Overview

W.K.L. Dickson was Thomas Edison's assistant in charge of the experimentation that led to the Kinetoscope and Kinetograph-the first commercially successful moving image machines. In 1891-1892, he established what we know today as the 35mm format. Dickson also designed the Black Maria film studio and facilities to develop and print film, and supervised production of more than 100 films for Edison. After leaving Edison, he became a founding member of the American Mutoscope Company, which later became the American Mutoscope & Biograph, then Biograph. In 1897, he went to England to set up the European branch of the company. Over the course of his career, Dickson made between 500 and 700 films, which are studied today by scholars of the early cinema. This well-illustrated book offers a window onto early film history from the perspective of Dickson's own oeuvre.

Full Product Details

Author:   Paul Spehr
Publisher:   John Libbey & Co
Imprint:   John Libbey & Co Ltd
Dimensions:   Width: 15.20cm , Height: 3.80cm , Length: 22.90cm
Weight:   1.320kg
ISBN:  

9780861966950

ISBN 10:   0861966953
Pages:   650
Publication Date:   17 November 2008
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In Print  
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Table of Contents

"Prologue: Introducing Mr. Dickson 1. Family matters 2. Goerck Street 3. The Business of Invention; Electricity, Ore, and the PHonograph 4. Personal Matters 5. From a Ladies' Watch to a Locomotive: the New Laboratory 6. The Germ of an Idea 7. The Kineto-Phonograph: The Begninning of a Quest 8. Trials, Errors, Mergers, Shenanigans, and Speculation 9. Competition! 10. A Certain Precipitate of Knowledge: The Kinetograph, Spring 1889 11. Mr. Edison Triumphs in Europe and Dickson has a Busy Summer 12. ""Good Morning, Mr. Edison"": The Strip Kintograph 13. Caveat, Film, an announcement and a Conundrom: The Kineto after Paris 14. ""We Had a Hell of a Good Time..."": Ore Milling and Electricity, Dreams and Reality 15. the Nickel-in-the-Slot Phonograph 16. ""Come Up Stairs and See the Germ Work"": Problems, Success, and REvisions 17. Edison's Agent 18. ""A Method of Taking and Using Photographs"": Patenting the Kinetoscope and Kinetograph 19. ""Unaltered to Date"": Creating the Foundation fo the Modern Motion Picture 20. The Kinetoscope and Black Maria 21. Personal Affairs: Pictures, Words, Inventions 22. Wizard Edison's Wonderful Instrument: The Kinetoscope 23. A Discontented Winter 24. Between Careers: Publishing and New Opportunities 25. The Age of Movement: a New Enterprise 26. The Playful Specter of teh Night: The Biograph on Screen 27. Home Again 28. The Pope and the Mutoscopes 29. News in a Pictorial Way 30. The Road to Ladysmith 31. To Pretoria and Beyond: The Heart of the Biographer at Rest 32. The Hope to See a Bright Future: The W.K.L. Dickson Laboratory 33. A Peculiar Memory for Details 34. Forgotten by History: Evaluating Mr. Dickson"

Reviews

<p>. .. recounts the contributions of Thomas Edison's assistant in charge ofexperimentation whose work led to the development of the first commerciallysuccessful moving image machines.... a valuable and comprehensive history. -- BruceA. Austin, COMMUNICATION BOOKNOTES QTLY, Vol. 40.3 July-Sept. 2009

<p>. .. recounts the contributions of Thomas Edison's assistant in charge ofexperimentation whose work led to the development of the first commerciallysuccessful moving image machines.... a valuable and comprehensive history. -- BruceA. Austin, COMMUNICATION BOOKNOTES QTLY, Vol. 40.3 July-Sept. 2009--Bruce A. Austin COMMUNICATION BOOKNOTES QTLY (01/01/2009)

Author Information

Paul Spehr is former Assistant Chief of the Motion Picture, Broadcasting, and Recorded Sound Division at the Library of Congress, Washington D.C.

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