Editing Magic lantern (section)

{{short description|Type of image projector}}
{{about|the early type of image projector}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2017}}
[[File:Magic Lantern.jpg|thumb|19th century magic lantern with printed slide incorrectly inserted (upright, which would be projected by the lantern as an inverted picture<ref name=Morton/>)]]
[[File:Magic lantern slide Carpenter and Westley.jpg|thumb|Magic lantern slide by [[Carpenter and Westley]]]]
The '''magic lantern''', also known by its Latin name '''{{lang|la|lanterna magica}}''', is an early type of [[image projector]] that uses pictures—paintings, prints, or [[photograph]]s—on transparent plates (usually made of glass), one or more [[lens (optics)|lens]]es, and a light source.  Because a single lens inverts an image projected through it (as in the phenomenon which inverts the image of a [[camera obscura]]), slides are inserted upside down in the magic lantern, rendering the projected image correctly oriented.<ref name=Morton>[https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/0016003267903766 "Erecting the inverted image In the magic lantern", Henry Morton, Ph.D., ''Journal of the Franklin Institute'', Volume 83, Issue 6, June 1867, Pages 406-409; "A lens, as every one knows, inverts the image which it makes of any object; hence, in the magic lantern, we insert the image upside down."]</ref>

It was mostly developed in the 17th century and commonly used for entertainment purposes. It was increasingly used for education during the 19th century. Since the late 19th century, smaller versions were also mass-produced as toys. The magic lantern was in wide use from the 18th century until the mid-20th century when it was superseded by a compact version that could hold many 35&nbsp;mm photographic slides: the [[slide projector]].