Shining Lights: Magic Lanterns and the Missionary Movement, 1839—1868

Acknowledgements

The dissertation in its digital form would not have been possible without an international network of scholars, archivists, collectors, curators, performers, and technologists. I would like to extend warmest thanks to my committee, particularly to Steve Watt and Ellen Mackay who served as co-chairs, for their unflagging support and encouragement and to Lara Kriegel and Monique Morgan for their guidance. Their mentorship anchored this project in its Victorian context while also animating the dissertation’s experimentation with form. I am also grateful for the advice of Andrew Miller and Ivan Kreilkamp who shaped early versions of this dissertation’s proposal by serving on my qualifying exams committee. Beyond the Victorian Studies program at Indiana University, I count myself incredibly fortunate to have worked alongside digital humanities practitioners whose approach to historic documents and cultural heritage objects have so deeply shaped my own. My Livingstone Online family—Adrian Wisniki, Justin Livingstone, Jared Macdonald, Jo Ichimura, Anne Martin, Kate Simpson, Heather Ball, Ashanka Kumari, Angela Aliff, and friends of the project— provided expert advice on both the African studies and digital dimensions of this project as well as warm welcomes when we had the good fortune of meeting face to face. The sages at Indiana University’s Institute for Digital Arts and Humanities—Kalani Craig, Michelle Dalmau, Daniel Story, Sara Duke, Ella Robinson, and Mia Partlow— shaped the conceptual and technical dimensions of this project through countless brainstorming sessions and coding sprints. Across the pond, Richard Crangle, Joe Kember, Sarah Dellmann, and Frank Kessler lent their enthusiastic support through their role in A Million Pictures. 

I am especially thankful for expertise of archivists and private collectors who introduced me to slides, letters, and publications in their care. I owe my passion for lantern shows to Joss Marsh and David Francis who ushered me into this magical world of pre-cinema technologies, digitization projects, and performance. In archives and museums, no one could ask for better guides and interlocutors than Jo Ichimura at SOAS; Ivana Frlan and the archivists at the Cadbury Research Center at the University of Birmingham; Anne Martin, Karen Carruthers, and Natalie Milor at the David Livingstone Centre (now the David Livingstone Birthplace Museum); Alison Metcalfe and David McClay at the National Library of Scotland; and Phil Wickham at the Bill Douglas Cinema Museum. The lion share of my archival research was funded by Indiana University's Office of the Vice Provost of Research through the Mellon Innovating International Research, Teaching, and Collaboration Dissertation Research Fellowship. For photographs of slides, I am indebted to Margreet Wagenaar, Annet Duller, Trevor Beattie, Terry and Debbie Borton, and Peter Gillies who generously donated images of stunning slides from their collections. My gratitude goes to Magnetic North for giving me permission to use production stills from Erewhon. For the show-stopping 3D model of the improved phantasmagoria lantern, I owe many thanks to Katie Chapman and Tassie Gnaidy of CyberDH. This dissertation would not have been possible without access to the extraordinary digital collections of museums and archives around the world, include the National Science Museum in the UK, the British Museum, Trove, Google Books, Adam Matthew's Church Missionary Society Collections, and Hathi Trust.  

It has been a particular pleasure to refine the content of this dissertation through lively conversations at conferences and seminars. These include the Christian Missions in World History Seminar; the conventions of the Magic Lantern Society of the UK and the Magic Lantern Society of the US and Canada; the Victorians Institute; the North American Victorian Studies Association; the Nineteenth Century Study Association; and TEI. On the conference circuit, I am especially thankful of the enthusiastic support of Rosemary Seton, Jeremy Brooker, David and Lesley Evans, Philip and Rosemary Banham, Lester Smith, George and Mary Ann Auckland, Paul Fyfe, Heidi Kaufmann, Jo Taylor, Annie Swafford, Tracy Davis, Karen Bourrier, and Arthur Meek. And I count myself extremely lucky to have seen the incomparable Janet Tamblin, Nick Hiley, Jeremy and Carolyn Brooker, Richard Navarro in performance and am looking forward to sharing recordings of their lantern shows in the next iteration of this project.    

Last but certainly not least, my friends and family continue to be shining lights in my life. Mallory Cohn, Mackenzie Loyet, Mary Bowden, Laura Kasson Fiss, Angela and Mike Courtney are responsible for keeping me sane through spontaneous acts of costume design, scrumptious cake, and time with cat friends. Bev Hankins is my superhero, especially when the printer goes awry. My mom is a constant source of inspiration, and my sister taught me what it means to be fearless. I am proud to be a Borgo and a Ton, and I am so thankful for the support of my extended family. And to my husband, thank you for finding my lost notebook in Wells Library.