A History of Early Film V1 Stephen Herbert 9781032510873

Volume 1 of A History of Early Film begins with the period of technical invention. The story of Edison's peepshow Kinetoscope, set up in arcades from April 1894, is told by W. K. L. Dickson. 'Lantern Projection of Moving Objects' heralds the arival of the first screenings in Britain, arranged by Auguste and Louis Lumiere, Robert Paul and Birt Acres, announcing the new medium as a progressive development of optical moving-image toys, magic lantern projection and the Kinetoscope. It includes an evocative selection of advertisements for the earliest films and cinematographic apparatus of 1896-7. The last part of the volume covers 1901-6 as the medium of cinema developed.

Stephen Herbert trained as a media technician, and spent many years in film exhibition and production. His interest in the origins of the moving image led to Stephen co-editing the influential book and website Who's Who of Victorian Cinema, and contributions to academic journals. He ran the small press The Projection Box, and has recently retired as a freelance museum consultant.

'This is an utterly engaging and valuable collection of early British film documents. Highly recommended for comprehensive film-history collections serving upper-divison undergraduates, researchers, faculty, and general readers.' - Choice