PEEPSHOWS
Not too much in print about peepshows, but the following
are worth having:
'Peep Shows', written, printed and published by Paul
Braithwaite. The author uses his own pen-and-ink sketches
of peepshow engravings, photos,and paintings to guide us
through the enormous range of peepshow types, from 17th to
20th centuries; 'back' peep shows, 'caravan' types, etc.
Includes notes on panoramas, dioramas, and mutoscopes. A
good introduction to the subject. 40page A4 pbk, available
from the author, 65 Sandown Road, Brislington, Bristol BS4
3PL.(L36.50p, plus something towards mailing).
'Der Guckkasten = Einblick-Durchblick-Ausblick'. Five
German specialists in pre-cinema contributed to this well-
researched and beautifully colour-illustrated hardback (in
German). Megalethoscopes, Polyorama lorgnette, Engelbrecht
cut-out views, etc. Excellent.publisher: Fusslin Verlag,
Stuttgart, 1995 ISBN 3-9803451-2-2 Fax 0711 339903.
'Die Welt im Kasten' by Thomas Ganz. Ganz is third
generation from a Swiss family that started in the audio-
visual field making magic lanterns, well over a century
ago. This book is based on his premise that for centuries
we have been looking at the world through (and by means
of) a series of boxes = the camera obscura, the magic
lantern, the perspective box, the Peepshow, the
photographic camera, the Cinematographe, etc. Conceptually
important and jam-packed with illustrations of dozens of
types of dead media; Physionotrace portraits, panoramic
cameras, Zograscopes. Includes early magic lantern
chronology.
Pub: Verlag Neue Zurcher Zeitung, 1994. ISBN
3
85823 507 5.
An English-language (text-only) booklet is being
produced by The Projection Box (small publishers in
London, in which I am a partner)to accompany this book,
should be available next year.
Stephen Herbert (s-herbert@easynet.co.uk)