Magic Lanterns and Lantern Slides - Collector Information

About Magic Lanterns and Lantern Slides

Magic lanterns, produced from the 17th up through the early 20th centuries, were the forerunners of slide projectors, used for visual entertainment in theaters and elsewhere. Magic lanterns and the slides created for them are highly collectible today, and there's a wide variety of formats and subjects to choose from.

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Interviews & Articles

An Interview With 19th Century Photograph and Americana Collector Wes Cowan

I’ve always been interested in antiques. As a kid, I collected a variety of stuff – fossils, rocks, minerals, natural history stuf… [more]

An Interview With Antique Wood Camera Collector Rob Niederman

How did I start collecting cameras? Actually, I had an interest in photography as a kid and owned a darkroom by the age of 12 or 1… [more]

An Interview With Vintage Bolex Movie Camera Collector Michael Tisdale

Collecting Paillard-Bolex cameras was something I started doing by accident. It was a combination of several interests I had, incl… [more]

An Interview with Daile Kaplan of Swann Auction Galleries on Collecting 20th Century Photographs

Swann, which is New York City’s oldest specialty auction house, was founded in the late 1940s as an antiquarian book house. In the… [more]

An Interview With Antique Photograph and Camera Collectors Jack and Beverly Wilgus

We both come from families that had collections and we both had collections as children. Jack lost his when his grandmother threw … [more]

An Interview With Metropolitan Museum Curator Jeff Rosenheim On The Postcard Collection Of Walker Evans

In 1994, I had the great pleasure of acquiring the complete archive of Walker Evans for the Metropolitan Museum. The archive is qu… [more]

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Best of the Web (“Hall of Fame”)

The Magic Lantern Society

This website is a great guide to the mysteries of the Magic Lantern, forerunner of today's slide projector (well, o… [read review or visit site]

Magic-Lantern.eu

Magic-Lantern.eu's extensive photo galleries feature a wide range of items, such as magic lanterns, slides of vario… [read review or visit site]

de Luikerwaal

This comprehensive Dutch site provides detailed information about the history of magic lanterns, the controversy su… [read review or visit site]

The Daguerreian Society

Explore the history, art, and science of antique daguerreotypes. Includes extensive galleries browsable by subject … [read review or visit site]

Antique and 19th Century Cameras

Rob Niederman’s homage to (and collection of) late 19th century wood cameras. This site contains extensive galler… [read review or visit site]

George Eastman House

This showcase of vintage cameras and photography is plainly designed, but the camera collection and related referen… [read review or visit site]

Art of the Photogravure

Photographer Mark Katzman's comprehensive and beautiful reference site and collection of Photogravure. A must for p… [read review or visit site]

Collection of Collections

Jack and Beverly Wilgus' personal collection website, of which the most interesting areas are: strongmen and strong… [read review or visit site]

Collection D'Appareils Photo

While we couldn't read everthing - it's mostly in French - the images on this site speak for themselves. Its an ext… [read review or visit site]

Magic Mirror of Life

Jack and Beverly Wilgus have put together a great trove of information and images of camera obscura-related photos … [read review or visit site]

Square America

If you like vernacular photographs of everyday 20th century life, you'll love Square America, a collection of onlin… [read review or visit site]

Photography in Malaysia

With in-depth information on a variety of cameras and lenses from manufacturers like Canon, Nikon, Olympus, and Lei… [read review or visit site]

Wisconsin Historical Images

The Wisconsin Historical Society has really outdone themselves with these excellent galleries focused on the 1880s-… [read review or visit site]

Cameras and Co

An impressive collection of antique and vintage cameras, this site features high-resolution images of over 120 came… [read review or visit site]

Cliff House Project

Gary Stark’s encyclopedic website is dedicated to photos and historical information on San Francisco’s legendar… [read review or visit site]

Antique Cameras D. Tristram Ludwig

David Tristram Ludwig shares high resolution images of his in-depth personal collection of antique cameras, includi… [read review or visit site]

Time Tales

An amazing compilation of found photographs divided up by era (pre-1930, 1930-1950, 1950-1970, 1970-1990, and 1990-… [read review or visit site]

Clothing & Fashion	vintage womens clothing • vintage mens clothing • vintage hats • collectible shoes • antique & vintage accessories • vintage sewing
Jewelry & Watches	antique fine jewelry • vintage costume jewelry • vintage wristwatches • antique pocket watches • vintage pens
Pottery & Glass	art glass • art pottery • glassware • china & dinnerware • antique bottles • antique insulators
Home & Furniture	antique furniture • antique lamps • antique clocks • vintage kitchenware • antique sterling silver • antique chairs
Art & Photos	folk art • vintage posters • antique photographs • antique cameras
Music & Movies	vintage guitars • vinyl records • antique radios • movie memorabilia • music memorabilia
Toys & Games	antique dolls • vintage model cars • model trains • vintage board games
Sports	vintage fishing • baseball memorabilia • football memorabilia • hockey memorabilia
Coins & Stamps	us stamps • collectible us coins • us paper money
Paper & Books	vintage posters • vintage postcards • antique books • vintage comics • vintage cards
Ads & Signs	vintage advertising • vintage signs • breweriana • tobacciana • petroliana • coca-cola collectibles • railroadiana
Autos & Transport	classic ford cars • classic chevy cars • vintage motorcycles • antique tractors
Eras & Decades	victorian antiques • arts & crafts antiques • art nouveau antiques • art deco antiques • mid-century modern design • 1970s • 1960s • 1950s • 1940s • 1930s • 1920s • 1910s • 1900s • 1890s • 1880s • 1870s • 1860s • pre-1860s

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