[Twelve hand-painted color panoramic lantern slides relating the story of Aladdin and his lamp]

(1902-1908). Each 6.8 x 25.8 cm (2½ x 10½"). Each numbered and captioned (in French) on the glass. Edges protected with paper tape. In period wooden box without its lid, and other defects. A few scratches and smudges to images, paper protecting tape torn and chipped in places.

Charming hand-painted slides depicting the story of Aladdin and his magical lamp, titled La Lampe Merveilleuse. Only one other set is known to exist, and it is incomplete (missing Slide 12); the other set is held in Girona's Museu de Cinema, which makes this set of slides the only extant copy in private hands (REFERENCE: Lucerna). The multi-scene panoramic slides were (truncated) created by French magic lantern manufacturers Lapierre et Cie, and the slides would have likely been sold alongside the familys noteworthy magic lanterns, which were particularly marketed for families and educating children (REFERENCE: Lucerna). These also remain the only magic lantern slides depicting the Aladdin story in a panoramic format, rather than in squares (produced by Theobald & Co.) The handpainted images are bordered by glued-on green paper edging, so that the slides could be used without cutting childrens hands. The delicate French captions and rare full set make this copy a particularly scarce example of children's magic lantern slide narrative genre. (Inventory #: 5983286)