Magic Lantern Slide By Sidney Herbert Of Soldiers Bivouacing
Item #: WR81
This is a "Magic" Lantern slide depicting a scene of soldiers on bivouac. These lantern slides have been in use since the 17th century. They got their name from the viewing devices used to project the image . The earliest slides were hand painted images on a glass plate and were used to enhance the telling of stories. In 1848 the first photographic slide was produced by the Langenheim brothers of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. These new types of slides were produced by American and British companies. The British made slides measure 3.25" x 3.25", while the American made slides measure 3.25" x 4". The majority of these slides consist of two sheets of glass, one with the image on one side and covered by the second piece of glass. They are usually bound together with black paper tape. Most of these slides were black and white, but some were hand colored. The Americans developed a method for making slides rarely used elsewhere in the world. They created a master drawing, photographed it, then printed slides from the master. This lantern side is of that type, a drawing depicting a bivouac scene of what appears to be Union Infantry. The soldiers can be seen wrapped in their blankets, sleeping in the open air as far as the eye can see. To the right, the soldiers have stacked arms. In the foreground the officers can be seen, also sleeping in the open air. The big difference is that they have no blankets. They are shown wrapped up in their great coats. Their swords have been pushed into the ground to permit belt rigs and binocular cases to be hung off them. Smoke from scattered fires can be seen rising towards the heavens. That's where the interesting piece of this slide comes in. Marching along the cloud formations above the sleeping soldiers are images of other soldiers, seen carrying tattered flags. I believe this is meant to represent those that have fallen in the past, and not just Civil War soldiers. They appear to be from the Revolutionary period, War of 1812 and Mexican War. It's as though the fallen stand guard over their slumbering brothers. The slide measures 3 1/4" high and 4" wide. The image has great clarity and great detail. However, there is one small spot almost in the center of the glass. I don't know if this could be cleaned up or not. The cardboard border is in good condition where it exists. there is one section on the left front missing and both side pieces in the back. A tag that is partially covered by an old inventory tag is printed "Y HERBERT, Optician, 22 Milk Street, Boston. Written in pencil below that is Bivouac, Before Battle. Sidney Herbert was a pioneer in the field of magic lanterns and steropticons in the late 1800's. This is a cool little piece of photographic as well as Civil War history.
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