The late 1920s and early 1930s… Wilfrid Bovey, then director of McGill University’s Department of Extramural Relations, provided the public with access to a set of illustrated lectures on various subjects. The lecture kits, which were mailed out to interested institutions or groups, were made up of lecture booklets accompanied by glass slides for magic lanterns.

The McCord Museum owns 15 of these booklets (which deal with the history and geography of Canada and its provinces) along with some 1 250 glass slides that accompanied them. This is your chance to learn more about them!

What is so magical about the magic lantern?
And what is a lantern slide?
Origin and Technical Description

A magic lantern cabinet at the McCord?
Provenance and Description

McGill’s illustrated lectures:
when, for whom and for what purpose?
Uses of the Magic Lantern