magic lantern, then, of necessariIy focused on affairs that were closer and more vital to his readers, which led him to write that "Ieaving the Russian princesses, the dandies and kings in Europe, we w ill entertain ourselves with the china, the lépero, the polla, the comedienne, the indio, the chinaco, the tendero, with all of our country's inhabitants." 2 Here also, the allusion to the actual showings is inspired by the prevalence of such exhibitions at the time (it is worth noting that volumes nine and ten of the series, published in 1891, emphasized this notion; the covers depicta magic lantern projecting a color image of a pretty young woman), but it also points to the educational nature of the scenes selected for the perusal of the reading public. The writer, then, beco mes the strange pantomime of a photographer-exhibitor, who, turning his lens on moments selected from local life, presents them in an entertaining fashion in order to contribute to his readers civic and moral edification. Such a purpose, common to a generation of writers that included Ignacio Manuel Altamirano and Manuel Payno, is distinct in that it had little to do with the commercial ambitions of the magic lantern exhibitions of the time, which, besides, had a tendency to favor slides of foreign locations. In any case, these accounts show that, by the late eighteenth century, the magic lantern had become very popular among the educated classes, enabling it to enter the terrain of political journalism and literatu re; they also show that, for those who played on its great
prestige, it became a way of representing reality suitable for inclusion in writings expected to be read by the public as if they were the plain truth . Finally, as was to be expected, in the late 1860's we find records of public exhibitions. For example, in Mexico City we read of a popular theater that hosted "dramatic pieces, works of choreography, gymnastic exercises, mimes, operas, magicians, slides and a multitude of other things"; a singer's café, in the best Parisian style, that Ignacio Manuel Altamirano described as a large and elegant salon with "a stage upon which some amateurs sing; where the beloved Varguitas shows his slides and his chromotropes, and the delightful French actor Lepauvre entertains the audience with a repertoire of funny songs"; we read, as well, of the large Iturbide Theater, where there were showings of a frightening novelty that was making the rounds in Europe thanks to the Frenchman Robertson, who had named it the fantascope; here it was advertised as "the amazing optical illusion produced by luminous
is concerned- is difficult to document unless we loo k to vague accounts such as that of writer José Juan Tablada, born in 1871, whom at the age of fifty could still recall with vivid emotion the magic lanterns that Santa Claus had given him during his childhood.' Whatever the case may be, we know of at least one venture at the end of the century that fervently attempted to popularize these exhibitions in Mexico. Said attempt was the Imperial Exhibition which from 1895 to 1900 showed its slides all over the Republic, much to the admiration of many journalists, who in turn brought to colorful texts the play of light and shadow of those slides.' Carlos Díaz Dufoo, for instance, who became the director of the Revista Azul after the death of Manuel Gutiérrez Nájera, wrote in the following manner of the Prussian War which he had seen depicted by a magic lantern : .. .villages hidden behind the vegetation, as il in ambush, in which enemy lire has left gaping black holes; lantastic walls that lell to
ghosts".'
pieces, covered with open gash-
We have little information at our disposal concerning these dissolving views and other magic lantern exhibitions in the nineteenth century in Mexico, as there have not yet been any studies specifically on this subject. It may be that specialized inquiries into this matter turn up more records of exhibitions, thickening the current catalogue, but it is likely that it will never be very large, since the use of these machines-as far as non-commercial showings in homes, schools and scientific institutions
es, varnished with so many scars;
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great canvases 01 blue horizon where the traces 01 an explosion have drawn a reddish signature; and blooms 01 blood aboil, and dark clouds 01 gunpowder ballooning, and Irightened steeds, and the piercing silhouettes 01 spears held aloft by a horrible Ileeting squadron; and brilliant lires that raise a vermillion grow over the clean mirrored surface 01 the water...
After describing in such a manner the impressions he gathered