The Magic Lantern is an image projector that was invented by Christiaan Huygens in the 1650s. It was commonly used for education and entertainment purposes.
The Magic Lantern is made up of seven main components, one of which being the main body of the lantern which would be made from metal and would hold the majority of the other components. The lamp part of the device was the source of light, most commonly coming from a burning oil, gas or a candle (this was later replaced by electricity). The reflector inside the lantern would reflect this light into a condensing lens which focuses the light onto the slide that is being projected, which are slotted between this lens and the lens tube. The lens tube magnifies the illuminated slide so that it can be projected clearly onto different surfaces.
The Magic Lantern would be sat on a base, as it would tend to get very hot from the fire burning inside, which were ventilated by the smokestack on the top of the lamp.
The slides that were inserted into the lantern were made of glass and were usually hand painted. If the images painted on the slides were in a sequence, the projectionist could have quickly moved the slides whilst still resting in the lantern to make it appear as though the image was moving.
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