"A scholarly survey of the literature on precursors of modern film projection. Cites more than 1,000 books, scientific monographs, journal articles, manuscripts, etc., arranged by date from the 14th century to 1986. Covers camera obscura, magic lanterns, stereoscopic projection, and other forms of optical entertainment. Detailed bibliographic data for each item, with exceptionally full critical abstracts for most. Name and subject indexes." (Balay, Guide to reference books, 11th ed, 1996)