The Winterthur Library

 The Joseph Downs Collection of Manuscripts and Printed Ephemera

 

 

OVERVIEW OF THE COLLECTION

 

                                               

Title:               Lantern slides

Dates:             [ca.1880-ca.1900]

Call No.:         Col. 229

Acc. No.:         83x34

Quantity:        232 slides in 5 boxes

Location:        40 A 3

 

 

 

SCOPE AND CONTENT

 

Consists of 232 hand-painted and lithographic lantern slides from the late 19th century.  The images were done as realistic views, story illustrations, or humorous scenes.  The artists captured scenes from Dickens' "A Christmas Carol," "The Curfew Must Not Ring Tonight," episodes in the life of fire fighters, "Our Life-Boat Men," Biblical stories, and a western adventure.  Also featured are views of the Orient, Europe (especially Ireland and Switzerland), and the United States.  Some of the slides are labeled with a brief description of the illustration.  Scenes from stories are numbered in the sequence in which they are to be shown.

 

Most of the slides are in the British format, 3 ¼ inches square.  Five slides are in the standard American format, 3 ¼ x 4 inches.  Other slides are 2 x 7 ½ inches, sealed with green or red tape.  Slides of this size with these tape colors were made for children’s lanterns.  Some of these slides have printed black outlines and are colored by hand; sometimes these were sold as kits to be finished at home.  One slide (acc. 84x34.74) is known to have been manufactured by W. Butcher and Sons, which sold their slides under the trade name Primus.   The slides with the initials E.P. were made by Ernst Plank of Nuremberg, Germany.

           

 

ORGANIZATION

           

The slides have been divided by subject or story.

 

 

PROVENANCE

           

Purchased from Goodspeed's Book Shop.

 

 

ACCESS POINTS

 

People:

            Dickens, Charles, 1812-1870.  A Christmas Carol – Illustrations.

            Whittington, Richard, d. 1423.

 

Topics:

            Illustration of books.

            Fire fighters - Pictorial works.

            Christmas stories.

            Landscape - Pictorial works.

            Wit and humor, Pictorial.

            Bible – Illustrations.

            African Americans – Pictorial works.

            Indians of North America – Pictorial works.

            Temperance – Pictorial works.

            Lifeboat crew members.

            Orient - Pictorial works.

            Europe - Pictorial works.

            United States - Pictorial works.

            Lantern slides.

           

 

 

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE COLLECTION

 

Location: 40 A 3

 

Box 1:

 

Views of Ireland (most titles are captions on the slides):

 

.1         1 - Giant’s Causeway, general view

 

.2         2 - Meeting of the Waters, Killarney

 

.3         3 – no caption, railroad tracks beside a river, with hills and trees in background

 

.4         4 – In the Dargle, Co. Wicklow

 

.5         5 – Blarney Castle

 

.6         6 – The Upper Lake, Killarney

 

.7         7 – Church of St. Vincent from Mardike(?) Walk

 

.8         8 – Muckross Abbey, Killarney

 

.9         9 – The Quay, Cork

 

.10       10 - Powerscourt Waterfall

 

.11       11 - Garron Tower

 

.12       12 – The Rope Bridge, Carrick-a-Rede

 

 

European Views:

 

.13       1 – two men beside a lake, snow-covered mountain in  background

 

.14       2 – Swiss(?) village in mountains, with waterfall

 

.15       3 – large buildings beside a lake, mountains (one snow-covered) in background

 

.16       5 – steamboat on lake, railroad tracks along cliff (with tunnel through mountain), mountains in background (see also 83x34.221, scene number 5)

 

.17       6 – castle on a hill, mountains in background, setting sun

 

.18       8 – railroad(?) bridge across a river, mountains in background

 

.19       9 – two hikers with mountains in background

 

.20       10 – train at railroad station in the mountains

 

.21       11 – Swiss(?) village in mountains

 

.22       12 – castle on a moonlit lake, with sailboat and mountains (the Chateau Chillon in Swizterland)

 

.23       22 – village with castle and church on the hill above

 

.24       30 – interior of a building, with rows of benches facing each other

 

 

American views:

 

.25       5 – Niagara Falls by moonlight

 

 

Asian views:

 

.26       7 – probably China, people on bridge, others in a boat, mountain in background, sunset

 

.27       9 – Great Wall of China (image is badly crackled)

 

.28       12 – Chinese people in foreground, sailboat on small lake, mountain in background

 

.29       [no number] – people with horses and camels in foreground, sailboats, mountains in background

 

 

“Japan and Its People” (from Primus Junior Lecturers series B), parts of chapters 1 and 2:

 

.30       2 – Fujiyama; boats in foreground

 

.31       3 – arched bridge with people on it

 

.32       4 – people at a shrine or temple

 

.33       6 – building on a lake

 

.34       7 – entrance to a temple compound

 

.35       9 – pottery shop

 

.36       10 – people and rickshaws in front of a building

 

.37       11 – woman in a rickshaw and another one walking through a field of flowers

 

.38       12 – woman in a hammock being carried by tow men, other people in street, trees in bloom

 

.39       13 – people working in a rice paddy

 

.40       14 – women in a Japanese house

 

.41       15 – three women, possibly peasants

 

 

A Western story:

 

.42       1 – two men and a woman outside a tent, covered wagon in background

 

.43       2 – same men and woman with a boy, near campfire next to the tent

 

.44       3 – girl and boy outside a tent

 

.45       8 – girl and boy next to fire, outside tent, with wagon in background,

 

.46       9 – man in top hat looking at boy lying in tent

 

.47       10 – man in top hat speaking to boy in tent

 

.48       12 – girl talking to man in top hat outside tent, in which boy is lying

 

 

 

Box 2:

 

Firefighting:

 

.49       1 – two men (one in uniform, the other not) inside firehouse, with two fire engines

 

.50       2 – group of fire fighters with long extended ladder on a cart

 

.51       3 – horses pulling fire engine, with firemen on board

 

.52       4 – firemen and fire engine on way to a fire

 

.53       5 – horses pulling firemen and fire engine, on way to a fire

 

.54       6 – firemen fighting fire (slide is cracked)

 

.55       7(?) – firemen trying to control horses while fire rages in background

 

.56       8(?) – man carrying woman out of a burning building while firemen fight fire

 

.57       9 – fireman carrying three children to their mother

 

.58       10 – fireman climbing ladder, with fire burning all around

 

.59       11 – fireman carrying two children climbing down ladder

 

.60       12 – firemen outside fire station receiving commendation from an official delegation

 

 

Lifeboat Men story(?):

 

.61       1 – three men outside cottage

 

.62       2 – four men outside cottage

 

.63       3 – two men (one may be a doctor) visiting a third man lying in bed

 

.64       4 – one man sitting beside man lying in bed

 

.65       5(?) – girl talking to man on beach

 

.66       6 – same girl talking to same man, still on beach

 

.67       7 – another man has joined the girl and man on the beach

 

.68       8 – man standing inside cottage, looking out opened door

 

.69       9 – group of men and women on the beach looking out to sea

 

.70-.71             10 – girl on beach with three men (two copies)

 

.72       11 - girl, woman, and three men on beach, all looking a girl

 

.73       12 – girl and man on beach

 

 

“Our Life-boat Men” (from Primus set that included 8 slides):

 

.74       1 – man wearing life preserver, with caption “Our Life-Boat Men”

 

 

Rain Prank story:

 

.75       1 – two boys next to a wall, with a rain barrel and watering can nearby

 

.76       2 – two boys on other side of wall, putting up a sign that reads “Rain”

 

.77       3 – two boys waiting for their first  victim

 

.78       4 – woman with umbrella reads the sign on the wall

 

.79       5 – woman takes money out of purse

 

.80       6 – woman putting money on rain sign

 

.81       7 - woman puts up umbrella and waits for rain

 

.82       8 – boys use hose to pour water on woman’s umbrella

 

.83       9 – boys dump bucket of water on woman’s umbrella

 

.84       10 – boys laugh about their trick

 

.85       11 – woman comes through door in wall to chastise the boys

 

.86       12 – woman hits on of the boys with her umbrella

 

 

Barroom/Family story:

 

.87       1 – four men in a barroom or tavern

 

.88       3 – same four men, one now on the floor, with a woman behind the bar

 

.89       4 – one of the men walking home, looking at a windmill

 

.90       5 – man arrives home, where mother and three children (one a baby) await him

 

.91       6 – man at a crossroads, with signs pointing to Rye and London

 

.92       7 – man still at crossroads, pondering

 

.93       8 – man still at crossroads, but now standing

 

.94       9 – man kneeling at crossroads, praying

 

.95       10 – man returns home to wife and children

 

.96       11 – man reconciles with wife and children

 

.97       12 – man talks to two older children, wife in background

 

 

Box 3:

 

Unidentified story about a homeless boy:

 

.98       1 – boy with a box sits on a snow-covered street in a large city at night

 

.99       2 – another boy comes to speak to the first boy

 

.100     3 – both boys inside a modest home, next to a fire

 

.101     4 – one boy lies on floor next to fire, while bearded man comes in the door

 

.102     5 – boy in a barn, sitting on a little straw

 

.103     6 – two boys standing next to a fence

 

.104     7 – boy carries a bag for a woman (slide cracked)

 

.105     8 – boy with broom peeks around fence (slide cracked)

 

.106     9 – two boys lie in beds in an institution, with nurse speaking to one of them

 

.107     12 – one boy lying in bed, probably in a home, not the institution

 

 

John Smith story (some slides have captions on the tape; Theobald & Co. printed a story entitled “How Cissie Save Her Father, which probably was meant to be read with these slides):

 

.108     2 -  girl pulling on father’s coat while he’s standing at a bar

 

.109     4 – “John Smith’s elated and argumentative” – man talking to wife (slide damaged)

 

.110     5 – “The Glittering Spell of the Golden Dragon” – three men sitting in a saloon or tavern

 

.111     6 – “Mrs. Smith and Cissie losing hope” – mother and daughter in their cottage

 

.112     7 – “Young Jack Tries His Luck” – boy selling newspapers

 

.113     8 – “Attracted by the [torn]” – Jack approaches a building

 

.114     9 – Jack and other people, probably in a church, a man comforts Jack

 

.115     10 – girl (Cissie?) fallen in street, about to be run over by a horse

 

.116     11 – “John Smith hears his daughter praying” – a scene in their cottage

 

.117     12 – happy family group in the cottage

 

 

“Dick Whittington and His Cat”:

 

.118     1 – Dick walking down road, with his belonging tied up in a bandana attached to a stick, wagon in background

 

.119     2 – Dick lying on the doorstep of a house, with a man looking at him, and a woman at the door with a ladle in her hand

 

.120     3 – woman berating Dick while they are in the kitchen

 

.121     4 – Dick buying cat from a woman

 

.122     5 – cat catching the rats running over Dick’s bed

 

.123     6 – Dick showing his cat to two men

 

 

story with knights:

 

.124     7 – dwarf and another man talking to young knight, acrobats and a band in background

 

.125     10 – two young men, one with a helmet on, flee from a castle, with bearded man looking out the gate

 

 

story with angels:

 

.126     2 – family group: mother, four young children, young man

 

.127     3 – three angels talk to a young man, cross in background

 

.128     12 – two angels talk to two young men, other angels in the sky

 

 

story with soldiers:

 

.129     5 – French Foreign Legion firing cannon at army in background, women with the Legionnaires

 

.130     8 – two men, possibly in uniforms, enjoying a drink together in a castle tower or prison cell

 

 

story about sailor coming home:

 

.131     2 – woman holding baby looks out window

 

.132     3 – same woman looking at boat on fire

 

.133     4 – baby in bassinet, woman kneeling on floor next to it and praying

 

.134     5 – woman trudging through snow to village at night

 

.135     6 – woman ringing church bell

 

.136     9 – ragged sailor sitting on floor next to baby in bassinet

 

.137     10 – priest or sexton finds exhausted woman next to rope for bell

 

.138     11 – priest or sexton in cottage with woman and ragged sailor

 

 

“Curfew Must Not Ring Tonight” (copy of poem is appended to this finding aid):

 

.139     1 – title slide, “Curfew Must Not Ring Tonight,” with picture of heroine

 

.140     2 – heroine walking with man carrying a lantern

 

.141     6 – man with lantern walking through graveyard

 

.142     7 – heroine climbing a ladder (slide cracked)

 

.143     8 – heroine running towards bell

 

.144     9 – heroine hanging onto clapper of bell

 

.145     12 – heroine reunited with her young man

 

 

“The Tiger and the Tub” (from Primus company):

 

.146     1 – tiger running towards very large barrel, with two men sitting next to it

 

.147     3 – tiger chasing men around barrel

 

.148     4 – men on one side of barrel peering over the top to tiger on other side

 

.149     11 – tiger inside barrel, which is rolling away from the men

 

.150     12 – one of men shooting at tiger which is charging out of barrel, tiger cubs are playing in smaller barrels

 

 

Box 4:

 

Miscellaneous unidentified story slides:

 

.151     5 – woman talking to a woman dressed in white, probably a bride, in a bedroom

 

.152     14 – little boy in sailor’s uniform (even if not intended as a portrait of the Prince of Wales, this slide is based on a portrait done by Winterhalter in 1846 of the boy who became Edward VII of England)

 

.153     3 – men building a log cabin, which appears to be partly underground

 

.154     7 – Indians and their teepees, with a portrait of a chief

 

.155     8 – one cat wearing an apron and sweeping the kitchen floor, while another cat sits in a chair in the background and reads a newspaper

 

 

“A Christmas Carol,” by Charles Dickens

 

.156     1 – Scrooge at his desk, with Bob Cratchit at his in the background

 

.157     3 – Scrooge next to fire, with Jacob Marley talking to him

 

.158     4 – Scrooge in bed, when Ghost of Christmas Past appears

 

.159     6 – Scrooge watching Mr. and Mrs. Fezziwig and other dancing couples at a Christmas party in his young manhood

 

.160     10 – Scrooge with Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come at his own grave

 

 

Christmas scenes:

 

.161     1 – people standing outside a snow-covered house at night

 

.162     2 – Father Christmas or Santa Claus with a bag slung over one shoulder

 

.163     3 – Santa in a sleigh filled with toys pulled by reindeer

 

.164     4 – Santa and reindeer approaching a house (on ground, not in the air)

 

.165     5 – Santa with toys about to go down a chimney, an owl looks on

 

.166     6 – Santa inside the house, meeting with the father

 

.167     7 – Santa and toys

 

.168     8 – Santa filling stockings

 

.169     9 – three children finding their stockings filled with toys

 

.170     10 - Santa on roof top standing next to chimney

 

.171     11 – Santa standing next to fireplace