http://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/c84t6gsd No online items Guide to the Homer and Betty Peabody Magic Lantern Collection Finding Aid Authors: Amanda Lanthorne. © Copyright 2011 Special Collections & University Archives. All rights reserved. 2011-12-09 5500 Campanile Dr. MC 8050 San Diego, CA, 92182-8050 URL: http://library.sdsu.edu/scua Email: [email protected] Phone: 619-594-6791 Guide to the Homer and Betty MS-0480 1 Peabody Magic Lantern Collection Guide to the Homer and Betty Peabody Magic Lantern Collection 1800/2006 Special Collections & University Archives Overview of the Collection Collection Title: Homer and Betty Peabody Magic Lantern Collection Dates: 1800-2006 Bulk Dates: 1880-1920 Identification: MS-0480 Creator: Peabody Magic Lantern Collection, 1800-2006 Physical Description: 89.20 linear ft Language of Materials: EnglishFrenchGerman Repository: Special Collections & University Archives 5500 Campanile Dr. MC 8050 San Diego, CA, 92182-8050 URL: http://library.sdsu.edu/scua Email: [email protected] Phone: 619-594-6791 Biographical Information: The magic lantern has a long and varied history as a scientific and optical instrument. In 1658, a Dutch scientist named Christiaan Huygens developed the magic lantern. This new instrument required an illuminant, a chimney, and a special lens system, and could project images from glass slides onto walls and other surfaces. Although initially used for education and religious instruction by Jesuits and wealthy academics, the magic lantern was used for entertainment purposes first by Thomas Walgenstein, a mathematician, who began using the lantern to conjure ghosts in the 1660s for wealthy and royal audiences. These supernatural performances led to the creation of the Phantasmagoria, a lantern show featuring ghosts, skeletons, devils and other gothic figures. In the late eighteenth century, magic lanterns moved from the private to public sphere. Traveling lanternists held entertaining shows in public taverns and barns. Despite this move towards public entertainment, the Enlightenment's emphasis on science and education greatly elevated the magic lantern as a scientific and educational tool. Gradually, entertainment, advertising, and propaganda became major contenders with religion, education, and science as primary lantern uses. The lantern's ability to adapt to so many different types of usage made it standard optical equipment in homes, churches, public spaces, and academic institutions during the Victorian Era. By the 1880's, less cumbersome lightweight lanterns, coupled with standardized slide sizes, further strengthened the magic lantern's growing popularity. From mass-produced toy lanterns, to an increased presence in schools, institutions, lectures and churches, the magic lantern was a ubiquitous and highly useful instrument in most educational and entertainment domains. Even at the dawn of the moving picture in the early twentieth century, the magic lantern still managed to maintain its place as a visual aid. Many movie theaters continued to use the lantern to make management announcements, show advertisements, or entertain the crowd before the start of the movie. But the lantern's time in the limelight waned by the middle of the twentieth century. The modern slide projector had fully superseded the magic lantern's role as a visual aid, and moving film technology no longer required the magic lantern as a backup. Dr. Homer Peabody was a prominent San Diego doctor who specialized in pulmonary diseases. He and his wife, Betty, began collecting magic lanterns as well as other optical instruments during the 1970s. The Peabodys were active members in the Magic Lantern Society of the United States and Canada, as well as the Magic Lantern Society of Great Britain, and often entertained friends and family with magic lantern shows at their home. They acquired the majority of their collection through auctions and antique dealers. Access Terms This collection is indexed under the following controlled access subject terms. Corporate Name: Magic Lantern Society of Great Britain Magic Lantern Society of the United States and Canada Guide to the Homer and Betty MS-0480 2 Peabody Magic Lantern Collection Topical Term: Lantern slides -- History Optics--History--19th century Projectors -- History Accruals: 2010, 2011 Conditions Governing Use: The copyright interests in some of these materials have been transferred to or belong to San Diego State University. Copyright resides with the creators of materials contained in the collection or their heirs. The nature of historical archival and manuscript collections is such that copyright status may be difficult or even impossible to determine. Requests for permission to publish must be submitted to the Head of Special Collections, San Diego State University, Library and Information Access. When granted, permission is given on behalf of Special Collections as the owner of the physical item and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder(s), which must also be obtained in order to publish. Materials from our collections are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study. The user must assume full responsibility for any use of the materials, including but not limited to, infringement of copyright and publication rights of reproduced materials. Conditions Governing Access: This collection is open for research. Preferred Citation: Identification of item, folder title, box number, Homer and Betty Peabody Magic Lantern Collection, Special Collections and University Archives, Library and Information Access, San Diego State University. Related Materials: John and Jane Adams Photograph Collection John and Jane Adams Trade Card Collection John and Jane Adams Postcard Collection Information about related materials is available at http://library.sdsu.edu/exhibits/2009/07/lanterns/index.shtml Arrangement of Materials: I. Lanterns, c. 1850-1920 1. Domestic, c. 1880-1920 2. Professional, c. 1870-1915 3. Toy, c. 1850-1910 4. Spare Parts II. Glass Slides, c. 1800-1992 1. Advertising, c. 1890-1930 2. Art, c. 1880-1920 3. Caricatures and Comics, c. 1800-1920 4. Elementary Education, c. 1900-1940 5. Fraternal Organizations, c. 1880-1920 6. Geography and Travel, c. 1880-1940 7. History, c. 1880-1992 8. Individual and Group Photographs, c. 1890-1920 9. Medical, c. 1890-1960 10. Moving Pictures, c. 1910-1930 11. Narratives, c. 1860-1910 12. Religious, c. 1890-1920 13. Salutations, c. 1890-1910 14. Science, c. 1880-1930 15. Song Slides, c. 1900-1920 16. Temperance, c. 1880-1920 Guide to the Homer and Betty MS-0480 3 Peabody Magic Lantern Collection 17. Slide Storage, c. 1890-1930 III. Personal Papers, 1880-2006 1. Collecting Interests and Activities, 1900-2002 2. Magic Lantern Society of Great Britain, 1979-2006 3. Magic Lantern Society of the United States and Canada, 1985-2006 4. Slide Readings and Lectures, 1880-1920 Scope and Contents The Homer and Betty Peabody Magic Lantern Collection (1800-2006) contains forty-two magic lanterns, approximately five thousand glass slides, as well as material related to the Peabody's membership in the Magic Lantern societies of the United States, Canada, and Great Britain, and their collecting activities and interests. The collection documents the development of lantern technology and glass slides as well as its diverse usage. The majority of the collection dates from 1880 to 1920 and is divided into three series: Lanterns, Glass Slides, and Personal Papers. Series I, Lanterns, documents the various types of lanterns, including domestic, toy, and professional lanterns, and their development over time. This series dates from 1850 to 1920 though the majority of lanterns date between 1900 and 1910. Several lanterns include their original boxes as well as their original oil lamps or paraffin burners. This series is divided into four sub-series: Domestic, Professional, Toy, and Spare Parts. The Domestic Lanterns (1880-1920) make up the smallest lantern sub-series and includes two opaque projectors as well as a French Lampascope. Highlights include a Buckeye Stereopticon Mirrorscope dating from 1910. The Professional Lanterns document changes in illuminant and lens system technology, and include a wide-range of lantern types, including biunials, electric lanterns, industrial lanterns, oil illuminant lanterns, and lanterns with paraffin burners. These lanterns date from 1870 to 1915. Highlights include L.J. Marcy’s revolutionary Sciopticon as well as a vertical McIntosh Biunial. This sub-series contains fifteen professional lanterns as well as a camera obscura and lecturer’s lamp, and is arranged alphabetically by manufacturer. The Toy sub-series (1850-1910) contains twenty-four toy lanterns and documents the various types of toy lanterns. The majority of these lanterns are from Nuremberg-based manufacturers and are arranged alphabetically by manufacturer. Of particular interest is a conical lantern dating from 1850, an Ernst Plank lantern with its original box, slides, tickets, and posters; and several Johann Faulk cinematographs. Lastly, the Spare Parts sub-series includes empty original lantern cases, spare light bulbs, oil lamps, lenses and chimneys. Series II, Glass Slides, dates from the early eighteenth century to the mid-twentieth century and documents the various types of slides, changes in lantern slide production and style, as well as the myriad slide themes and uses. The majority of slides are British or American standard sizes, with many photographic and chromolithographic