Magic Lantern Art (Paperback)

Terry Borton

ISBN 10: 0861967593 / ISBN 13: 9780861967599

Published by John Libbey & Co, 2026

About this Item

Paperback. Magic Lantern Art celebrates the life and artistry of cinema pioneer, Joseph Boggs Beale (18411926). Beale was America's premier artist creating images for magic lantern shows the projected performances that gave birth to the movies. His 2,000 lantern illustrations were made into story-telling slides that were seen and admired by millions a year. Almost single-handedly he created American screen entertainment for the generation before the movies, pioneering narrative techniques that later appeared on the nation's cinema screens.Magic Lantern Art is based on both the author's extensive Beale archive, now held by the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art in Los Angeles, and on his 25-year career performing more than 1,000 professional lantern shows using Beale's slides. Written in an engaging and accessible style and featuring over 500 color pictures, the book is a must-read for anyone interested in cinema history or American art. Reassessing photography and cinema, this study uncovers how visual media evolved to reveal hidden realms. Intertwining optical theory, cosmology, and racial narratives rooted in slave trade and Enlightenment debates, it exposes how our traditions of seeing were shaped by both scientific inquiry and racial ideology. Shipping may be from our UK warehouse or from our Australian or US warehouses, depending on stock availability.

Seller Inventory # 9780861967599

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Magic Lantern Art (Paperback)
• Publisher: John Libbey & Co
• Publication Date: 2026
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0861967593
• ISBN 13: 9780861967599
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: new

About this title

Synopsis

Magic Lantern Art celebrates the life and artistry of cinema pioneer, Joseph Boggs Beale (1841–1926). Beale was America's premier artist creating images for magic lantern shows – the projected performances that gave birth to the movies. His 2,000+ lantern illustrations were made into story-telling slides that were seen and admired by millions a year. Almost single-handedly he created American screen entertainment for the generation before the movies, pioneering narrative techniques that later appeared on the nation's cinema screens.

Magic Lantern Art is based on both the author's extensive Beale archive, now held by the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art in Los Angeles, and on his 25-year career performing more than 1,000 professional lantern shows using Beale's slides. Written in an engaging and accessible style and featuring over 500 color pictures, the book is a must-read for anyone interested in cinema history or American art.

About the Author

Terry Borton has a doctorate in education from Harvard, and has published two books in the education field. In 2014, along with his wife Deborah, he published Before the Movies, detailing the attribution, provenance, and dates of Beale's paintings – the foundation for this current book. National Public Radio has called his touring magic lantern shows "a living national treasure".