During mid-2019, an exceptional Anglo-Boer War (1899 – 1902) collection of artefacts went up on auction at a Johannesburg based auction house. Photographic images in this collection fetched high prices. However, images that high-end bidders did not pursue with the same vigour were magic lantern slides in the collection. Why would this be?
Anglo-Boer War – Posed images of Boer soldiers are less common compared to those of British soldiers.
Often ignored by collectors and researchers, or even misidentified in historical photograph collections, magic lantern slides have been described as having a less than authentic reputation? Is this a justified view?
In this article, the author briefly reflects on the history of the lantern slide as well as South African themed magic lantern slides. From the outset it needs to be stated that more research is required on the many facets of the South African lantern era.
Brief History of the magic lantern
Magic lanterns were in use long before the first photographic image, the daguerreotype, was produced during 1839.
The magic lantern was first described during 1659 by the Dutchman Christian Huygens. In a diagram attached to his notes, he showed the arrangement of a concave mirror behind the light source, a biconvex condensing lens, the slide, and a biconvex objective lens which became the...
