Читать книгу Magic Shadows. The Story of the Origin of Motion Pictures онлайн
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This book gives us the long look, the authentic perspective. It may tend to slow down our glibness, to clothe our fancy with fact, and to deflate any notion that the movies belong exclusively to our own well-publicized 20th Century.
It is sobering, but it is necessary. For, unless we brace ourselves with some knowledge of what has gone before, we cannot be adequately prepared for what lies ahead. The industry, as we have known it in the past, is undergoing great changes. It is difficult to predict exactly what form it will eventually take. One thing is certain, however—the “Magic Shadows” in one form or another will continue to entertain and instruct the millions in every land for generations to come.
Edward P. Curtis
Rochester, N.Y.
July 2, 1960
Ars Magna Lucis et Umbrae, 1671
ATHANASIUS KIRCHER, the first person to project pictures. His magic lantern originated the screen art-science in Rome circa 1645.
INTRODUCTION
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The art of magic shadows, which just before the dawn of the twentieth century evolved into the modern motion picture, was born three centuries ago, at Rome. There Athanasius Kircher, a German priest, first showed his invention, the magic lantern, to friends, and enemies, at the Collegio Romano, where he was a professor of mathematics.