Brochure, posters, pamphlets, and DVD of Merican Magic-Lantern Theater, circa 2000

The materials show the distribution and use of Beale’s illustrations as magic-lantern media. A variety of glass-slides and related materials that would have been manufactured and distributed by companies such as C.W. Briggs are included in the collection, such as: A slip-slide; a light sample, or an image’s initial printing on the glass before it was cut, painted, sealed, and housed; economy slide; slide label; a magic-lantern slide catalogue; scrip t for magic-lantern performance; and a film reel.

This collection includes e xamples of Beale’s illustration reused and reprinted between 1930 and 1970 on China, posters, periodicals, advertisements, and stamps.

Terry and Deborah Borton’s final book, of which the manuscript is within Box 5, “Before the Movies: American Magic-Lantern Entertainment and the Nation’s First Great Screen Artist, Joseph Boggs Beale” was donated by authors (accession 44241). For further information, please see the library catalog.