A Million Pictures
A Million Pictures: Magic Lantern Slide Heritage as Artefacts in the Common European History of Learning
The magic lantern was the most important visual entertainment and means of instruction across nineteenth-century Europe. However, despite its pervasiveness across multiple scientific, educational and popular contexts, magic lantern slides remain under-researched. Although many libraries and museums across Europe hold tens of thousands of lantern slides in their collections, a lack of standards for documentation and preservation limits the impact of existing initiatives, hinders the recognition of the object’s heritage value and potential exploitation.
This project aimed to address the sustainable preservation of this massive, untapped heritage resource. A Million Pictures was a collaborative research project between researchers from Utrecht University (NL), University of Exeter (UK), University of Antwerp (BE), University of Girona (ES), and the University of Salamanca (ES).
The Society was one of twenty Associated Partners, drawing on its extensive lantern slides collection.