Robert Burns: Reflections in The Victorian Lantern

Abstract

This article discusses a collection of Victorian ‘Magic Lantern’ slides and supporting paraphernalia concerning the poet Robert Burns. Utilising newly uncovered source materials, it investigates individuals concerned with the creation and ownership of the slides on Burns, including the firm of George Washington Wilson, and also examines the history of their presentation through the example of C. J. Parker, exploring their significance, determining what type of Burns was being propagated to Parker's audiences, and analysing how publically presented readings of Burns therein were constrained by dominant editorial interpretations from the period. Research has discovered that the Burns slides collection is the most complete, publicly held collection in Scotland. This article illustrates the collection's significant cultural and financial value as a fascinating relic of Burns's cultural memory and of early Scottish photography.