Magic lantern slide set 'The Drunkard's Death'

A set of magic lantern life model slides, entitled 'The drunkard’s death', 10 slides. Manufactured by York & Son, 1890. Black and white. Based on the story by Charles Dickens. From a collection of life model magic lantern slides, previously the lending library of Riley Brothers of Bradford.

Life model slides are photographic magic lantern slides in which costumed models are posed in scenes or locations to illustrate narratives, songs and other texts. They were produced commercially between the 1870s and the First World War. Typical subjects included temperance tales of alcoholism and other social vices, popular songs, recitations, comic subjects and religious services. They would come in sets which could be anything from 2 to 60 but averaged 12.

“The Drunkard’s Death” is a short story written by Charles Dickens, first published in 1837 in Sketches by Boz, vol. 2. It focusses on the disastrous effects of alcohol abuse.