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C&C - Magic Lantern (c.1900)

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Christiaan Huygens, who was born in 1629 at  la Hague, was a mathematician genius and a great astronomer. His famous pendulum introduced me to the delights of wave mechanics. It is to this scientist that we owe numerous major discoveries like : the theory of the undulation of light, the rings of Saturn,... and the Magic Lantern.

This invention made use of his discovery the fact that it was possible to project light. Some people, totally stunned to see naive drawings projected on a white sheet, saw something magic in this phenomenon... which gave it its name.

Identifying a magic lantern is very difficult because there are many different types. The one I have seems to be a lantern “Universelle C&C” made in Paris in early 1900.

This type of lantern used 80 x 80 plates fixed on a wooden frame. The dimensions of this lantern indicate a powerful projector used for large audience. The source of light was here a triple lamp using mineral oil.

Unfortunately, the condenser lens has disappeared as well as the focusing lens (thread Ø 58mm). If by chance, you have these items, I’m interested !...

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