Introducing and Institutionalizing the Projection Lantern into University Teaching in England and Scotland (1880-1914)*

Abstract

While historians of the optical lantern in academic teaching at universities have rarely discussed the financial aspects of slide lectures, departmental funding was critical in accommodating the projected image as a teaching tool in the service of this educational project. Between 1880 and 1914, the governors and financial committees provided subsidies that were approved by administrators and departments, allowing the projection lantern to become institutionalized in some English and Scottish universities. During the 1880s, lecturers struggled to incorporate lanterns into their daily activities because the apparatus and slide making facilities were expensive and time-consuming. Between the 1890s and 1910s, funding for the sciences and photography departments resulted in the expansion and diversification of the academic lantern and slide use across multiple departments. Reading lantern practices through the analysis of financial records, manuals, and photography journals reveals that the practicalities of transitioning from benchtop demonstration to gas-lit lanterns to electrification stood in stark contrast to individual lecturer innovation and inert university infrastructure. This analysis sheds light on the development of the projection lantern as a teaching tool in England and Scotland, as well as why educational institutions like Yorkshire College, Edinburgh University, University of Glasgow, and University College Bristol were able to produce and store large quantities of lantern slides. Examining the integration of projection lanterns in academic teaching from a funding perspective uncovers the pedagogical, sociopolitical, and bureaucratic reasons that influenced their development and institutionalization in English and Scottish universities. This analysis also argues for a business and economics approach to the optical lantern as an academic innovation, seeking to identify the various factors that created a conducive environment for accommodating projected images as teaching tools in this educational initiative.