Description
The Homer and Betty Peabody Magic Lantern Collection (1800-2006) contains forty-two magic lanterns, approximately five thousand glass slides, as well as material related to the
Peabody's membership in the Magic Lantern societies of the United States, Canada, and Great Britain, and their collecting
activities and interests. The collection documents the development of lantern technology and glass slides as well as its
diverse usage. The majority of the collection dates from 1880 to 1920 and is divided into three series: Lanterns, Glass Slides, and Personal Papers.
Background
The magic lantern has a long and varied history as a scientific and optical instrument. In 1658, a Dutch scientist named
Christiaan Huygens developed the magic lantern. This new instrument required an illuminant, a chimney, and a special lens
system, and could project images from glass slides onto walls and other surfaces.
Restrictions
The copyright interests in some of these materials have been transferred to or belong to San Diego State University. Copyright
resides with the creators of materials contained in the collection or their heirs. The nature of historical archival and manuscript
collections is such that copyright status may be difficult or even impossible to determine. Requests for permission to publish
must be submitted to the Head of Special Collections, San Diego State University, Library and Information Access. When granted,
permission is given on behalf of Special Collections as the owner of the physical item and is not intended to include or imply
permission of the copyright holder(s), which must also be obtained in order to publish. Materials from our collections are
made available for use in research, teaching, and private study. The user must assume full responsibility for any use of the
materials, including but not limited to, infringement of copyright and publication rights of reproduced materials.
Availability
This collection is open for research.