He saw limitations in the increase of size and diminished clarity over a long distance and expressed his hope that someone would find a method to improve on this. The 1645 first edition of German Jesuit scholar Athanasius Kircher's book Ars Magna Lucis et Umbrae included a description of his invention, the "Steganographic Mirror": a primitive projection system with a focusing lens and text or pictures painted on a concave mirror reflecting sunlight, mostly intended for long-distance communication. Illustration of Kircher's Steganographic mirror in his 1645 book Ars Magna Lucis et Umbrae Dutch inventor Cornelis Drebbel is thought to have sold one to Dutch poet, composer and diplomat Constantijn Huygens in 1622, while the oldest known clear description of a box-type camera is in German Jesuit scientist Gaspar Schott's 1657 book Magia universalis naturæ et artis. The portable camera obscura box with a lens was developed in the 17th century. The use of a lens in the hole has been traced back to circa 1550. It was known at least since the 5th century BC and experimented with in darkened rooms at least since circa 1000 AD. This is a natural phenomenon that occurs when an image of a scene at the other side of a screen (for instance a wall) is projected through a small hole in that screen as an inverted image (left to right and upside down) on a surface opposite to the opening. The magic lantern can be seen as a further development of camera obscura. The magic lantern would prove a perfect successor. The telescope and microscope were invented (in 1608 and the 1620s respectively) and apart from being useful to some scientists, such instruments were especially popular as entertaining curiosities to people who could afford them. In the 17th century, there was an immense interest in optics. Giovanni Fontana, Leonardo da Vinci and Cornelis Drebbel described or drew image projectors that had similarities to the magic lantern. Several types of projection systems existed before the invention of the magic lantern. The invention of the intensely bright electric arc lamp in the 1860s eliminated the need for combustible gases or hazardous chemicals, and eventually the incandescent electric lamp further improved safety and convenience, although not brightness. The invention of limelight in the 1820s made them even brighter. The invention of the Argand lamp in the 1790s helped to make the images brighter. Light sources Īpart from sunlight, the only light sources available at the time of invention in the 17th century were candles and oil lamps, which were very inefficient and produced very dim projected images. The first photographic lantern slides, called hyalotypes, were invented by the German-born brothers Ernst Wilhelm (William) and Friedrich (Frederick) Langenheim in 1848 in Philadelphia and patented in 1850. Many manufactured slides were produced on strips of glass with several pictures on them and rimmed with a strip of glued paper. Īfter 1820 the manufacturing of hand colored printed slides started, often making use of decalcomania transfers. Most handmade slides were mounted in wood frames with a round or square opening for the picture. Many slides were finished with a layer of transparent lacquer, but in a later period cover glasses were also used to protect the painted layer. Usually black paint was used as a background to block superfluous light, so the figures could be projected without distracting borders or frames. Sometimes the painting was done on oiled paper. Initially, figures were rendered with black paint but soon transparent colors were also used. Originally the pictures were hand painted on glass slides. Stereopticons added more powerful light sources to optimize the projection of photographic slides. Some lanterns, including those of Christiaan Huygens and Jan van Musschenbroek, used 3 lenses for the objective.īiunial lanterns, with two objectives, became common during the 19th century and enabled a smooth and easy change of pictures. The lens adjusted to focus the plane of the slide at the distance of the projection screen, which could be simply a white wall, and it therefore formed an enlarged image of the slide on the screen. The magic lantern used a concave mirror behind a light source to direct the light through a small rectangular sheet of glass-a "lantern slide" that bore the image-and onward into a lens at the front of the apparatus. The depicted lantern is one of the oldest known preserved examples, and is in the collection of Museum Boerhaave, Leiden A page of Willem 's Gravesande's 1720 book Physices Elementa Mathematica with Jan van Musschenbroek's magic lantern projecting a monster.
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