Praxinoscope

12 mirrors Praxinoscope in decorative box including 14 color picture strips. This smoothly working Praxinoscope has a wooden base and a strong, paper decorated, good quality plastic drum with copper top. All picture strips are nicely printed in color on strong high quality paper reproductions of vintage samples. All strips are working perfectly and well demonstrate the illusion of movement by still images, thanks to the correct relation between the number of mirrors and number of images on the strips, a principle of utmost importance to guarantee a good illusion of animation. The mirrors are slightly tinted and have a 'old mirrorlike' deforming surface which improves the vintage look of the whole design. The diameter of the drum is 20,5 cm.

This scientific toy with animated images also relies in retinal persistence to make us believe we are seeing images in motion.

The praxinoscope was patented by the Frenchman Emile Reynaud in 1877, who was looking to overcome the deficiencies of the zoetrope, which enjoyed enormous popularity at the time. His apparatus was the first to eliminate the distorted view of the images in movement caused by insufficient light passing through the small slots of the zoetrope. This improvement in the quality of the image resulted in immediate popularity for the praxinoscope.