An apparatus for projecting images painted on glass with translucent colours. It is composed of a light source which, in the early lanterns, was supplied by candles or an oil lamp, a condenser, and a more or less complex lens. The origins of this instrument have been sought in the oldest treatises on optics or even in the art of projecting images in the ancient world. One of the first descriptions of a magic lantern is to be found in the second edition of Ars Magna Lucis et Umbrae, by the Jesuit A.Kircher, printed at Amsterdam in 1671. Magic lanterns were used for itinerant spectacles, mainly by the Savoyards, throughout the 17th century. They became popular during the 18th century and were to be found in many households and also public places, like Christal Palace of London. Megalethoscope: Instrument provided with a magnifying-glass for looking at photographic images, patented by the Venetian optician and photographer C. Ponti in 1862. Magnified photographs, mainly landscape views, are coulored on the recto, and give effects of ‘Night' and ‘Day', almost in relief.
The first projection device, invented in the 17th Century by Athanasius Kircher, consisting of a metal box with a hole in one side covered by a lens; an image painted on a glass slide placed behind the lens is projected by means of a lamp inside the box.
Magic Lantern is keystroke logging software developed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Magic Lantern was first reported in a column by Bob Sullivan of MSNBC on 20 November 2001 http://msnbc.com/news/660096.asp?cp1=1, and also by Ted Birdis of the Associated Press.Ted Birdis. "FBI Develops Eavesdropping Tools," Washington Post, November 22, 2001.
