A Filoscope depicting The Derby of 1896.
Category
Photographs
Date
1897 - 1910
Materials
Paper, Metal
Measurements
60 x 90 x 24 mm
Order this imageCollection
Fox Talbot Museum, Wiltshire
NT 1521231
Summary
A Filoscope depicting the 1896 Derby. A series of 189 halftone prints of photographs in a flip book within an orange painted metal case with black, cream and orange text/design. The images depict the Derby race, 1896. Invented by Robert W Paul's cameraman, Henry W Short, this was a small hand-held flip-book device, using a lever to flip over separate pictures to give the illusion of movement. Each filoscope contained a hundred or so frames reproduced from a professional film, many of them by Paul, a dominant figure in the early history of cinema in England. The consecutive series of images are small halftone prints made from Paul's original negatives (see reference in General Note to book by John Barnes). The Derby of 1896 was particularly popular as the Prince of Wales' horse, Persimmon, won the race. Markings: On the metal case recto: "The Filoscope, patented in Great Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Austria & United States. Henry W Short, inventor & patentee - London. Made in England". On the metal case verso: Manufactured by license from the Mutoscope & Biograph Syndicate Ltd. for the United Kingdom". Markings on the front page of the flip book: originally read "Subject - The Derby 1896" but part of the page is missing so that it reads "ject - rby 1896" Page 2 explains the production and use of the kinetic photograph system.
Provenance
Part of the Fenton Collection. A gift from British Film Institute in 2017. From 1986-1999, part of BFI collection for the Museum of the Moving Image. BFI purchased collection in 1986 from James Fenton's Museum of Photography, Port Erin, Isle of Man 1976-1986.