Wrapped around the cover of Albert Robida’s book…

Wrapped around the cover of Albert Robida’s book about the nineteenth century, a magic lantern casts a conical beam of light, illuminating an array of lively characters. Before this parade sits a fashionable bourgeoise ready to be entertained by the projected spectacle while also participating in it. The illustration prompts a consideration of optical devices and projected images as part of a new nineteenth-century self-image and a growing desire to see modern life represented—of which cinema became the fullest expression.