South African Alligator Supply Company , Lantern Slides (1870)

''Magic" Lantern Slides,1870,  hand-coloured , ORIGINALS, metal surrounds on glass, eight, complete, mounted under glass, double-sided in wooden frame, MADE IN AMERICA, slide grouping is 32.5 cms x 16.5 cms, frame (with brackets) is 49 cms x 32.5 cms, condition: very good.                                                        

The eight slides tell the story of the capture of an  Alligator, by surreptitious means, by an African child, in the African landscape (as the slides are American in origin the specifics of location appear to be vague).In the final scene (slide)  of the narrative, two European officials , adorned with solar topees, offer trade goods (a child's tin drum and some lengths of  brightly coloured cloth) in exchange for the Alligator. The official's wagon, inspanned to an Elephant, bears the lettering, ''.COLLECTIONS DEPARTMENT, SOUTH AFRICAN ALLIGATOR SUPPLY COMPANY". Each slide has the 'imagined' African patois to accompany the action, rather like the dialogue boards of  silent movies, which post-date these slides. Due to the "language' used I have used my discretion and blanked out;in the BoB images,some offensive words, which remain untouched in the slides.

Altogether a rare early piece of Africana which would have provided amusement for the whole ''European" family!Lantern slides created a new way to view both commercial and amateur imagery. While the earliest methods required an intimate viewership, the projection capabilities of the magic lantern allowed for a sizable audience. In the United States, the greatest impact of lantern slides was as a didactic tool and a form of entertainment. Lantern slides dramatically impacted the development of animation technologies as well as visual-based education methods in fields such as anthropology, art history, and geography. By the 1930s magic lantern entertainments had become a rarity and obsolete.

 The earliest slides for magic lanterns consisted of hand-painted images on glass, projected by itinerant showmen telling stories about the images that were projected.

Foe collection in Johannesburg ( Northern Suburbs) or shipping in a custom plywood box (for protection).

(In1982, I began in the  book trade with Struik Africana publishers, CapeTown, after working in London and Hong Kong. I am now an established RareBook dealer based in Johannesburg and as of 2020  have now beendealing in books for 38 years.Wesupply University & Colleges, Archives, National Libraries and Collectorswith " interesting" print material.)