Magic Lantern show

Transport yourself up Mont Blanc, through the medium of beautifully hand-painted glass slides.

A popular attraction at Flatpack 2010, local lanternists Mike and Therese Simkin return with another magical collection of slides. This free event will give you a vivid idea of an almost-lost artform which prefigured cinema in a number of ways, and it's perfect preparation for seeing The Icebook. Albert Smith was a Victorian journalist, author, entrepreneur and itinerant panorama showman.  We are showing a unique set of extremely large, hand painted Victorian magic lantern slides telling the story of his ascent of Mont Blanc in 1851 based upon the paintings and drawings by himself and Mr W Beverely.  These were a spin off from his famous panorama show at the Egyptian Hall, London in the 1850’s.  He came to Birmingham Town Hall in the same year during his national tour with his moving panorama story of the Overland Mail.