This Friday night, Morbid Anatomy presents at Observatory a night of arcane media and Victorian projection! Join collector and film-maker Ronni Thomas as he displays his collection of Diableries slides--masterfully designed 3d stereo 'tissues' created in france in the 19th Century depicting the daily life of Satan and his cohorts; see above--coupled with an illustrated lecture about the history of these fantastic artifacts and their kin. Come early and stay late to enjoy the phonograph stylings of DJ Davin Kuntze. Guests are also invited to bring their own arcane media and viewers!

Full details follow; Hope very very much to see you there!

Diableries, Medical Oddities and Ghosts in Amazing Victorian 3D!
An illustrated lecture and artifact display by filmmaker and collector Ronni Thomas
Date: Friday, July 30th
Time: 8:00 PM
Admission: $5
Presented by Morbid Anatomy

Tonight, join Observatory for a night of unique 3D stereo-views from the 1800s featuring HAUNTING double exposure ghost images, DISTURBING medical anomalies and the ever ELUSIVE french Diableries (or devil tissues)!

3D is very much in the news these days, and while hollywood has finally come close to perfecting this technology for the silver screen, people are largely unaware that the Victorians were also aficionados of 3D technologies, and that this interest often took a turn towards the macabre. Tonight, filmmaker and collector Ronni Thomas will lecture on the history of macabre 3D spectacles of the Victorian age, especially the infamous Diableries series–masterfully designed 3D stereo ’tissues’ created in france in the 19th century, backlit and featuring ornate scenes depicting the daily life of Satan in Hell (see image to left for example). Tongue in cheek and often controversial, these macabre spectacles give us a very interesting look at the 19th century’s lighthearted obsession with death and the macabre, serving as a wonderful demonstration of the Victorian fascination with themes such as the afterlife, heaven, hell and death.

In addition to the lecture, Thomas will display original Diablaries and other artifacts from his own collection. Guests are encouraged to bring their own pieces and, better yet, a stereo-viewer.

You can find out more about this presentation here. You can find out more about the Diablaries by clicking here. You can get directions to Observatory--which is next door to the Morbid Anatomy Library (more on that here)--by clicking here. You can find out more about Observatory here, join our mailing list by clicking here, and join us on Facebook by clicking here.

Image: Found on the wonderful pre-cinema resource Early Visual Media; Caption: An Image from the Diableries series--masterfully designed 3d stereo 'tissues' created in france in the 19th Century.