Motion Picture Projection: An Elementary Text-Book

New York: The Theatre Supply Co.. Fair. 1921. Second Edition. Hardcover. (no dust jacket) [a well-worn copy, light bumping and a bit of fraying to several corners, small nick in cloth at front joint, another near top of right edge of front cover, discoloration to both endpapers, hinges a bit weak but holding on, thin strip of white paper affixed to rear cover; gilt lettering on front cover heavily rubbed but still readable, spine lettering just about completely gone]. (B&W photographs, diagrams, ads) The standard work on the subject in the silent-film era, a deep-dish discussion of the technical issues involved with the projection of motion (truncated) picture film (which, we should remember, was at that time still nitrate-based and quite dangerously flammable). There is an extensive index, but no table of contents (the book starts right out with a 13-page glossary of electrical and mechanical terms (because as will be abundantly clear, the job of running an old-time film projector required LOTS of electrical and mechanical knowhow) and two pages of standards adopted by the Society of Motion Picture Engineers, founded in 1916. (This is the stated "Second Edition" of this book, and in trying to determine when the first edition was published, I discovered that this book began its publication life not as a generalized manual, but rather one with a specific purpose and intended audience: OCLC records that it was issued by the Red Cross Institute for Crippled and Disabled Men in both 1918 and 1919, under the titles, respectively, "Elementary Text Book on Motion Picture Projection" and "Instruction of Disabled Men in Motion Picture Projection: An Elementary Text Book." Was training as a motion picture projectionist perhaps considered a form of occupational therapy for World War I veterans? It should be noted, also, that the earlier edition was only 140 pages in length, compared to 562 in this 1921 printing. This continued to be a standard reference for many years, with new editions being issued regularly until at least 1972.) . (Inventory #: 29689)