«To transform the blackboard into a blank screen»: Magic lanterns and phantasmagorias in nineteenth-century Spanish high schools

Abstract

The first national network of public high schools in Spain was created in the mid nineteenth-century. Among the instruments for education that this institutions had, it is usually found a magic lantern. This paper shows what kind of lanterns and lantern slides were used in these collections and what could have been their use. This case study allow to focus on concrete practices of the history of the magic lantern and, in consequence, of the history of the audiovisual and its relation to education. The paper is divided in three parts. The first one explains the case study and the data found. The second and third sections give exemples related to other education centres in Spain and point out to a contemporary text on the use of the lantern in education.

Keywords

• linterna mágica
• educación
• fantasmagoría
• arqueología de los media
• audiovisual y educación