Chapter VI: Introduction (3)

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.

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.

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.