greene - and Mortimer Evans, in England, construct a simple, limited - motion projector. - - 1891 Edison’s Kinetograph camera and Kinetoscope viewing - apparatus completed and the patent application made. The - patent was not issued for two years. - - 1892 Reynaud runs the Théâtre Optique in Paris, the first film - theatre which uses hand-drawn and not photographed - pictures. - - 1893 Marey develops a motion picture projector which uses - the sun for its light source. - - Greene patents a camera and projector system which is - limited in scope. - - 1894 Edison peep-show Kinetoscopes go on display on April - 14th, at 1155 Broadway, New York, and later that year - on Oxford Street, London, and in Paris. These demonstrations - influence a number of scientists and photographers - who finally solved the problem of screen projection of - continuous motion pictures. - - Anschütz patents an early projection model in France. - - Demeny uses a camera and projector system somewhat - similar to that developed under Marey. - - 1895 Successful projection of motion pictures onto a screen - achieved by Louis and Auguste Lumière with the Cinématographe, - in France; by Robert W. Paul with films made - by Birt Acres in the Bioscope, in England; by Thomas - Armat, C. Francis Jenkins, the Lathams, and others in the - United States. - - 1896 Screen projection of motion pictures becomes a commercial - reality and the magic shadow art starts on the way - to becoming the greatest entertainment medium ever - known. In New York the premiere is held at Koster & - Bial’s Music Hall, Herald Square, New York City, on the - evening of April 23, 1896. - - In addition to those named, the following, among many, - were also working on screen projection in the 1895–96–97 - period of success: Georges Melies, who brought the spirit - of Phantasmagoria to the modern motion picture; Max - Skladanowski, who claimed a projection show at the Wintergarten - in Düsseldorf in the Fall of 1896; Owen A. - Eames, of Boston; Edwin Hill Amet, of Chicago; Henri - Joly, W. C. Hughes, Cecil M. Hopwood, Carpentier, Drumont, - Werner, Gossart, Auguste Baron, Grey, Proszynski, - Bets, Pierre Victor Continsouza, Raoul Grimoin-Sanson; - Perret & Lacroix; Ambrose Francis Parnaland, Sallé & - Mazo; Pipon; Zion, Avias & Hoffman, Brun, Gauthier, - Mendel, Messager, Cheri-Rousseau, Mortier, Wattson, - Maguire & Baucus, Phillip Wolff, F. Brown, F. Howard, - Ottway, Rowe, Dom-Martin, Appleton, Baxter & Wray, - Riley, Prestwich, Newman & Guardia, Rider de Bedts, - Noakes & Norman, Clement & Gilmer, etc., etc. - - Thus the chronology of magic shadows, or the origin of - the motion picture, concludes with a roll of names of men - of many nations, a point illustrative both of the universal - appeal of the motion picture and of the long and diverse - collection of individuals who contributed to the development - of the art-science. - - - - -_Appendix II_ - -BIBLIOGRAPHY - -_and Acknowledgements_ - - -The pursuit of the story of the origin of the motion picture has been -carried on intermittently since the Winter of 1936–37. As historical -books must be, it is based mainly on the written record. Efforts -were made, whenever possible, to go directly to the source material. -The whole field of books on the motion picture, as well as standard -biographical and scientific works, was surveyed. - -Research was conducted principally at the following libraries: Library -of Congress, Georgetown University, Surgeon General’s, in Washington, -D. C., New York Public and Columbia University in New York City. Work -was also done at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, -Hollywood; New York Engineering Societies, the British Museum, London; -Trinity College, Dublin, and Vittorio Emanuele--formerly Collegio -Romano--library, Rome. Part of the original Kircher Museum at Rome, was -inspected in the Summer of 1939. (The early projector models, according -to the evidence now available were destroyed shortly after Kircher’s -death.) The 1939 exhibit of the works of Leonardo da Vinci in Milan was -visited. - -Terry Ramsaye, author of _A Million and One Nights--A History of the -Motion Picture_, and editor of _Motion Picture Herald_, is responsible -for suggesting lines of study which led to the decision to write this -book. Also, he has rendered valuable guidance and assistance especially -in connection with the early American motion picture pioneers, and in -reading the manuscript and contributing the foreword. - -Special thanks are due to members of the faculty of Georgetown -University for making available works in the Riggs Memorial Library -of that institution and giving assistance on special aspects of the -subject. The writer likewise is grateful for having had the opportunity -of consulting books in the splendid Epstein Photographic Collection at -the Columbia University Library, and for biographical notes on Robert -W. Paul secured through the Cambridge Instrument Company. Appreciation -is expressed to Rev. Hunter Guthrie, S.J., dean of the Graduate School, -Georgetown University, and to Dr. Alfred N. Goldsmith, consulting -engineer, for kindness in reading proofs and offering invaluable -suggestions. - - -BIBLIOGRAPHY - -The following is a list of books, arranged according to the chapters -of this story, which may serve to disclose any particular part of -the subject to readers who wish to make a detailed study. In general -articles in the various periodicals give the first, and often most -complete, publication of each development. This list represents only -a limited number of the books and publications consulted, but the -principal titles are included: - - -GENERAL - - TERRY RAMSAYE. _A Million and One Nights._ - - New York, 1926. - - A standard history of the motion picture and a special source - of material on Edison, Muybridge, Armat, Latham and other early - American experimenters. - - JOSEPH ANTOINE FERDINAND PLATEAU. “Bibliographie des principaux - phénomenes subjectifs de la vision depuis les temps ancients - jusqu’à la fin du XVIII siècle,” _Mémoires_. Académie Royale - des Sciences, des Lettres et des Beaux Arts de Belgique. - Brussels, 1877–1878. A most complete, annotated list of works - on vision. - - LYNN THORNDIKE. _History of Magic and Experimental Sciences._ - - New York, 1923–41. - - A monumental reference work of particular interest to scholars. - - HENRY V. HOPWOOD. _Living Pictures_: their history, - photo-reproduction and practical working. London, 1899. - - ROBERT BRUCE FOSTER. _Hopwood’s Living Pictures._ - - London, 1915. - - The original edition of this book and the revised edition both - include a general review of early activity plus a valuable - bibliography of the period from 1825 to 1898. - - G. MICHEL COISSAC. _Histoire du Cinématographe_ de ses origines - jusqu’à nos jours. Paris, 1925. - - The first half of this book is an important historical work, - written from the French point of view. An appendix lists - French cinema patents issued from 1890 to 1900. - - MAJOR GENERAL JAMES WATERHOUSE. “Notes on the early history of the - camera obscura,” _Photographic Journal_, Vol. XXV, No. 9. - - London, May 31, 1901. - - GEORGES POTONNIEE. _Les Origines du Cinématographe._ - - Paris, 1928. - - WILFRED E. L. DAY. _Illustrated Catalogue of the Will Day - Historical Collection of Cinematograph and Moving Picture - Equipment._ - - London. - - SIMON HENRY GAGE AND HENRY PHELPS GAGE. _Optic Projection._ - - Ithaca, N. Y., 1914. - - This book has a good historical bibliography. - - Periodicals which contain important papers include: - - _Philosophical Transactions._ Royal Society of London. London. - - _Journal._ Royal Institution of Great Britain. London. - - _Comptes-rendus._ Académie des Sciences (Institut de France). - Paris. - - _Cosmos_; revue des sciences et de leurs applications. (Also - known as _Les Mondes_). Paris. - - _La Nature._ Paris. - - _Scientific American._ New York. - - _U. S. Patent Office Gazette._ Washington, D. C. - - _Photographic Journal_, including the transactions of the Royal - Photographic Society of Great Britain. London. - - _Photographic Journal of America._ Philadelphia. - - -CHAPTER I - - ARISTOTLE. _Problems._ - _On Dreams._ - - EUCLID. _The Elements of Geometrie_ translated by H. Billingsley. - - London, 1570. - - _La Prospettiva di Euclide._ Florence, 1573. - - LUCRETIUS, _De Rerum Natura._ - - PTOLEMY (CLAUDIUS PTOLEMAEUS). _Ptolemaei Mathematicae._ - - Wittenberg, 1549. - - _Almagest._ Edited by J. Baptiste Ricciolus, S. J. 1651. - - ALHAZEN. _Opticae Thesaurus Alhazeni Arabis._ - - Basel, 1572. - - -CHAPTER II - - ROGER BACON. _Fr. Rogeri Bacon Opera Quaedam Hactenus Inedita._ - - J. S. Brewster. London, 1859. - - _The Opus Majus of Roger Bacon_, edited with an introduction - and analytical table by John Henry Bridges. Oxford, 1897–1900. - - _Letter concerning the marvelous power of art and of nature, - and concerning the nullity of magic._ Translated from the Latin - by Tenney L. Davis. Easton, Pa., 1923. - - _Part of the Opus Tertium_ of Roger Bacon, including a fragment - now printed for the first time, edited by A. G. Little. - Aberdeen, 1912. - - PIERRE MAURICE MARIE DUHEM. _Le Système du monde_, histoire des - doctrines cosmologiques de Platon à Copernic. Paris, 1913–1917. - - WITELO. _Vitellionis Turingopoloni Libri X._ - - Basel, 1572. - - _Vitellionis Mathematici Doctissimi_ Περὶ Ὀπτικῆς. Nuremberg, - 1535. - - -CHAPTER III - - LEONARDO DI SER PIERO DA VINCI. _A Treatise of Painting._ - Translated from the original Latin. Paris, 1651. - - _The Life of Leonardo da Vinci_ done into English from the text - of the second edition of the “Lives” (by Giorgio Vasari) with a - commentary by Herbert P. Horne. London, 1903. - - _The Literary Works of Leonardo da Vinci_, compiled and edited - from the original manuscripts by Jean Paul Rickter. London, - 1880–1883. - - _Essai sur les ouvrages physico-mathématiques de Léonard de - Vinci_, avec des fragmens tirés de ses manuscripts apportés de - l’Italie. Giovanni Battista Venturi. Paris, 1797. - - GUILLAUME LIBRI. _Histoire des sciences mathématiques en - Italie_, depuis la renaissance des lettres jusqu’à la fin du - dix-septième siècle. Paris, 1838–1841. - - GIORGIO VASARI. _Lives of Seventy of the Most Eminent Painters, - Sculptors and Architects._ Edited by E. H. and E. W. Blashfield - and A. A. Hopkins. New York, 1896. - - FRANCESCO MAUROLICO. _Cosmographia._ - - Venice, 1543. - - _Theoremata de Lumine, et Umbra, ad Perspectivam & Radiorum - Incidentiam Facientia._ Leyden, 1613. - - GIROLAMO CARDANO. _De Subtilitate._ - - Nuremberg, 1550. - - _Les Livres de Hierome Cardanus Médecin Milannois._ Richard Le - Blanc. Paris, 1556. - - -CHAPTER IV - - GIOVANNI BATTISTA DELLA PORTA. _Magia Naturalis, sive de Miraculis - Rerum Naturalium._ Naples, 1558. Revised and enlarged edition. - - Naples, 1589. - - _Natural Magic._ London, 1657. (In this English translation the - author’s name is given an English form--John Baptista Porta.) - - DANIELLO BARBARO. _La Pratica della Perspettiva._ - - Venice, 1569. - - GIOVANNI BATTISTA BENEDETTI. _Diversarum Speculationum - Mathematicarum et Physicarum Liber._ Turin, 1585. - - -CHAPTER V - - GEMMA (REINERUS) FRISIUS. _De Radio Astronomico et Geometrico - Liber._ - - Antwerp, 1545. - - ERASMUS REINHOLD. _Theoricae Novae Planetarium._ Edited by Georgius - - Peurbachius. Paris, 1553. - - JOHANNES KEPLER. _Ad Vitellionem Paralipomena._ - - Frankfort, 1604. - - _Dioptrice._ 1611. - - FRANÇOIS D’AGUILON. _Opticarum Libri Sex._ - - Antwerp, 1685. - - -CHAPTER VI - - ATHANASIUS KIRCHER. _Vita admodum reverendi P. Athanasii Kircheri, - Societ. Jesu_, vir toto orbe celebratissimus. 1684. - - The Latin autobiography of Athanasius Kircher, edited by Jerome - Langenmantel (Hieronymus Ambrosius Langenmantelius). - - _Ars Magna Lucis et Umbrae._ Rome, 1646. Second edition. - Amsterdam, 1671. - - Numerous other books by Kircher on many subjects. See - Kircher’s bibliography in _La Bibliothèque des Ecrivains de la - Compagnie de Jésus_, by Augustin and Aloysius de Backer, and - _Bibliothèque de la Compagnie de Jésus_ by Charles Sommervogel. - - GEORGE DE SEPIBUS VALESIUS. _Romani Collegii Societatis Jesu Musæum._ - - _Celeberrimum._ Amsterdam, 1678. - - _Musæum Kircherianum in Romano Soc. Jesu Coliegio._ Rome, 1707. - - -CHAPTER VII - - GASPAR SCHOTT. _Magia Universalis Naturæ et Artis._ - - Würzburg, 1658–1674. - - CLAUDE FRANÇOIS MILLIET DE CHALES. _Cursus seu Mundus - Mathematicus._ Lyons, 1690. - - JOHANN ZAHN. _Oculus Artificialis Teledioptricus sive Telescopium._ - - Nuremberg, 1685. - - _Specula Physico-Mathematico-Historia Notabilium ac Mirabilium - Sciendorum._ Nuremberg, 1696. - - -CHAPTER VIII - - PIETER VAN MUSSCHENBROEK. _Physicæ expérimentales._ - - Leyden, 1729; Venice, 1756. - - _Cours de Physique Expérimentale et Mathématique._ Paris, 1769. - - ABBÉ GUYOT. _Nouvelles Recréations Physiques et Mathématiques._ - - Paris, 1770. - - WILLIAM HOOPER. _Rational Recreations._ - - London, 1774. Second edition, 1782. - - -CHAPTER IX - - ETIENNE GASPARD ROBERT (ROBERTSON). _Mémoires Récréatifs, - Scientifiques et Anecdotiques du Physicien-Aéronaute._ Paris, - 1831–33. - - WILLIAM RITCHIE. “Proposal for Improving the Phantasmagoria,” - _Edinburgh Journal._ 1825. - - -CHAPTER X - - JOHN AYRTON PARIS (Published anonymously) _Philosophy in Sport Made - Science in Earnest._ London, 1827. - - DAVID BREWSTER. _A Treatise on the Kaleidoscope._ - - Edinburgh, 1819. - - _The Stereoscope_: Its History, Theory and the Construction, - with Its Application to the Fine and Useful Arts and to - Education. London, 1856. - - JOSEPH PRIESTLY. _The History and Present State of Discoveries - Relating to Vision, Light and Colours._ London, 1772. - - -CHAPTER XI - - LAMBERT ADOLPHE JACQUES QUETELET, editor. _Correspondance - Mathématique et Physique._ Brussels. - - S. STAMPFER. _Jahrbücher_ Technische Hochschule. Vol. 18, p. 237. - - Vienna, 1834. - - E. S. SNELL. “On the Magic Disks in America,” _American Journal of - Science and Arts._ (Silliman’s Journal). Vol. 27, p. 310. New - Haven, 1835. - - PETER MARK ROGET. _Animal and Vegetable Physiology_, considered - with reference to natural theology. London, 1834. - - _Annales de Chimie et de Physique._ Paris. - - _Bulletin._ L’Académie Royale des Sciences, des Lettres, et des - Beaux Arts. Brussels. - - _Annuaire._ L’Académie Royale des Sciences, des Lettres, et des - Beaux Arts. Brussels, 1885. - - _Annalen der Physik und Chemie._ Edited by Johann Christian - Poggendorff. Leipzig. - - -CHAPTER XII - - FRANZ UCHATIUS. “Apparat zur Darstellung beweglicher Bilder an der - Wand” (Apparatus for the Presentation of Motion Pictures upon - a Wall). _Sitzungsberichte._ K. Akademie der Wissenschaften. - Vienna, 1853. - - KARL SPACIL. “Franz Freiherr von Uchatius,” _Schweizerische - Zeitschrift für Artillerie und Genie._ Vol. XLI, pp. 216–223. - Frauenfeld, 1905. - - -CHAPTER XIII - - MARCUS A. ROOT. _The Camera and the Pencil_; or the Heliographic - Art, its theory and practice. Philadelphia, 1864. - - _Pennsylvania Arts and Sciences._ A quarterly published by the - Pennsylvania Arts and Sciences Society. Vol. 2, p. 25. - Philadelphia, 1937. - - RICHARD BUCKLEY LITCHFIELD. _Tom Wedgwood--The First Photographer._ - London, 1903. - - GEORGES POTONNIEE. _Histoire de la Découverte de la Photographie._ - - Paris, 1925. - - _The History of the Discovery of Photography._ Translated from - the French by Edward Epstean. New York, 1936. - - LOUIS JACQUES MANDE DAGUERRE. _Historique et Description des - Procédés du Daguerréotype et du Diorma._ Paris, 1839. - - CHARLES LOUIS CHEVALIER. _Guide de Photographie._ - - Paris, 1854. - - VICTOR FOUQUE. _The Truth Concerning the Invention of Photography._ - - Nicéphore Niepce; his life, letters and works. Translated by Edward - Epstean. New York: Tennant & Ward, 1935. - - _La Vérité sur l’invention de la Photographie._ Nicéphore Niepce, - sa vie, ses essais, ses travaux, d’après sa correspondance et - autres documents inedita. Paris, 1867. - - HENRY RENNO HEYL. “A Contribution to the History of the Art of - Photographing Living Subjects in Motion and Reproducing the - Natural Movements by the Lantern,” _Journal._ The Franklin - Institute. Vol. CXV, p. 310. Philadelphia, 1898. - - -CHAPTER XIV - - ETIENNE JULES MAREY. _Le Mouvement._ - - Paris, 1894. - - _Movement._ London and New York, 1895. - - _La Méthode Graphique_ dans les sciences expérimentales et - principalement en physiologie et en médecine. Paris, 1885. - - _La Chronophotographie_, appliquée à l’étude des actes musculaires - dans la locomotion. - - _The History of Chronophotography._ (An extract from the - _Smithsonian Report_ for 1901). Washington, 1902. - - EADWEARD MUYBRIDGE. _Journal._ Published by the Franklin Institute. - Philadelphia, 1883. - - J. D. B. STILLMAN. _The Horse in Motion_, as shown by - instantaneous photography. The Muybridge photographs published - under the auspices of Leland Stanford. Boston, 1882. - - GEORGES POTONNIEE. _Louis Ducos du Hauron_, his life and work. - Translated by Edward Epstean from the French edition of 1914. - Reprinted from the _Photo-Engravers Bulletin_. February and - March. New York, 1939. - - -CHAPTER XV - - TERRY RAMSAYE. _A Million and One Nights._ - - New York, 1926. - - ANTONIA AND WILLIAM KENNEDY LAURIE DICKSON. “Edison’s Invention of - the Kineto-phonograph,” reprinted from the _Century Magazine_, - June, 1894, with an introduction by Charles Galloway Clarke. - Los Angeles, 1939. - - DAYTON CLARENCE MILLER. _Anecdotal History of the Science of Sound_ - to the beginning of the 20th Century. New York: Macmillan, 1935. - - -CHAPTER XVI - - MAURICE NOVERRE. _La Vérité sur l’invention de la Projection - Animée._ Emile Reynaud, sa Vie, et ses Travaux. Brest, 1926. - - GEORGES BRUNEL. _Les Projections Mouvementées._ - - Paris, 1897. - - EUGENE TRUTAT. _Traité Général des Projections._ - - Paris, 1897. - - _La Photographie Animée_, avec une préface de J. Marey. Paris, - 1899. - - GEORGES EMILE JOSEPH DEMENY. _Les Origines du Cinématographe._ - - Paris, 1909. - - -CHAPTER XVII - - RAMSAYE. Lib. cit. - - LUCIEN BULL. _La Cinématographie._ - - Paris, 1928. - - - - -_Index_ - - - A - - Acres, Birt, 152, 154, 176. - - After-images, 18, 45. - - Aguilon, François d’, 46, 47, 109, 166. - - Ailly, Pierre d’, 26. - - Alberti, Leone Battista, 30, 31, 38, 41, 65, 165. - - Albertus Magnus, St., 32, 164. - - Alhambra Theatre, 153. - - Alhazen, 13, 21–23, 26, 31, 161, 164. - - Alkindi, 164. - - Almeida, 172. - - American Mutoscope (& Biograph) Company, 141, 158. - - Amet, Edwin Hill, 176. - - Angiers, 172. - - Animatograph, 153. - - Anorthoscope, 94, 96. - - Anschütz, Ottomar, 126, 134, 139, 143, 146, 147, 154–156, 174, 176. - - Appleton, 176. - - Archer, Frederick Scott, 112, 116. - - Archimedes, 13, 18–22, 39, 63, 77, 103, 161, 163. - - Aristotle, 13, 17, 18, 21, 22, 32, 64, 161, 163. - - Armat, Thomas, 11, 154–160, 176. - - Arzonis, Pierro de, 40. - - Averroës, 164. - - Avias & Hoffman, 176. - - Avicenna, 164. - - - B - - Babbage, Charles, 84, 169. - - Bacon, Roger, 23, 24–28, 32–34, 38, 45, 68, 161, 164. - - Banks, Joseph, 84. - - Barbaro, Daniello, 39, 41, 166. - - Barberini, Francesco Cardinal, 10, 51, 57. - - Baron, Auguste, 176. - - Baxter & Wray, 176. - - Bayard, Hippolyte, 170. - - Beale, Lionel Smith, 172, 173. - - Bedts, Rider de, 176. - - Benedetti, Giovanni Battista, 39–41, 166. - - Bets, 176. - - Bial, Albert, 11. _See also_ Koster & Bial’s Music Hall. - - Bio-Phantoscope, 141. - - Biograph, 158. - - Bioscope: - Demeny’s, 145; - Duboscq’s, 109; - Foucauld’s, 172; - Paul’s, 176. - - Bjerknes, 124. - - “Black Art.” _See_ Necromancy. - - Blair Company, 153. - - Bliss School of Electricity, 154. - - Boethius, 164. - - Bouly, Léon, 150. - - Bourbouze, 121, 172. - - Boyle, Robert, 167. - - Brahe, Tycho, 43. - - Brewster, David, 83, 169, 171. - - Briggs, Caspar W., 112, 114, 173. - - Brown, Arthur, 120. - - Brown, F., 176. - - Brown, O. B., 112, 113, 172. - - Brun, 176. - - Burning Glasses, 19–21, 63, 65, 103, 163. - - - C - - Cagliostro, Alessandro conte di, 76. - - Calotype. _See_ Talbot calotype process. - - Camera: _See also_ Camera lucida _and_ Camera obscura; - “battery system” (Muybridge-Isaacs), 120, 122, 126, 127, 173; - motion picture, 116, 117, 125, 126, 129, 133, 136, 141, 150–153, - 155, 157, 158, 174, 175, 176; - portable, 45, 46, 143, 145, 146, 152, 167, 168; - with microscope, 145; - with projector, 142, 143. - - _Camera lucida_, 30, 38, 39, 65, 167, 169. _See also_ Camera. - - _Camera obscura_, 26, 29–31, 33–45, 53, 73, 107, 165, 166, 170. _See - also_ Camera. - - Carbutt, John, 133, 174. - - Cardano, Girolamo, 20, 34, 35, 165. - - Carpentier, Jules, 150, 176. - - Case, Theodore, 160. - - Casler, Herman, 157. - - Cave of Font-de-Faune. _See_ Font-de-Faune, Cave of. - - Cercle de Gymnastique Rationnelle, 125. - - Cesariano, Cesare, 32–34, 165. - - Chales, Claude François Milliet de, 58, 62, 64–66, 68, 69, 167. - - Charles, Jacques Alexandre César, 168. - - Cheri-Rousseau, 176. - - Chevalier, Albert, 159. - - Chicago World’s Fair. _See_ Expositions. - - Chinese Shadow Plays. _See_ Shadow Plays. - - Choreutoscope, 173. - - Choreutoscope Tournant, 172. - - Chronophotographe, 143. - - Chronophotography, 116, 126, 174. - - Cinématographe, 150–151, 175. - - Cinematoscope, 154. _See also_ Kinematoscope. - - Clarke, E. M., 170. - - Claudet, Antoine François Jean, 110, 111, 171. - - Clement & Gilmer, 176. - - Collegio Romano, 9, 10, 46, 51, 59, 60, 63. - - Color Perception, 88. - - Color Photography, 117, 143, 157. - - Color Printing, 117. - - Color Projection. _See_ Projection. - - Continsouza, Pierre Victor, 176. - - Cook and Bonelli, 172. - - Cotton States Exposition. _See_ Expositions. - - Croft, W. C., 139, 175. - - Crookes, 124. - - Cruikshank, George, 81. - - - D - - Daguerre, Louis Jacques Mandé, 106, 109, 141, 170. - - Daguerreotype, 107, 108, 110. - - D’Aguilon, François. _See_ Aguilon, François d’. - - D’Ailly, Pierre. _See_ Ailly, Pierre d’. - - Danti, E., 39. - - Da Vinci, Leonardo. _See_ Vinci, Leonardo da. - - Day, Wilfred, 144. - - Dealers, commercial, 69, 102, 137, 158. - - De Bedts, Rider. _See_ Bedts, Rider de. - - De Chales, Claude François Milliet. _See_ Chales, Claude François Milliet de. - - De Forest, Lee, 160. - - Della Porta, Giovanni Battista. _See_ Porta, Giovanni Battista della. - - Demeny, Georges, 125, 133, 139, 145, 146, 150, 176. - - De Moland, Humbert. _See_ Moland, Humbert de. - - Desvignes, Pierre Hubert, 171. - - De Valesius, George. _See_ Valesius, George de. - - Diaphragm, 39. - - Dickson, Antonia, 137. - - Dickson, William Kennedy Laurie, 133, 134, 136, 137, 157, 158, 174. - - Disks: _See also_ Phénakisticope; - glass, 128; - magic, _see_ Plateau-Stampfer Magic Disks; - mica, 114; - Plateau-Stampfer, _see_ Plateau-Stampfer Magic Disks; - revolving, _see_ Revolving Disks; - zinc shutter, 128. - - Disney, Walt, 14, 153. - - Dom-Martin, 176. - - Donisthorpe, Wordsworth, 130, 131, 139, 140, 146, 148, 152, 173, 175. - - Drumont, 176. - - Dry-plate Photography. _See_ Photography. - - Duboscq, Jules, 109, 110, 170, 171. - - Du Hauron, Louis Ducos, 117, 118, 172. - - Duhousset, Col., 116. - - Dumont, Thomas Hooman, 171. - - Duval, Mathias, 116, 125. - - - E - - Eames, Owen A., 176. - - Eastman, George, 130, 134, 140, 150, 174, 175. - - Edison, Thomas Alva, 12, 61, 102, 126, 128–138, 141, 143, 145, 146, - 148, 149, 154, 157–161, 173–175. - - Edgeworth, Maria, 81. - - Eidoloscope, 157. - - Electrical Tachyscope, 127, 134, 139, 154–156, 174. - - English Mirrors. _See_ Mirrors. - - Euclid, 21, 163. - - Euler, Leonhard, 168. - - Evans, Mortimer, 139, 142, 148, 175. - - Expositions: - Chicago World’s Fair, 127, 136, 154; - Cotton States, 155; - Paris--1889, 128, 134; - Works of All Nations, 108–110. - - - F - - Fantascope, 78, 93, 94, 96, 109, 170. _See also_ Phantoscope _and_ - Phénakisticope. - - Faraday, Michael, 87, 91, 92, 94, 95, 109, 111, 170. - - Film: _See also_ Eastman _and_ Goodwin; - celluloid, 133, 142, 144, 147, 150, 172, 174; - on spools or reels, 133, 148; - painted, 147, 153; - paper, 126, 132, 140, 174; - perforated or notched, 133, 134, 145, 150; - plastic, 134, 142, 150, 153, 157, 174; - unperforated, 145, 158. - - Fitton, William, 84, 169. - - Flammarion, C., 116. - - Fontaine, 129. - - Font-de-Faune, Cave of, 14. - - Forest, Lee de. _See_ De Forest, Lee. - - Foucauld, Léon, 172. - - Franklin, Benjamin, 74, 168. - - Friese-Greene, William. _See_ Greene, William Friese. - - - G - - Galen, 164. - - Galileo, 45. - - Gammon. _See_ Raff & Gammon. - - Gaumont, Léon, 146, 150. - - Gauthier, 176. - - Geber, 164. - - Geissler, Heinrich, 127. - - Geissler tube. _See_ Projection Light Sources. - - Georgiades, George, 138, 151. - - Gilmore, W. E., 158. - - Giovio, Benedetto, 33. - - Glass Slides. _See_ Slides. - - Glasses, Burning. _See_ Burning Glasses. - - Goodwin, Hannibal Williston, 174, 175. - - Gossart, A., 176. - - Govi, 124. - - Gravesande, Willem Jakob van’s. _See_ Van’s Gravesande, Willem Jakob. - - Greene, William Friese, 139, 142–144, 148, 175. - - Grey, 176. - - Grimoin-Sanson, Raoul, 176. - - Guinard, Pierre L., 168. - - Gutenberg, 165. - - Guyot, Jean Gilles, 71, 72, 75. - - - H - - Hammond’s Teleview, 111. - - Harris, Augustus, 153. - - Harris, John, 167. - - Hauron, Louis Ducos du. _See_ Du Hauron, Louis Ducos. - - Hauslab, Field Marshall von, 99, 102. - - Heliocinegraphe, 110. - - Heliostat, 167. - - Heliotypes, 169. - - Helmholtz, Hermann Ludwig Ferdinand von, 124. - - Herschel, John, 84, 169. - - Heyl, Henry Renno, 112–114, 121, 172. - - Holland, Andrew, M., 137. - - Holland Bros., 151. - - Hooke, Robert, 167. - - Hopkins, Alfred, 130. - - Hopwood, Cecil M., 176. - - Horner, William George, 109, 170. - - Howard, F., 176. - - Hoxie, Charles A., 160. - - Hughes, W. C., 176. - - Hunt, Robert, 108. - - Hunter, Rudolph Melville, 156. - - Hyalotype, 108, 171. - - Hyatt Company, 133, 153. - - Hyatt, John Wesley, 172. - - Hydrocarbon Lamp. _See_ Projection Light Sources. - - - I - - Illusion of Motion. _See_ Motion, Illusion of. - - Illusions, Optical, 63, 73. - - Intermittent Movement. _See_ Movement, Intermittent. - - Isaacs, John D., 118, 120, 173. - - - J - - Jacob, Willem, 144. - - Janssen, Pierre Jules César, 116, 125, 173. - - Janssen, Zachary, 45. - - Japanese Mirrors. _See_ Mirrors. - - “Jazz Singer, The,” 160. - - Jenkins, C. (Charles) Francis, 155, 156, 176. - - Jennings, W. N., 143. - - “J. M.”, 87, 169. - - Joly, Henri, 176. - - - K - - Kaleidophone, 169. - - Kaleidoscope, 53, 83, 169. - - Kaster, Captain, 84. - - Keith’s Theatre, 151. - - Kepler, Johannes, 43–46, 166. - - Kesler, John Stephan, 60. - - Kinematoscope, 112, 114, 172. _See also_ Cinematoscope. - - Kineograph, 172. - - Kineopticon, 154. - - Kinesigraph, 131, 139, 173. - - Kinetic Lantern, 154. - - Kinetograph, 130, 133, 135–138, 149, 175. - - Kinetophonograph, 137, 138. - - Kinetoscope, 130, 133, 137, 151, 155, 156, 158, 159, 175. - - Kinetoscope Exhibition Company, 156. - - Kinetoscope Parlor, 137. - - Kingston-on-Thames Museum, 128. - - Kircher, Athanasius, 9–12, 20, 46, 48–80, 85, 101, 102, 104, - 161, 166, 171. - - KMCD Syndicate, 157. - - Koopman, E. B., 157. - - Koster & Bial’s Music Hall, 11, 158, 159, 176. - - Kunckelius, J., 68. - - - L - - Laing, James, 172. - - Lambda Company, 157. - - Lamposcope, 124, 174. - - Langenheim Brothers, 106–112, 114, 161, 171, 173. - - Langenheim, Frederic, 106–108, 112, 171. _See also_ Langenheim Brothers. - - Langenheim, William, 106, 107, 112, 171. _See also_ Langenheim Brothers. - - Langenmantel, Jerome, 59, 67. - - Langley, Samuel P., 145. - - Langlois, 172. - - Lanterns. _See_ Kinetic Lantern, Magic Lantern, Megalographica - Lantern, _and_ Thaumaturga Lantern. - - Latham, Grey, 156, 176. - - Latham, Otway, 156, 176. - - Latham, Woodville, 156–158, 176. - - Lauste, Eugène, 157. - - Lee, 172. - - Lenses, 39, 54, 63, 65–67, 69, 70, 75, 100, 101, 108, 112, 141, 144, - 155, 166–167. - - Le Prince, Louis Aimé Augustin, 139, 141, 174. - - Levison, Wallace Goold, 143. - - Libri, Guillaume, 34. - - Liesegang, Paul E., 147. - - Linnett, 172. - - Lucretius, 96, 97, 163. - - Lumière, Auguste, 150, 175. - - Lumière Bros., 149, 150, 175. - - Lumière, Louis, 149, 150, 158, 175. - - - M - - Maddox, R. L., 116. - - Madou, 92. - - Magascope, 168. - - Magic Disks. _See_ Plateau-Stampfer Magic Disks. - - Magic Lantern: 9, 11, 48–69, 84, 98, 107, 108, 136, 147, 150, - 166, 171, 173; - Motion effects: _See_ Chapters VIII _and_ IX. - - Magnifying glass, 15, 163. - - Maguire & Baucus, 176. - - Maltese Cross Gear System, 153, 155, 172. - - Marey, Etienne Jules, 115, 116, 118, 119, 121–129, 133, 134, 137, 139, - 143–145, 147, 148, 150, 151, 161, 173–175. - - Mariro, Bruono, 33. - - Marischelle, H., 146. - - Marvin, Henry Norton, 157. - - Mason, Joe, 141. - - Maurolico (Maurolycus), Francesco, 32, 33, 165. - - Maxwell, James Clerk, 173. - - Megalographica Lantern, 67. - - Meissonier, Jean Louis Ernest, 123, 128, 174. - - Melies, Georges, 176. - - Mendel, 176. - - Messager, 176. - - Microscope, 15, 25, 32, 67, 168, 172. - - Mirrors: 39, 40, 53, 104, 108, 164; - English, 16, 17, 163; - Japanese, 16, 163. - - Mohr, Nicholas, 63. - - Moigno, Abbé François Napoléon Marie, 96, 110, 170. - - Moissant, Charles, 150. - - Moland, Humbert de, 172. - - Molteni, A., 172. - - Molyneux, William, 62, 68, 69, 167. - - Mortier, 176. - - Motion Color Photography, 143. - - Motion, Illusion of, 14, 18, 21, 26, 45, 73, 89–97, 100–114. - - Motion Photography, 116–125, 128, 132, 143, 146, 147. - - Motion Projection: _See_ Projection. - - Motorscope, 172. - - Movement, Intermittent, 113, 116, 150, 153, 155, 172, 173. _See also_ - Marey _and_ Muybridge. - - Müller, Johann, 170. - - Muggeridge, Edward James: _See_ Muybridge, Eadweard. - - Multiple Lenses: _See_ Lenses. - - Musschenbroek, Pieter van, 70–74, 76, 77, 161, 168. - - Mutograph, 157, 158. - - Mutoscope, 157, 158. - - Muybridge, Eadweard, 118–128, 137, 142, 147, 161, 173, 174. - - - N - - Natural Camera: _See_ Camera Obscura. - - Necromancy, 9, 10, 28, 56, 75, 76, 114, 164. _See also_ Phantasmagoria. - - Newman & Guardia, 176. - - Newnes, George, 140. - - Newsreel, first, 151. - - Niceron, Jean Pierre, 166. - - Nicholas of Cusa, 165. - - Niepce, Joseph Nicéphore, 169, 170. - - Noakes & Norman, 176. - - Nollet, Abbé, 71, 73, 74, 168. - - - O - - Olympia Theatre, 153. - - Optical Illusions: _See_ Illusions, Optical. - - Ott, Fred, 136, 137. - - Ottway, 176. - - - P - - Pantograph, 46. - - Pantoptikon, 157. - - Panuce: _See_ Papnutio, Benedettano Don. - - Papnutio, Benedettano Don, 33, 34, 165. - - Paris, John Ayrton, 80–84, 161, 169. - - Parnaland, Ambrose Francis, 176. - - Parkes, Alexander, 172. - - Pathé, Charles, 153. - - Paul, Robert William, 151–154, 158, 176. - - Peacock, Thomas Love, 81. - - Peckham, John, 33, 165. - - Peep-show machine, Edison’s, 96, 134, 138, 139, 149, 154, 155. - - Perret & Lacroix, 176. - - Persistence of vision, 18, 21, 22, 38, 80, 82, 83, 85–87, 94, 97, - 163, 164, 169. - - Phantasmagoria, 75–79, 114, 152, 168. _See also_ Necromancy. - - Phantoscope, 78, 155. _See also_ Fantascope. - - Phasmatrope, 113, 114. - - Phénakisticope, 92–94, 96, 97, 109, 170. _See also_ Fantascope. - - Phonetic Kaleidoscope, 169. - - Phonograph, 130–132, 140, 146, 154, 159, 173, 174. - - Photo-gun, 116, 122, 125, 145, 173. - - Photobioscope, 172. - - Photograph projection, 105–114, 121, 134, 142. - - Photographic Pellicle, 174. - - Photography: - color, _see_ Color Photography; - dry plate, 116; - motion, _see_ Motion Photography; - motion color, _see_ Motion Color Photography; - wet plate, 112, 120. - - Photophone, 146. - - Photoscope, 146. - - Physiological Park, Marey’s, 125. - - Pipon, 176. - - Plateau, Joseph Antoine Ferdinand, 85–97, 102, 104, 109, 115, 122, - 130, 161, 170. - - Plateau-Stampfer Magic Disks, 93–96, 98–100, 108–110, 113, 116, 121, - 123, 126, 128, 137, 142, 170, 171, 173. - - Pliny, 32, 163. - - Porta, Giovanni Battista della, 36–45, 47, 48, 148, 161, 166. - - Praxinoscope, 124, 147, 174. - - Prestwich, 176. - - Prince, Louis Aimé Augustin Le: _See_ Le Prince, Louis Aimé Augustin. - - Projection: - color, 66, 69, 96, 101, 153, 159; - motion, 68, 70–75, 89, 92, 98, 102, 109, 112, 117, 121, 127, 128, - 130, 136, 139, 140, 149, 152, 171–176; - photograph, _see_ Photograph Projection; - slide, _see_ Slide Projection; - film, _see_ Film; - light sources, _see_ Projection Light Sources; - rear, 148; - screen, 10, 11, 40, 92, 98, 104, 121, 123, 132, 134, 147, 148, - 154–159, 176; - three-dimensional, 65, 109–111. - - Projection Lenses: _See_ Lenses. - - Projection Light Sources: - candle, 54; - electric arc, 144; - gas lamp, 108, 169; - Geissler tube, 127, 128, 147, 174; - hydrocarbon lamp, 99; - oxyhydrogen light, 101, 146, 171; - sun, 55, 144, 167, 175; - table lamp, 67, 73, 124. - - Projection of Motion: _See_ Projection. - - Projectors: 15, 104, 129, 139, 149, 163–176; - Acres, 154; - Anschütz, 146, 147; - Armat-Edison, 158–160; - Armat-Jenkins, 155, 158; - Chales, de, 65; - Demeny, 146; - Edison, 135–137; _see also_ Vitascope; - Gaumont, 146; - Greene, 143; - Greene-Rudge, 142, 175; - Heyl, 113; _see also_ Phasmatrope; - Jenkins; _see_ Armat-Jenkins; - Kircher, 53–55, 59; _see also_ Magic Lantern; - Latham, 157; - Le Prince, 141; - Lumière, 150, 151; - Marey, 144, 145; - Muybridge, 128; _see also_ Zoopraxiscope; - Paul, 152, 153; - Reynaud, 123, 147, 148; _see also_ Praxinoscope; - Rudge, 141, 142; - Schott, 63; - Uchatius, 100–102; - Zahn, 67. - - Prokesch, W., 102. - - Proszynski, 176. - - Ptolemy, 21, 22, 26, 164. - - - Q - - Quetelet, Lambert Adolphe Jacques, 86, 89, 92. - - Quinetoscope, 112, 171. - - - R - - Raff & Gammon, 137, 158, 159. - - Radio City Music Hall, 66. - - Rear Projection: _See_ Projection. - - Reinhold, Erasmus, 165. - - Reville, 172. - - Revolving disks, 59, 67, 70, 89, 92, 93, 96, 100, 116, 121. - - Reynaud, Emile, 79, 123, 139, 147, 173–175. - - Riley, 176. - - Ritchie, William, 169. - - Robert, Etienne Gaspard: _See_ Robertson, Etienne Gaspard. - - Robertson, Etienne Gaspard, 77–79, 168. - - Roger, Peter Mark, 86, 87, 94, 95, 169. - - Roman College: _See_ Collegio Romano. - - Rotating lenses: _See_ Lenses. - - Rowe, 176. - - Rudge, John Arthur Roebuck, 139, 141–143, 148, 175. - - - S - - Sallé & Mazo, 176. - - Salle au Grand-Café, 151. - - Sanson, Raoul Grimoin: _See_ Grimoin-Sanson, Raoul. - - Scheele, Carl William, 168. - - Scheiner, Christopher, 45, 46, 166. - - Schemer, 67. - - Schott, Gaspar, 62–64, 66, 67, 69, 166. - - Schultze, Johann Heinrich, 167, 168. - - Screen Projection: _See_ Projection. - - Seely, 172. - - Sellers, Coleman, 111, 112, 114, 172. - - Seneca, 163. - - Sequin, 171, 173. - - Seraphin, François, 76, 168. - - Shadow Plays, 13, 16, 76, 77, 148, 163, 168. - - Shaw, William Thomas, 171. - - Showmanship, 15, 16, 36–42, 58, 67, 68, 72, 73, 76–79, 123, 168. - - Shutters, 96, 111, 113, 116, 121, 124, 135. - - Silver, 163. - - Silver chloride, 168. - - Silver nitrate, 164, 168, 169. - - Sinsteden, Dr., 96, 97. - - Skladanowski, Max, 176. - - Slide Projection, 48–79, 85–114. - - Slides: - painted, 68, 69, 100, 104, 110, 124; - photographic: _See_ Photograph projection. - - Snell, Ebenezer Strong, 106, 170. - - Snell, Willebrord, 166. - - Soleil, François, 110, 170. - - Sound Motion Pictures, 131, 132, 134–138, 159, 160. - - Sources of Light: _See_ Projection Light Sources. - - Spaĉil, Karl, 104. - - Stampfer, Simon Ritter von, 85, 93–95, 170. _See also_ Plateau-Stampfer - magic disks. - - Stanford, Leland, 118–122. - - Stereofantascope, 109, 172. - - Stereopticon, 136. - - Stereoscope, 67, 109, 111, 170–172. - - Stereoscope Cosmorama Exhibit, 111. - - Stereostrope, 172. - - Stillman, J. D. B, 119, 120. - - Story, A. T., 143. - - Stroboscope, 88, 93, 94, 170. - - - T - - Tachyscope: _See_ Electrical Tachyscope. - - Talbot calotype process, 107. - - Talbot, William Henry Fox, 106, 107, 133, 142, 170. - - Talking Pictures: _See_ Sound Motion Pictures. - - Tanera, A. D., 147. - - Telescope, 15, 25, 26, 41, 45, 53, 63, 65, 67. - - Teleview, Hammond’s: _See_ Hammond’s Teleview. - - Television, 156. - - Thaumatrope, 80, 89, 94, 142, 157, 169, 172. - - Thaumaturga Lantern, 67. - - Théâtre Optique, 147, 157, 175. - - Théâtre Robert Houdin, 79. - - Theatrograph, 153. - - Thirion, Catherine, 85. - - Thompson, Silvanus, 153. - - Thuringopolonus: _See_ Witelo. - - Tissandier, Gaston, 121, 124. - - Trajedis, George, 138, 151. - - - U - - Uchatius bronze, 98, 103. - - Uchatius, Franz von, 68, 98–105, 108, 112, 117, 121, 142, 152, 161, - 171, 172, 174. - - - V - - Valesius, George de, 60. - - Van Musschenbroek, Pieter: _See_ Musschenbroek, Pieter van. - - Van’s Gravesande, Willem Jakob, 167. - - Varley, John, 143. - - Vassel, Eugene, 122. - - Vinci, Leonardo da, 29, 31, 32, 34, 35, 38, 43, 44, 69, 161, 165. - - Vision, Persistence of: _See_ Persistence of Vision. - - Vitascope, 11, 158–160. - - Von Hauslab, Field Marshall: _See_ Hauslab, Field Marshall von. - - Von Helmholtz, Hermann Ludwig Ferdinand: _See_ Helmholtz, Hermann - Ludwig Ferdinand von. - - Von Stampfer, Simon Ritter: _See_ Stampfer, Simon Ritter von. - - - W - - Walgenstein, Thomas, 58, 66, 69, 150, 167. - - Warner, Albert, 160. - - Warner Bros., 160 - - Warner, Harry, 160. - - Warner, Jack, 160. - - Warner, Sam, 160. - - Wattson, 176. - - Wedgwood, Tom, 168. - - Wells, H. G., 152. - - Werner, 138, 149, 176. - - Wet-plate photography: _See_ Photography. - - Wheatstone, Charles, 109, 110, 169–171. - - Wheel of Life, 108, 116, 122, 129, 173. _See also_ Plateau-Stampfer - Magic Disks. - - Wheel phenomenon, 86, 87, 91, 92, 169. - - Whirling Top, 70, 74. - - Winter Garden Theatre, 160. - - Witelo (Thuringopolonus), 43, 164. - - Wolff, Phillip, 176. - - Wollaston, William Hyde, 84, 169. - - Wotton, Henry, 166. - - - Y - - Yarwell, John, 69. - - - Z - - Zahn, Johann, 62, 66–69, 101, 167. - - Zion, 176. - - Zoetrope, 113, 126, 137, 172. - - Zoopraxinographoscope, 124. - - Zoopraxiscope, 124, 174. - - Zoopraxographical Hall, 127. - - - - -Transcriber’s Notes - - -Punctuation, hyphenation, and spelling were made consistent when a -predominant preference was found in the original book; otherwise they -were not changed. - -Accent marks on non-English words were not checked systematically for -errors. - -Simple typographical errors were corrected; unbalanced quotation -marks were remedied when the change was obvious, and otherwise left -unbalanced. - -Illustrations in this eBook have been positioned between paragraphs -and outside quotations. 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