Projecting Knowledge

The Optical Lantern and Science Communication, 1880s–1940s

Edited by Frank Kessler Edited by Dulce Da Rocha Gonçalves Edited by Nico de Klerk Edited by Jamilla Notebaard

Book cover: Projecting Knowledge

Extent: 284 pages

Publisher: Brepols Publishers

Series: Media Performance Histories

Series volume number: 17

Language: English

Hardback (Forthcoming)

(April 2026)

ISBN: 9782503612942

Price: $94.00

Out of stock

The volume focusses on the role of the optical lantern in knowledge transmission.


From the 1880s until well into the twentieth century, the optical lantern was an immensely important tool to disseminate knowledge both within and outside academia, particularly in Western Europe and the United States. This volume maps the lantern-illustrated lecture from various perspectives, with contributions on how to research historical audiences, on the spaces where projection was used, on the role of images as evidence, on the shifts in pedagogy that were supported by the projected image, and on the archives and sources that provide access to material that allows an understanding of the multiple ways in which the medium was used.

  • Edited by Frank Kessler
  • Edited by Dulce Da Rocha Gonçalves
  • Edited by Nico de Klerk
  • Edited by Jamilla Notebaard