"Woman: the World Over": a lecture to accompany a series of 54 photographic transparencies for the optical lantern, 1901

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View — "Woman: the World Over" glass lantern slides lecture set

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Access restricted. Collection contains fragile photographic formats. Collection has been digitized and the images are available through this finding aid or on the Duke Libraries Digital Collections...
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Summary

Creator:
Baskin, Lisa Unger, former owner, Sallie Bingham Center for Women's History and Culture, and Lisa Unger Baskin Collection (David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library)
Abstract:
Collection consists of a commercially produced set of 48 hand-colored glass lantern slides entitled "Woman: The World Over," published in 1901 by Riley Brothers in Bradford, England. The original printed booklet accompanying the set lists 53 slides in all, and contains detailed lecture-format captions. The women in the portraits represent nations around the world. Subjects include women of different classes; married women and women in courtship; there are women depicted in their homes, with children, and in roles which the lecture suggests are little more than slaves. Other slides show women working in agricultural, service, and industrial settings, and gambling and climbing mountains. There is one slide of the Women's Temple in Chigago, headquarters of the Women's Christian Temperance Union. Lecture notes refer to problematic social conditions for women, particularly regarding marriage, and changing social norms as the 20th century begins. One slide is black-and-white. All titles are original, as is the slide sequence. Acquired as part of the Lisa Unger Baskin Collection at Duke University.
Extent:
49 items (1 box; 1 pamphlet binder)
Physical description:
48 glass slides; 1 printed booklet.
Language:
Materials in English
Collection ID:
RL.11535

Background

Scope and content:

Collection consists of a nearly complete lecture set of 48 hand-colored glass lantern slides published in England. The original printed booklet accompanying the set bears the full title, "Woman: the world over. A lecture to accompany a series of 54 photographic transparencies for the optical lantern." The price appearing on the booklet is sixpence.

The booklet lists 53 slides in this set, and contains detailed lecture-format captions which would be read aloud as the slides were projected. The series is incomplete: numbers 28, 47, 48, 51, 53, and 54 are not present. Titles are also printed along the mount edges of each slide but are obscured in a few cases by black repair tape. All titles are original, as is the slide order. The titles and lecture script contain historical terms and language that may be offensive to modern-day audiences. The slides measure 3 1/4 inches square (83 x 83 mm).

The slides and lecture notes were originally arranged in six series, retained in this description: Woman in Society; The Domestic Woman; Woman in Subjection; Emancipated Woman; Woman the Breadwinner; and Angelic Woman.

The women in the portraits represent races, cultures and nations around the world, among which British Guiana, China, Iceland, India, Japan, Netherlands, the Philippines, Russia, Switzerland, Tonga, Tunisia, and the U.S. There are portraits of women with high social status, married women, and women in courtship; there are women depicted in their homes, women with children, and in roles of subjugation which the lecture suggests are little more than slaves. A few images include men.

The series "Woman the Breadwinner" includes agricultural, craft, and industrial scenes, and a slide of women nurses attending to patients. The "Emancipated Woman" series includes an actress, a group of nurses, and women mountaineering. There is one slide of the Women's Temple in Chigago, headquarters for the Women's Christian Temperance Union from 1892 to 1926. Titles are present on the edges of most of the glass slide mounts, and are listed in full in the booklet.

The booklet's lecture notes refer to problematic social conditions for women, particularly regarding marriage, as well as changing social norms as the 20th century begins. The series ends with romantic images of ideal women, chiefly through the lens of courtship and beauty. Most of the missing slides are from this group.

The set held by the Rubenstein is numbered 1239 in the lecture booklet. There is no date on either the slides or the booklet, but the Women's Temple in Chigago, completed in 1892, provides the earliest date. A slide entitled "Wife of the Khedive" helps provide the latest date: the Egyptian title "Khedive" was last used in 1914. The Lucerna Magic Lantern Web Resource (viewed online November 8 2017) gives the publisher as the Riley Brothers of Bradford, Yorkshire, England, and the publication date as 1901.

Acquired as part of the Sallie Bingham Center for Women's History and Culture and the Lisa Unger Baskin Collection at Duke University.

Acquisition information:
The "Woman: the World Over" glass lantern slide lecture set was received by the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book Manuscript Library as part of the Lisa Unger Baskin Collection in 2016.
Processing information:

Processed and encoded by Paula Jeannet, November 2017.

Physical facet:
48 glass lantern slides; one printed booklet
Dimensions:
Slides measure 3 1/4 x 3 1/4 inches
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Contents

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Restrictions:

Access restricted. Collection contains fragile photographic formats.

Collection has been digitized and the images are available through this finding aid or on the Duke Libraries Digital Collections online site.

Terms of access:

The copyright interests in this collection have not been transferred to Duke University. For more information, consult the copyright section of the Regulations and Procedures of the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library.

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Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], "Woman: The World Over" glass lantern slides lecture set, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University.