SHADOWGRAPHY
The idea of projecting silhouettes with the hands on a wall or
illuminated screen is an old one, but it has been brought to great
perfection by the celebrated French conjurer and juggler, M. Felician
Trewey, and his English confreres, David Devant, Ellis Stanyon, and
Hilliar. Notable among the American exhibitors of shadowgraphy is
Clivette, the "Man in Black," whose clever fingers have added many new
and amusing figures to the already long list. The above named artists
enact little pantomimic scenes, such as a fisherman in a boat, going
through the usual evolutions of a disciple of Izaak Walton; a policeman
making love to a servant girl; a concierge quarreling with a belated
lodger; a lover serenading his sweetheart, etc.
These shadows are best made on a screen, which is illuminated by "a
single lamp inclosed in a projecting apparatus throwing very divergent
rays. The lens must consequently be of very short focus. The electric
light or oxyhydrogen lamp necessary in a theatre may be replaced at the
amateur's house by a lamp, or better, by a wax candle." Various little
accessories such as pieces of cardboard, fashioned to represent
head-gear and the like, are used in the formation of many of the more
elaborate figures. The use of such material is depicted in the
illustrations. Makers of magical apparatus manufacture these
accessories, but the clever amateur can cut them out from sheets of
cardboard without going to the expense of purchasing them.
A cheap and easy way of manufacturing a silhouette of a friend is to
have him pose in front of a sheet of paper hung against a wall which is
illuminated by a candle. All you have to do is to outline with a pencil
the shadow cast by his face, and afterward fill in the white space with
black paint or crayon. The famous Levater constructed an ingenious
device for making silhouettes. It is thus described in his work on
physiognomy: "The shadow is projected upon a fine paper, well oiled and
dried, and placed behind a piece of plate-glass supported in a frame
secured to the back of the chair. Behind this glass the artist stands,
and holding the frame with one hand, draws with the other." A candle
furnished the necessary light.
During the French Revolution, it was a dangerous thing to possess a
likeness of the martyred King Louis XVI. The scions of the nobility,
resident in Paris in disguise, living, as it were, in the shadow of the
guillotine, carefully hid all souvenirs of the king and royal family,
until better days should dawn. To be found in possession of a portrait
of the ill-fated Louis meant denunciation and death. Finally a clever
wood carver of royalist persuasion succeeded in fashioning a cane which
would throw a silhouette upon a wall--a likeness of Louis XVI. He drove
a great trade among the aristocrats, who carried these walking sticks
about with impunity, flourishing them under the very noses of the
revolutionists. Nobody could possibly suspect a cane. Chessmen were
also made on similar principles. When the tables were turned and Louis
XVIII came to his own again, it was a dangerous thing to indulge in
Napoleonic relics. A carver in wood, possibly an old soldier of the
Imperial Guard, constructed a silhouette cane for the suppressed
Bonapartists.
The illustrating of books and magazines with silhouette pictures has
recently come into vogue. It is especially popular in Paris, where the
famous caricaturist Caran d'Ache, has done much to elevate the art.
After working at silhouettes for some time, he conceived the clever
idea of cutting figures out in zinc and casting them upon an
illuminated screen; fashioning them in sections so that they could be
made to work by means of cords operated by assistants. His first
exhibition was given at the Chat Noir, a cafe much frequented by
artists and literary men. Finally a special representation was gotten
up at the Theatre d'Application, and crowds flocked to see the
silhouettes. M. d'Ache is very successful in representing military
scenes. He projects upon the screen the battles and triumphal marches
of the Emperor Napoleon.
[Illustration: PARROT]
[Illustration: TWO FOXES FIGHTING]
[Illustration: VULTURE]
[Illustration: COUNTRYMAN]
[Illustration: PIGEON]
[Illustration: RHINOCEROS]
[Illustration: BULL]
[Illustration: FOX EATING RABBIT]
[Illustration: SQUIRREL]
[Illustration: BUTCHER]
[Illustration: JOCKEY]
[Illustration: MEPHISTOPHELES]
[Illustration: GRIMACER]
[Illustration: CLOWN]
[Illustration: GOAT]
[Illustration: SHEEP]
[Illustration: TIGER]
[Illustration: BEAR]
[Illustration: ELEPHANT]
[Illustration: RABBITS]
[Illustration: PREACHER]
[Illustration: FISHERMAN]
[Illustration: SNUFF TAKER]
[Illustration: BULL DOG]
[Illustration: SPIDER]
[Illustration: DANCING GIRL]
[Illustration: RABBIT (2 METHODS)]
[Illustration: GRIMACER]
[Illustration: THE SWAN]
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READY MADE SPEECHES
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THE DEBATER'S TREASURY
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READING AS A FINE ART
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SOCIALISM
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By Charles H. Olin
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CONUNDRUMS
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MAGIC
By Ellis Stanyon
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HYPNOTISM
By Edward H. Eldridge, A.M.
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¶ By following the simple and concise instructions contained in this
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WHIST
By Cavendish
Twenty-third Edition
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PARLOR GAMES
By Helen E. Hollister
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ASTRONOMY: The Sun and His Family
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BOTANY: The Story of Plant Life
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FLOWERS: How to Grow Them
By Eben E. Rexford
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DANCING
By Marguerite Wilson
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ASTROLOGY
By M. M. Macgregor
If you wish to obtain a horoscope of your entire life, or if you would
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PHYSIOGNOMY
By Leila Lomax
How can we judge whether a man may be trusted to handle money for us? ¶
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GRAPHOLOGY: How to Read Character from Handwriting
By Clifford Howard
Do you know that every time you write five or six lines you furnish a
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Graphology, and it is the aim of this volume to enable anyone to become
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