Special Collections
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Book of the Month, December 2005
The Magic Lantern; or, World as it Goes
London: Printed by T. Hamblin, [1822-23]
Vol .1, nos. 1-3, Nov.1, 1822 - Jan.1, 1823.
This month's featured item is a periodical, The Magic Lantern; or, World as it Goes, printed in London by T. Hamblin, and published monthly from November 1822 to January 1823, numbered Vol. 1, nos. 1-3. Despite its title, the periodical is not about the mechanics and use of magic lanterns and slides, but the society and politics of its time. The journal highlights aspects of society in a satirical fashion, and plays upon the properties of the lantern slide to bring topics into focus. Indeed one of the two fine coloured prints included in the periodical, and reproduced here, plays upon its title in relation to the aspects of society highlighted.
The editor in his "Card of Address" on the first page states that "There is no sort of wit more difficult to practise than raillery or satire ... To come as near as possible to perfection in this point, will be the aim of the proprietor of The MAGIC LANTERN, industriously avoiding every thing tending to direct personal slander, scurrility, and abuse ..." and "For the benefit of this laughter-loving age ... the MAGIC LANTERN is intended as a play-house companion, to give the reader a peep into the characters of the principal performers, male and female ..."
An example of the articles to be found in The Magic Lantern is a 'letter': "Foreign bubbles, or a peep into the Stock Exchange" on page 67 of issue No.1 of November 1822, which begins: "Mr. Editor, as your Lantern appears to be intended to illuminate and exhibit pictures of passing objects, or scenes of real life, no objects appear to me so worthy of being placed in their true light as the animals which at present infest the Stock Exchange." The 'letter' goes on to talk of bulls and bears and to satirise financial schemes by describing a plan for funding a fleet of steam ships to capture mermaids in the Pacific for exhibition in London. The 'letter' is signed: "An Admirer of Mermaids".
The issues recently acquired by the Library appear to constitute the entire run of the journal, are disbound and require some conservation work. However, the colours of the two prints, by J. Johnston of Cheapside, are still bright. The Magic Lantern is not widely held, in the United Kingdom being only recorded at Manchester Public Library and possibly the British Library. The Magic Lantern will be added to the Goldsmiths' Library of Economic Literature which includes other satirical works of the period such as those published by William Hone.
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