Edison Motion Pictures, 1890-1900: An Annotated Filmography

Pordenone (Italy)/Washington DC: Le Giornate del Cinema Muto / Smithsonian Institution Press. Near Fine. 1997. First Edition. Hardcover. (pictorial boards; no dust jacket, as issued) [nice clean copy, slight indentation at top of spine, faint handling wear]. (B&W photographs) A deeply researched, fantastically detailed chronicle of all known motion pictures produced by the Edison company -- both at the Thomas Edison Laboratory in West Orange, New Jersey, and at numerous locations in the U.S. and abroad -- during the last decade of the 19th century, during the infancy of the medium. In addition to providing in-depth information on nearly 950 (truncated) individual films (most of which were less than a minute in length), drawn from original sources (including the films themselves), the volume also reprints contemporary press accounts of various early motion picture presentations. Also, and not incidentally, it highlights the contributions of a number of early experimenters and cameramen, among them W.K.L. Dickson, Frederick W. Blechynden, William Heise, and William Daly Paley -- and, perhaps most notably, J. Stuart Blackton and Albert E. Smith, founders of the Vitagraph Company of America, one of the most important early producing firms. The film entries are presented chronologically, but there are indices galore to make the book maximally useful -- by film title, personal and corporate names, subjects, and filming locations. ****NOTE that additional postage charges will be assessed for international shipping of this heavy book; if this concerns you, please contact us for a shipping quote before placing your order.**** . (Inventory #: 28228)