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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.

Show & Tell

UNION CASES, BUT WITH CHARACTERS????? I NEED HELP? Germas leaving their homes, bombed out by russians Photo and baseball cards of Philadelphia Athletics $100,000 infield Mell Kilpatrick and the Invention of the Dashboard Camera Cabinet Card by Frank Wendt Sideshow Performer with Snake Tintype Studio Tintype (The Painted Backdrop)

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Upcoming Events

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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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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]



Clubs & Associations: Photographs

Other Great Reference Sites: Photographs

Top eBay Auctions

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