Magic lantern - Robinson Crusoe part 1.

Robinson Crusoe
part 1

Only a few other books are published in so many versions of magic lantern slides as Daniel Defoe's famous novel Robinson Crusoe (1719).

September 30, 1659. I poor miserable Robinson Crusoe, being shipwreck'd, during a dreadful Storm, in the offing, came on Shore on this dismal unfortunate Island, which I call'd the Island of Despair, all the rest of the Ship's Company being drown'd, and my self almost dead. All the rest of that Day I spent in afflicting my self at the dismal Circumstances I was brought to, viz. I had neither Food, House, Clothes, Weapon, or Place to fly to, and in Despair of any Relief, saw nothing but Death before me, either that I should be devour'd by wild Beasts, murther'd by Savages, or starv'd to Death for Want of Food. At the Approach of Night, I slept in a Tree for fear of wild Creatures, but slept soundly tho' it rain'd all Night. (slide: origin unknown.)

This is possibly one of the oldest sets of magic lantern slides that was used to tell the story of Robinson Crusoe. It is a set of twelve oblong hand painted glass slides, three of that shown here. Painted in clear, primary colours on a black background, diverse scenes are depicted that could suit to the Robinson-story, like the shipwreck, flashes of lightning, a man climbing on board of the wreck and taking some goods with him on a raft, the discovery of the footprint in the sand and the arrival at home. Scenes like the finding of the footprint and the use of the raft were immediately recognizable as belonging to Robinson Crusoe in the 19th century.

A slightly different version of the old set above.

			French chromolithographed transfer slide for the lampascope and similar domestic lanterns, probably made by Lapierre, c. 1890s. The story is told by means of manuscript-style captions, the first one with the title 'Histoire du Robinson' (The story of Robinson) and the beginning line 'Robinson fait son adieux a son père' (Robinson says good-bye to his father).


A charming set of four hand painted magic lantern slides. Each picture has hand written title above e.g. "Crusoe starts for a new journey", "Crusoe on his voige" (voyage). Wonderfully naive. Approx 3.5" x 13" (9 x 33 cm). Some areas of colour have flaked off some of the pictures and the black masking is worn. The first slide above is a digital reproduction.




	Eight magic lantern slide out of an unknown how large series of slides made by the company of William Edward and Frederic Newton, Newton & Co. in their so-called 'Cheap Series'. Their products had a reputation for quality and the range of slides they produced was vast.

Two sets of each 12 black and white magic lantern slides, Wedea, Dutch.
		The slides were found in a cardboard box labelled 'City-serie' and 'Amsterdam Holland'. All slides are provided with a shield shaped Wedea-trade mark and a number 1 - 24. Like in many other versions Robinson is accompanied here by his dog. The first set is framed by black adhesive tape around the edges which is probably done by an early user. The second set is probably originally and not framed. Complete with a double-sided printed reading.

Two marvellous long magic lantern slides depicting the story of Robinson Crusoe.
	Set of colourful magic lantern slides. Above the first slide, showing Rob's departure, and the last one, showing his save return at home. Sizes 3.25" square.
The set above was has also been produced as two oblong magic lantern slides depicting the story of Robinson Crusoe and his servant Friday in the same eight images. Each slide measures about 7.25" x 2" and is made with two pieces of glass held together with red paper tape. One piece carries the images, the other glass is clear and protects the images from damage. The slides are probably made by Ernst Plank, Nuremberg, Germany.

Three hand painted magic lantern slides fitted in a mahogany frame.

These slides are part of a set of probably eight slides and are numbered 2, 3, and 5. Overall size is 7 x 4 1/2". (18 x 11cm). Glass is 3 1/4" ( 8.2 cm) in diameter.
Nice set of twelve square magic lantern slides made by the American C.W. Briggs Co, c. 1880s. Pictures in a sketchy style. The pictures are set up in thin contour lines and after that painted by hand. Striking is the absence of Friday.

Thanks to Marieke de Natris, author of 'Kèkt nâh!', a thesis for her Master's degree, a research into the use of the magic lantern in the Netherlands in the context of visual mass media (Dutch, 2002), in which she paid much attention to the 'Robinson-slides'. She sent me a lot of usable illustrations.