List of lantern slide collections

This list of lantern slide collections provides an overview of collections held in institutions internationally. The magic lantern was a very popular medium, particularly so from the 18th to the early 20th Century. There are many collections which remain uncatalogued. As a result, this list is likely to continue to expand as more information is made available.

Terminology

The terms "lantern slides" and "magic lantern" are used here as umbrella terms for describing objects related to the historical art of projection. Various terms can be found across history, disciplines, intended audiences or for descriptions of specific formats of slides and types of lanterns. In English, historical terms for "lantern slides" are "transparencies", "photographic transparencies", "slides" and "magic lantern slides". Alternative terms for magic lanterns include "optical lantern", "sciopticon", "stereopticon", "projection apparatus", "toy lantern" and more. The Lucerna Magic Lantern Web Resource and the Magic Lantern and Lantern Slide Catalog Collection on Media History Digital Library offer sources that display the range of terminology used. This list welcomes all references, independent of the term that the respective collection uses to describe its material.

About the collections

The majority of the collections included form part of museum, archive, and library collections which are made available to researchers either by appointment or through digital platforms. Magic, or optical, lantern slides vary in date, subject, format and use, and the collections listed reflect that variation. The collections are arranged by country, specifying collection name and description where known. Collections owned by private individuals are not listed.

Australia

Institution	Department	Location	Collection
Museum Victoria		Melbourne	Various Collections. Around 4,000 slides, ranging from narrative slides to astronomical, industrial, portraits, advertisements and more.
National Film and Sound Archive		Canberra	Documents and Artefacts Collection. 10,000 glass slides including cinema slides, song slides and theatre advertisements.
University of Melbourne		Melbourne	School of Ecosystem and Forest Science lantern glass slide collection. 950 chiefly black & white photographic lantern slides, 8x8cm, compiled to provide knowledge about trees and forests in Victoria as well as about their environmental location.

Belgium

Institution	Department	Location	Collection
Museum of Modern Art, Antwerp	Robert Vrielynck Collection	Antwerp	Lanterns and lantern slides are part of the Vrielynck Collection. The collection contains many optical apparatuses. Some items are digitized and documented on M HKA's website.

Canada

Institution	Department	Location	Collection
Digitized Okanagan History		Kelowna, BC	395 digitized lantern glass slides available online, from the collection of the Historic O'Keefe Ranch
Toronto International Film Festival	The Film Reference Library	Toronto, Ontario	Lantern Slide Collection. The collection consists of 91 narrative slides.

Denmark

Institution	Department	Location	Collection
Danmarks Tekniske Universitet	DTU Historie en Samlingsdatabase	Lyngby	Lantern Slide Collection from different fields of engineering. The digital collection has over 1,000 slides online.

France

Institution	Department	Location	Collection
Cinémathèque Française		Paris	Laterna magica. The dedicated portal for searching the Cinémathèque's collection of around 17,000, 18th to early 20th century, lantern slides.

Italy

Institution	Department	Location	Collection
National Museum of Cinema		Turin	Over 8,000 standard and movement slides from two major collections, some of which have been digitised. Maria Adriana Prolo Collection John and William Barnes Collection.
Museum of Precinema		Padua	Minici Zotti Collection. Mostly hand painted, illustrated with engravings transferred onto glass or hand-coloured photographic slides. The collection also includes dissolving view slides, chromatropes and other movement slides.

Spain

Institution	Department	Location	Collection
Cinema Museum (Girona)	Tomàs Mallol Collection	Girona	Lanterns and lantern slides are part of the collection Tomàs Mallol. The collection contains many optical apparatuses. All items are digitized and documented on the museum's website as well as in the Lucerna magic lantern web resource.

South Africa

Institution	Department	Location	Collection	-
Rhodes University		Makhanda	The Lidbetter Photographic collection consists of 167 glass negatives that are 17 x 22 cm in size, 10 that are 12 x 16 cm, and 9 that are 8 x 10.5 cm. In addition there are 80 plus non-glass negatives of various sizes, all dated from 1925 onwards.
Rhodes University		Makhanda	Sir George Cory Lantern Slide Collection.	-

United Kingdom

Institution	Department	Location	Collection
Franses Tapestry Archive		London	A collection of lantern slides depicting historic UK interiors including tapestries, embroideries and lace. Around 600 slides.
Science Museum Group		London, Bradford	A wide selection of lantern slides from the 18th and 19th century, including dissolving views, slipping slides, narrative sets and large format slides made for the Royal Polytechnic Institution in London.
University of Bristol	The Theatre Collection	Bristol	Magic Lantern Slide Collection. Several sets of lantern slides from the late 19th Century, some of which have been digitised.
University of Exeter	Bill Douglas Cinema Museum	Exeter	Bill Douglas and Peter Jewell Collection. Around 1,000 lantern slides.
University of Brighton	Screen Archive South East	Brighton	Screen Archive South East. Several thousands of slides mostly from the 19th century. Some are digitised and accessible via the collection's web page.
University of Glasgow	Glasgow University Library, Special Collections Department	Glasgow	Ashton Photographic Collection. Over three thousand slides brought together by amateur photographer John Cooper Ashton depicting 19th century European scenery, antiquities and natural history.
University of Manchester	John Rylands Library	Manchester	Brethren Lantern Slides Collection. 100 lantern slides depicting Christian missionary activity around the world, all of which have been digitised and are available to view online.
University of Sheffield	The University Library, Special Collections Department	Sheffield	Beet Lantern Slide Collection. Around 2,500 lantern slides on a wide range of subjects. It includes photographic slides depicting Sheffield and home-made glass slides.
The Folklore Society	University College London's Special Collections	London	A collection of lantern slides illustrating various folk tales from around the world by the artist and photographer Henry Underhill. Over 300 slides.

United States

Institution	Department	Location	Collection
Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences	Margaret Herrick Library	Los Angeles, California	Thanhouser Studio Collection. 17 Lantern slides from Thanhouser Film Corporation.
Columbia University	Department of Art History and Archaeology	New York City, New York	Approximately 70,000 slides created for the purposes of teaching art history, documenting art, archaeology, architecture, and design. Slides are currently being digitized. Names associated with the collection include Meyer Schapiro, Rudolph Wittkower, Margarete Bieber, Paul Wingert, William Bell Dinsmoor, and Richard Brilliant.
Library of Congress	Prints and Photograph Division	Washington, D.C.	Frances Benjamin Johnston Collection. Lantern slides for Garden and Historic House Lectures. Genthe Collection. Over 470 photographic lantern slides.
Ohio State University	Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee Theatre Research Institute	Columbus, Ohio	Joel E. Rubin Collection. The collection consists of materials relating to lighting design and equipment. It includes hand-painted scenery and 'pose' lantern slides.
University of South Florida	Special Collections Department, Tampa Library	Tampa, Florida	Photographic Lantern Slide Collection. Around 600 geographic/travel slides.