This was the first pre-cinema item in the collection, purchased by Peter Jewell in Buxton as a present for Bill Douglas. Appropriately, it is one of the first such items to be commercially available, and may have been manufactured as early as 1833. This "Magic Disk - an entirely new invention" was made in Britain by T.M. (Thomas Mann) Baynes but also sold in France by Alphonse Giroux, and the cover instructions are bilingual. One of the picture discs is attached to the rear of the slotted disc and then spun. When viewed in the mirror, through the slots, the image comes to life. This example has eight double-sided, hand-coloured picture discs, many with multiple rings of animations.

Item number 69236
Category Optical Toy
Type Zoetrope
Language English / French
Country of origin France
Related people T.M. Baynes (manufacturer/ designer)
Giroux (French distributor)
Joseph Plateau (inventor)

Part of the Bill Douglas and Peter Jewell Collection