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<< Feature Articles >> Archive of Antiquarian Magic Lantern slides, including stone circles

Submitted by Andy B on Monday, 03 September 2018  Page Views: 9611

Neolithic and Bronze AgeCountry: England Type: Stone Circle

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Abu Simbel Temple of Ramses II
Abu Simbel Temple of Ramses II submitted by Klingon : A picture for a Magic lantern, circa 1850-1870. By courtesy of the Optical Museum Jena. (Vote or comment on this photo)
From the archive - a reminder of the HMJ Underhill Archive of Magic Lantern Slides at the Oxford Institute of Archaeology, viewable online. Henry Michael John Underhill (1855-1920) was an Oxford antiquarian and magic lantern slide painter who had wide-ranging interests from entomology and microscopy, to archaeology and the anthropology of folk-tales.

For many years he was a prominent member of two Oxford amateur societies which served as vehicles for intellectual communication between interested Oxford citizens and members of the University: The Oxfordshire Natural History Society and Field Club, and The Oxford Camera Club.

[The slide pictured left is not one of Underhill's, but is from the Optical Museum at Jena (*)]

Underhill's antiquarian collection is now in the care of the Institute of Archaeology at Oxford University who have digitised an important selection of these slides. The online collection represents 78 hand-painted glass slides and 17 photographic glass lantern slides.

They are mainly concerned with three topics: The Stone Circles of Britain; The Roman Cities of Britain; and Windmills. However, as artefacts in their own right the images document the development of photography and imaging in archaeology as well as HMJ Underhill's intellectual and social milieu.

The digital images have been archived for preservation by the Archaeology Data Service (ADS).

Link to the Underhill Archive at the ADS and here is a direct link to the stone circle slides. See below for more links.

(*) For more magic lantern slides like the one above, go to our Photo Gallery and search for Magic Lantern

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"Archive of Antiquarian Magic Lantern slides, including stone circles" | Login/Create an Account | 6 News and Comments
  
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Gems in the Library #2 The Underhill Archive by Andy B on Saturday, 18 May 2019
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Anastasia Akerman writes: It’s almost the weekend so obviously this was the right time have fun with some of the beautiful images to be found in the HMJ Underhill archive, compiled by Oxford University and available in our archives. Also I felt like brushing up on the old QGIS skills. So I decided to georeference some of these images and see how they match up with modern maps.

These images all come from the Underhill Archive available on the ADS Archive. The archive was put together by Deborah Harlan and Megan Price at the University of Oxford. It consists of hand painted glass slides of British megaliths as well as maps of ancient Britain and the areas surrounding prehistoric monuments.

https://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/blog/2019/05/gems-in-the-library-2-the-underhill-archive/
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Re: Archive of Antiquarian Magic Lantern slides, including stone circles by ainsloch on Friday, 07 September 2018
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Those Underhill slides are fantastic! Really beautiful. I have a collection of magic lantern slides myself, mainly ancient Egypt and British, Irish and French megalithic sites. I will have to look into getting them digitized and uploaded to the Portal, as I think others might find them of interest. There are a couple of slides whose location I haven't been able to identify yet so maybe someone could enlighten me once I get them uploaded.
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More Underhill links: by Andy B on Monday, 03 September 2018
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More Underhill links:

Gems in the Library #2 The Underhill Archive
https://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/blog/2019/05/gems-in-the-library-2-the-underhill-archive/

https://digital.humanities.ox.ac.uk/project/hmj-underhill-archive

http://www.magiclantern.org.uk/new-magic-lantern-journal/pdfs/4008775a.pdf

http://oxoniensia.org/volumes/2008/price.pdf

Extract from Archives, Ancestors, Practices: Archaeology in the Light of its History

Start your own Magic Lantern slide collection via Ebay
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Magic Lantern slides of Stonehenge by Andy B on Wednesday, 16 March 2016
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Some Magic Lantern slides of Stonehenge

Pre-historic man in Britain and Europe (lecture: Newton & Co., 73-75 slides, in/before 1903)
http://www.slides.uni-trier.de/set/index.php?id=3000292

Pre-historic man in Britain and Europe: additional slides (lecture: Newton & Co., 8 slides, 1913)
http://www.slides.uni-trier.de/set/index.php?id=3007795

Salisbury Cathedral and Stonehenge (lecture: G.W. Wilson, 24 slides, in/before 1891)
http://www.slides.uni-trier.de/set/index.php?id=3000244

http://www.slides.uni-trier.de/slide/index.php?id=5023326

The history of Great Britain: period A -- pre-historic and early British times (lecture: Valentine & Sons, 33 slides, in/before 1897)
http://www.slides.uni-trier.de/set/index.php?id=3001245

You can search for more at the LUCERNA database
http://www.slides.uni-trier.de/index.php
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Magic lantern slide collection at UCL by Andy B on Wednesday, 16 March 2016
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There is another magic lantern slide collection at UCL, London, that relate to subjects as diverse as telegraphy, astronomy or Australian coral reefs, also the Scottish highlands and Spanish cathedrals and churches. I wonder if they have any ancient sites pictures? (I can't find an online catalogue of them)

Unpacking UCL’s Magic Lantern Slide Collections
http://blogs.ucl.ac.uk/museums/2014/07/09/unpacking-ucls-magic-lantern-slide-collections

Re-packing UCL´s Magic Lantern Slides
http://blogs.ucl.ac.uk/museums/2014/07/29/re-packing-ucl%C2%B4s-magic-lantern-slides


You can view a few more of the slides here
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Underhill by Anonymous on Monday, 18 October 2004
This collection is fascinating and has been lost for too long.
I particularly like the lantern of the west kennet avenue under plough.
A pity the real slide seems to be absent.
How many other archives lie waiting to be rediscovered?
There are reel of 8mm film of Avebury stored away somewhere!
PeteG
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