lantern slides made by J T Chapman

Set of ninety-five lantern slides collected by Newton Stanley Smith of Harrison & Smith, Sale, 1930-39. The slides depict scenes from around the world - Australia, New Zealand, Canada, USA, Fiji, Honolulu and Sri Lanka - and thirty-five are labelled as made by J T Chapman, Manchester.

Until cinema became widespread during the early 20th century, lantern slides were a popular form of entertainment and education.

Newton Stanley Smith may have compiled this collection of images to inspire or inform his own photographic work or to share in lectures or lantern slide shows. Lantern slide shows offered the viewer the experience of ‘armchair travelling’ to parts of the world out of reach to most people.

Many of the lantern slides in this collection are credited to J T Chapman. Josiah Thomas Chapman (1843-1907) founded the J T Chapman company in 1874. Chapman was a Manchester based photographic chemist and manufacturer of photographic apparatus. He was an innovator and experimenter, one of the first manufacturers of gelatin bromide dry plates. The Chapman dry plate was initially known as the 'Lancashire' but was soon changed to the 'Manchester'. These slide were likely made by J T Chapman, the photographer is unknown.