Phantasmagoria



Etienne Robertson of Belgium invented this technique in 1779 and achieved a great success with ghosts flying around the audience.


There are similarities in the major idea between Phantasmagoria and Utsushi-e.

They both use rear projections to hide the technique from the audience.


Use of plural lanterns and the movement of lanterns themselves allow the movement of images.

Robertson performed in an old abbey in Paris to make the show even more realistic.


Device for telecommunication



in a situation where telegraph could not be used or was not reliable, the best and the fastest way of communication was to prepare a piece of microfilm and dispatch it using a pigeon. The microfilm, as soon as it arrives, would be magnified and read using a magic lantern.


Pigeon cages and large magic lanterns were indispensable for military headquarters and news agencies..


Also, since glass slides were easily and quickly produced - even by hand writing or hand painting - and can be shown to a big audience, magic lantern was a useful technology for business and propaganda.

Magnifying and reading a microfilm brought by a pigeon using a magic lantern during Paris Commune.(1871)

Microfilm was first used for this purpose in 1870.

Magic lantern glass slides used at a temple, hand written on glass plates with Japanese ink.

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War slide manufactured by Toraku (III

or IV), Asakusa, Tokyo