View source for Phenakistoscope

{{short description|First widespread animation device that created a fluid illusion of motion}}
[[File:Prof. Stampfer's Stroboscopische Scheibe No. X.gif|thumb|Animated GIF of ''Prof. Stampfer's Stroboscopische Scheibe'' No. X (Trentsensky & Vieweg 1833)]]
[[File:Magic Disk - Disques Magiques (box label).jpg|thumb|A family viewing animations in a mirror through the slits of stroboscopic discs (detail of an illustration by E. Schule on the box label for ''Magic Disk - Disques Magiques'', {{circa|1833}})]]

The '''phenakistiscope''' (also known by the spellings '''phénakisticope''' or '''phenakistoscope''') was the first widespread [[animation]] device that created a fluid illusion of motion. Dubbed {{lang|de|Fantascope}} and {{lang|de|Stroboscopische Scheiben}} ('stroboscopic discs') by its inventors, it has been known under many other names until the French product name {{lang|fr|Phénakisticope}} became common (with alternative spellings). The phenakistiscope is regarded as one of the first forms of moving media entertainment that paved the way for the future motion picture and film industry.<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://filmoterapia.pl/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Through-the-Looking-Glass-Philosophical-Toys-and-Digital-Visual-Effects.pdf |last=Prince |first=Stephen |title=Through the Looking Glass: Philosophical Toys and Digital Visual Effects |journal=Projections |volume=4 |issue=2 |year=2010 |publisher=Berghahn Journals |doi=10.3167/proj.2010.040203 |issn=1934-9688}}</ref> Similar to a [[GIF]] animation, it can only show a short continuous loop.

==Etymology and spelling==
When the product name 'phénakisticope' was introduced in the French newspaper {{lang|fr|[[Le Figaro]]}} on 27 June 1833,<ref>{{Cite web |title=RetroNews.fr - Le site de presse de la BnF |url=https://www.retronews.fr/journal/le-figaro/27-juin-1833/3/25735b38-a494-473f-8fd4-d7963a2070d6?search_text=ph%C3%A9nakisticope |access-date=2025-08-06 |website=www.retronews.fr}}</ref> it was explained to be from the [[Greek language|Greek]] words ''phenakisticos'' for 'to deceive' and ''ops'' for 'eye' ({{lang|grc|φενακιστικός}}, or rather [[wikt:φενακίζω|φενακίζειν]] ''phenakizein'', and [[wikt:ὄψ|ὄψ]] or [[wikt:ὤψ|ὤψ]] ),<ref>{{LSJ|fenakistiko/s|φενακιστικός}}{{LSJ|fenaki/zw|φενακίζειν|ref}}</ref><ref>{{LSJ|o)/y|ὄψ|shortref}},</ref> so it was presumably intended to mean 'optical deception' or 'optical illusion'.

The term phénakisticope was first used by the French company [[Alphonse Giroux]] et Compagnie in their application for an import license (29 May 1833) and this name was used on their box sets.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cinematheque.fr/fr/catalogues/appareils/collection/phenakistiscope-boite-pour-disque-de-ap-95-1693.html |title=Phénakistiscope (boîte pour disque de) AP-95-1693 |trans-title=Phenakistiscope (disk box) AP-95-1693 |language=French |publisher=La Cinémathèque Française |access-date=8 July 2016}}</ref> Fellow Parisian publisher Junin also used the term 'phenakisticope' (both with and without the accent).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cinematheque.fr/fr/catalogues/appareils/collection/phenakistiscope-boite-manche-et-disques-de-cnc-ap-15-1265-1-14.html  |title=Phénakistiscope (boîte, manche et disques de) AP-15-1265 |trans-title=Phénakistiscope (box, sleeve and disk) AP-15-1265 |language=French |publisher=La Cinémathèque Française |access-date=25 July 2016}}</ref>

Inventor [[Joseph Plateau]] did not give a name for the device when he first published about it in January 1833. Later in 1833 he used 'phénakisticope' in an article to refer to the published versions that he was not involved with. By then, he had an authorized set published first as ''Phantasmascope'' (by Ackermann in London), which some months later was changed into ''Fantascope'' for a new edition and sets by other animators.<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tRwAAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA304 |title=Des Illusions d'optique sur lesquelles se fonde le petit appareil appelé récemment Phénakisticope |trans-title=Optical illusions that underlie the small device recently called Phénakisticope |last=Plateau |journal=Annales de chimie et de physique |language=French |page=304 |year=1833 |access-date=19 July 2016}}</ref> In many writings and presentations Plateau used both the terms ''phénakisticope'' and ''fantascope'', seemingly accepting ''phénakisticope'' as the better-known name and holding on to ''fantascope'' as the name he preferred.<ref name=bulletin1836/><ref name=notices1849/>

The spelling 'phenakistiscope' was possibly introduced by lithographers Forrester & Nichol in collaboration with optician John Dunn; they used the title "The Phenakistiscope, or, Magic Disc" for their box sets, as advertised in September 1833. The corrupted part 'scope' was understood to be derived from Greek 'skopos', meaning "aim", "target", "object of attention" or "watcher", "one who watches" (or rather from {{lang|grc|σκοπεῖν}} ''skopein'') and was quite common in the naming of optical devices (e.g. Telescope, Microscope, Kaleidoscope, Fantascope, Bioscope).<ref name=Herbert>{{cite web |url=http://www.stephenherbert.co.uk/phenakPartTwo.htm#fn7 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140227103807/http://www.stephenherbert.co.uk/phenakPartTwo.htm#fn7 |url-status=usurped |archive-date=February 27, 2014 |title=Phenakistoscope Part Two |first=Stephen |last=Herbert |website=www.stephenherbert.co.uk |access-date=19 July 2016}}</ref><ref>{{OEtymD|scope}}</ref><ref>{{LSJ|skopo/s|σκοπός}}, {{LSJ|skope/w|σκοπεῖν|shortref}}.</ref>

The misspelling 'phenakistoscope' can already be found in 1835 in ''The American Journal of Science and Arts''<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=we7ofuG2gFoC&q=phenakistoscope&pg=PA61|title=The American Journal of Science and Arts|date=1835|publisher=S. Converse|language=en}}</ref> and later ended up as a standard name through encyclopedias, for instance in ''A Dictionary of Science, Literature, & Art'' (London, 1842)<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Znw-AAAAIAAJ&q=phenakistoscope&pg=RA81-PP10|title=A Dictionary of Science, Literature, & Art: Comprising the History, Description, and Scientific Principles of Every Branch of Human Knowledge; with the Derivation and Definition of All the Terms in General Use|last=Brande|first=William Thomas|date=1842|publisher=Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans|language=en}}</ref>''Iconographic Encyclopaedia of Science, Literature, and Art'' (New York, 1852).<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bTcoAAAAYAAJ&q=phenakistoscope&pg=PA301|title=Iconographic Encyclopaedia of Science, Literature, and Art|last=Heck|first=Johann Georg|date=1852|publisher=R. Garrigue|language=en}}</ref>

==Technology==
[[File:PhantasmascopeBedfordMuseum.JPG|thumb|A "Phantasmascope" with cards on display in [[Bedford Museum]], [[England]].]]

The phenakistiscope is typically a cardboard disc with an array of sequential pictures around its center and evenly spaced rectangular apertures around the rim. To view the pictures in motion, the disc is placed on a handle and spun in front of a mirror while the user looks through the slits from the back of the disc. If the disc spins quickly enough, the visual system fuses the alternating views of the reflected image and the intervening cardboard (a phenomenon known as [[flicker fusion]]). During the unnoticed gaps, each image is replaced by the next in the sequence, perceived as the same figure going through the depicted phases of motion. 

The [[stroboscopic effect|stroboscopic]] view through the slits prevents [[motion blur]] in the perception of the spinning pictures – the slimmer the slits, the sharper but darker the image.

If there are as many slits as pictures, the figures appear to move in a fixed position and will not drift across the disc. Fewer images than slots and the images will drift in the opposite direction to that of the spinning disc. More images than slots and the images will drift in the same direction as the spinning disc.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.stephenherbert.co.uk/wheelZOETROPEpart2.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140505163443/http://www.stephenherbert.co.uk/wheelZOETROPEpart2.htm |url-status=usurped |archive-date=May 5, 2014 |title=Zoetrope 2 |first=Stephen |last=Herbert |website=www.stephenherbert.co.uk |access-date=20 August 2016}}</ref>

Unlike the [[zoetrope]] and other successors, common versions of the phénakisticope could only practically be viewed by one person at a time.

The velocity of the disc causes a slight distortion in the perception of the pictures; they appear a bit slimmer and slightly curved. Animators can counter the effect to some extent by increasing the width and of the figures and bend them into the other way as the distorted curves, but the amount of distortion to be compensated varies because it depends on the speed. Most phenakisticope animations are not intended to give a realistic representation and the distortion isn't very obvious in cartoonish pictures.

The distortion and the flicker caused by the rotating slits are not seen in most phénakisticope animations now found online (including the GIF animation on this page), as these are usually animations created with software and do not replicate the actual viewing experience of a phénakisticope. However, they can present the work of the animators in an optimized fashion. Some miscalculated modern re-animations also have the slits rotating (which would appear motionless when viewed through an actual phénakisticope) and the figures moving across the discs where they were supposed to stand still (or standing still when they were supposed to move around).

Most commercially produced discs are [[lithographic]] prints that were colored by hand, but also multi-color lithography and other printing techniques have been used by some manufacturers.

==Invention==
[[File:Phenakistiscope.jpg|thumb|Joseph Plateau's illustration in ''Corresp. Math.'' (1833)]]

The phenakisticope was invented almost [[Simultaneous invention|simultaneously]] around December 1832 by the Belgian physicist [[Joseph Plateau]] and the Austrian professor of practical geometry [[Simon Stampfer]].

As a university student Plateau noticed in some early experiments that when looking from a small distance at two concentric cogwheels that turned fast in opposite directions, it produced the optical illusion of a motionless wheel. He later read [[Peter Mark Roget]]'s 1824 article ''Explanation of an optical deception in the appearance of the spokes of a wheel when seen through vertical apertures'' which addressed the same illusion. Plateau decided to investigate the phenomenon further and later published his findings in ''Correspondance Mathématique et Physique'' in 1828.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ezcDAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA393 |title=Correspondance mathématique et physique |publisher=Garnier and Quetelet |location=Brussels |language=French |page=393 |year=1828 |volume=4}}</ref> In a letter to the same scientific periodical dated December 5, 1829 he presented his (still nameless) [[Anorthoscope]], a disc that turns an anamorphic picture into a normal picture when it is spun fast and seen through the four radial slits of a counter-rotating black disc.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wDcDAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA121 |title=Correspondance mathématique et physique |publisher=Garnier and Quetelet |location=Brussels |language=French |page=121 |year=1830 |volume=6}}</ref> This invention was later marketed, for instance by Newton & Co in London.

On 10 December 1830 [[Michael Faraday]] presented a paper at the [[Royal Institution|Royal Institution of Great Britain]] called ''On a Peculiar Class of Optical Deceptions'' about the optical illusions that could be found in rotating wheels. He referred to Roget's paper and described his associated new findings.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/stream/journalofroyalin01roya#page/204/mode/2up|title=On a peculiar Class of Optical Deceptions|last=Faraday|first=Michael|date=February 1831}}</ref> Much was similar to what Plateau had published and Faraday not only acknowledged this publicly but also corresponded with Plateau personally and sent him his paper. Some of Faraday's experiments were new to Plateau and especially the one with a fixed image produced by a turning wheel in front of the mirror inspired Plateau with the idea for new illusions. In July 1832 Plateau sent a letter to Faraday and added an experimental disc with some "anamorphoses" that produced a "completely immobile image of a little perfectly regular horse" when rotated in front of a mirror.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Correspondence of Michael Faraday: 1832–1840 |chapter=Letter to Faraday |last=Plateau |first=Joseph |editor-first=Frank A.J.L. |editor-last=James |publisher=The Institute of Electrical Engineers |location=London |year=1993 |orig-date=24 July 1832 |volume=2 |isbn=9780863412493 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9lknVoNGj30C&pg=PA107}}</ref> After several attempts and many difficulties he constructed a working model of the phénakisticope in November or December 1832. Plateau published his invention in a 20 January 1833 letter to ''Correspondance Mathématique et Physique''.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RxNbAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA365 |title=Correspondance mathématique et physique |publisher=Garnier and Quetelet |location=Brussels |language=French |page=365 |year=1832 |volume=7}}</ref> He believed that if the manner of producing the illusions could be somehow modified, they could be put to other uses, "for example, in [[phantasmagoria]]".<ref>{{cite book |title=The Correspondence of Michael Faraday: 1832–1840 |chapter=Letter to Faraday |last=Plateau |first=Joseph |editor-first=Frank A.J.L. |editor-last=James |publisher=The Institute of Electrical Engineers |location=London |year=1993 |orig-date=8 March 1833 |volume=2 |isbn=9780863412493 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9lknVoNGj30C&pg=PA71}}</ref>

Stampfer read about Faraday's findings in December 1832 and was inspired to do similar experiments, which soon led to his invention of what he called ''Stroboscopischen Scheiben oder optischen Zauberscheiben'' (stroboscope discs or optical magic discs). Stampfer had thought of placing the sequence of images on either a disc, a cylinder (like the later zoetrope) or, for a greater number of images, on a long, looped strip of paper or canvas stretched around two parallel rollers (much like film reels). He also suggests covering up most of the disc or the mirror with a cut-out sheet of cardboard so that one sees only one of the moving figures and painting theatrical coulisses and backdrops around the cut-out part (somewhat similar to the later Praxinoscope-Theatre). 
Stampfer also mentioned a version which has a disc with pictures on one end and a slotted disc on the other side of an axis, but he found spinning the disc in front of a mirror more simple. By February 1833 he had prepared six double-sided discs, which were later published by Trentsensky & Vieweg. Matthias Trentsensky and Stampfer were granted an Austrian patent (Kaiserlichen königlichen Privilegium) for the discs on 7 May 1833.<ref name=Stampfer1833>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xUk0AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA2 |title=Die stroboscopischen Scheiben; oder, Optischen Zauberscheiben: Deren Theorie und wissenschaftliche anwendung, erklärt von dem Erfinder  |trans-title=The stroboscopic discs; or optical magic discs: Its theory and scientific application, explained by the inventor |first=Simon |last=Stampfer |language=German |publisher=Trentsensky and Vieweg |location=Vienna and Leipzig |page=2 |year=1833}}</ref>

Publisher and Plateau's doctoral adviser [[Adolphe Quetelet]] claimed to have received a working model to present to Faraday as early as November 1832.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SrpZAAAAcAAJ&q=Quetelet |title=Annalen der Physik und Chemie |trans-title=Annual of Physics and Chemistry |language=German |first=Johann C. |last=Poggendorff |publisher=Johann Ambrosius Barth |location=Leipzig |year=1834}}</ref> Plateau mentioned in 1836 that he thought it difficult to state the exact time when he got the idea, but he believed he was first able to successfully assemble his invention in December. He stated to trust the assertion of Stampfer to have invented his version at the same time.<ref name=bulletin1836>{{cite periodical |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XLk7AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA9 |title=Lectures |periodical=Bulletin de l'Académie Royale des Sciences et Belles-Lettres de Bruxelles |volume=III |number=1 |pages=9–10 |publisher=l'Académie Royale |location=Brussels |language=French |year=1836}}</ref>

Peter Mark Roget claimed in 1834 to have constructed several phénakisticopes and showed them to many friends as early as in the spring of 1831, but as a consequence of more serious occupations he did not get around to publishing any account of his invention.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pP1LAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA524 |title=Bridgewater treatises on the power, wisdom, and goodness of God as manifested in the creation – Treatise V, Vol II |first=Peter Mark |last=Roget |page=524 |year=1834 |access-date=19 July 2016}}</ref>

==Commercial production==
{{multiple images|perrow=1
|image1=Phenakistoscope 3g07690u.jpg
|caption1=A paper [[zoopraxiscope]] disc by [[Eadweard Muybridge]] (1893)
|image2=Phenakistoscope 3g07690b.gif
|caption2=Re-animation from that disc
}}
[[Image:Animated_phenakistiscope_disc_-_Running_rats_Fantascope_by_Thomas_Mann_Baynes_1833.gif|thumb|200px|Animation of a ''Fantascope'' disc by [[Thomas Mann Baynes]], 1833]]

According to Mathias Trentsensky, of art dealer and publishing company Trentsensky & Vieweg, Stampfer had prepared six double-sided discs as early as February 1833 and had repeatedly demonstrated these to many friends. In April 1833 Trentsensky applied for an Austrian patent (k.k. Privilegium) together with Stampfer, which was granted on 7 May 1833. A first edition of four double-sided discs was soon published, but it sold out within four weeks and left them unable to ship orders.<ref name=Stampfer1833 /> These discs probably had round holes as illustrated in an 1868 article<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H0FHAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA439 |title=On the Zoetrope and its antecedents |first=William |last=Carpenter |page=439 |journal=The Student and Intellectual Observer of Science, Literature and Art |publisher=Groombridge and Sons |date=February 1868}}</ref> and a 1922 reconstruction by William Day,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cinematheque.fr/fr/catalogues/appareils/collection/phenakistiscope-disque-de-ap-94-345.html |title=Phenakistiscope (disque de) AP-94-345 |trans-title=Phenakistiscope (disk) AP-94-345 |language=French |publisher=La Cinémathèque Française |access-date=8 July 2016}}</ref> but no original copies are known to still exist.
Trentsensky & Vieweg published an improved and expanded set of eight double-sided discs with vertical slits in July 1833. English editions were published not much later with James Black and Joseph Myers & Co. A total of 28 different disc designs have been credited to Professor Stampfer.

Joseph Plateau never patented his invention, but he did design his own set of six discs for [[Rudolph Ackermann|Ackermann & Co]] in London. The series was published in July 1833 as ''Phantasmascope''. In October 1833, Ackermann & Co changed the name of the series to ''Fantascope'' and released two more sets of six discs each, one designed by [[Thomas Talbot Bury]] and one by [[Thomas Mann Baynes]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/69248236/ackermann-fantascope-advertisement |title=Elegant Christmas Gift |page=1 |journal=The Hull Packet |location=[[Hull, England]] |number=((2,553)) |date=25 October 1833}}</ref>

In the meantime some other publishers had apparently been inspired by the first edition of Professor Stampfer's Stroboscopische Scheiben: 
Alphonse Giroux et Compagnie applied for a French import license on 28 May 1833 for 'Le Phénakisticope' and were granted one on 5 August 1833. They had a first set of 12 single sided discs available before the end of June 1833.<ref name=Figaro-1833-06-27>{{cite news |url=http://gallicalabs.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k2678190/f3.zoom |title=Le Figaro : journal littéraire : théâtre, critique, sciences, arts, moeurs, nouvelles, scandale, économie |number=178 |language=fr |date=27 June 1833 |access-date=20 July 2016}}{{dead link|date=April 2021}}</ref> Before the end of December 1833 they released two more sets.

By 16 June 1833, Joh. Val. Albert published ''Die belebte Wunderscheibe'' in Frankfurt<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SFwZAAAAYAAJ&q=belebte+wunderscheibe&pg=PA5 |title=Die belebte Wunderscheibe |trans-title=The animated wonder wheel |page=5 |journal=Beilage zum Frankfurter Journal |number=164 |location=Frankfurt |language=German |date=16 June 1833}}</ref> and soon marketed internationally. This version had uncut discs with pictures and a separate larger disc with round holes. The set of ''Die Belebte Wunderscheibe'' in Dick Balzer's collection<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.dickbalzer.com/Phenakistascopes.604.0.html |title=Phenakistascopes |website=dickbalzer.com |first=Dick |last=Balzer |year=2007 |access-date=20 July 2016}}</ref> shows several discs with designs that are very similar to those of Stampfer and about half of them are also very similar to those of Giroux's first set. 
It is unclear where these early designs (other than Stampfer's) originated, but many of them would be repeated on many discs of many other publishers. It is unlikely that much of this copying was done with any licensing between companies or artists.

Joseph Plateau and Simon Stampfer both complained around July 1833 that the designs of the discs they had seen around (besides their own) were poorly executed and they did not want to be associated with them.

The phénakisticope became very popular and soon there were very many other publishers releasing discs with numerous names, including:
* Periphanoscop – oder Optisches Zauber-theater / ou Le Spectacle Magique / or The Magical Spectacle (by R.S. Siebenmann, Arau, August 1833) 
* Toover-schijf (by A. van Emden, Amsterdam, August 1833)
* Fores's Moving Panorama, or Optical Illusions (London, September 1833)
* The Phenakistiscope or Magic Disc (by Forrester & Nichol & John Dunn, September 1833)
* Motoscope, of wonderschijf (Amsterdam, September 1833)
* McLean's Optical Illusions, or, Magic Panorama (London, November 1833)
* Le Fantascope (by Dero-Becker, Belgium, December 1833)
* The Phenakisticope, or Living Picture (by W. Soffe, December 1833)
* Soffe's Phantascopic Pantomime, or Magic Illusions (December 1834)
* Wallis's Wheel of Wonders (London, December 1834)
* The Laughingatus, or Magic Circle (by [[G.S. Tregear]], {{circa|1835}})
* Le Phenakisticope (by Junin, Paris, 1839?)
* Das Phorolyt oder die magische Doppelscheibe (by Purkyně & Pornatzki, Breslau, 1841)
* Optische Zauber-Scheiben / Disques Magique (unknown origin, one set executed by Frederic Voigtlaender)
* Optische Belustigungen – Optical Amusements – Optic Amusements (unknown origin)
* Fantasmascope. Tooneelen in den spiegel (K. Fuhri, The Hague, 1848)
* Kinesiskop (designed by Purkyně, published by Ferdinand Durst, Prague, 1861)
* The Magic Wheel (by J. Bradburn, US, 1864)
* L'Ékonoscope (by Pellerin & Cie, France, 1868)
* Pantinoscope (with ''Journal des Demoiselles'', France, 1868)
* Magic Circle (by G. Ingram, {{circa|1870}})
* Tableaux Animés – Nouveau Phénakisticope (by Wattilaux, France, {{circa|1875}})
* The [[Zoopraxiscope]] (by Eadward Muybridge, US, 1893)
* Prof. Zimmerman's Ludoscope (by Harbach & Co, Philadelphia, 1904)

After its commercial introduction by the [[Milton Bradley Company]], the [[Zoetrope]] (patented in 1867) soon became the more popular animation device and consequently fewer phénakisticopes were produced.

==Variations==
Many versions of the phénakisticope used smaller illustrated uncut cardboard discs that had to be placed on a larger slotted disc. A common variant had the illustrated disc on one end of a brass axis and the slotted disc on the other end; this was slightly more unwieldy but needed no mirror and was claimed to produce clearer images.

Fores offered an ''Exhibitor'': a handle for two slotted discs with the pictures facing each other which allowed two viewers to look at the animations at the same time, without a mirror.

A few discs had a shaped edge on the cardboard to allow for the illusion of figures crawling over the edge. Ackermann & Co published three of those discs in 1833, including one by inventor Joseph Plateau.

Some versions added a wooden stand with a hand-cranked mechanism to spin the disc.

Several phénakisticope projectors with glass discs were produced and marketed since the 1850s.<ref name=Herbertproj1>{{cite web |url=http://www.stephenherbert.co.uk/wheelPROJECTINGpart1.htm |archive-url=https://archive.today/20161124022416/http://www.stephenherbert.co.uk/wheelPROJECTINGpart1.htm |url-status=usurped |archive-date=November 24, 2016 |title=Projection Phenakistoscope 1 |first=Stephen |last=Herbert |website=www.stephenherbert.co.uk |access-date=19 July 2016}}</ref>

Joseph Plateau created a combination of his phénakisticope and his [[Anorthoscope]] sometime between 1844 and 1849, resulting in a back-lit transparent disc with a sequence of figures that are animated when it is rotated behind a counter-rotating black disc with four illuminated slits, spinning four times as fast. Unlike the phénakisticope several persons could view the animation at the same time. This system has not been commercialised;  the only known two handmade discs are in the Joseph Plateau Collection of the Ghent University. Belgian painter [[Jean Baptiste Madou]] created the first images on these discs and Plateau painted the successive parts.<ref name=notices1849>{{cite book|title=Sur de nouvelles applications curieuses de la persistance des impressions|language=French|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=L11NAAAAcAAJ&q=%22royale%20de%20belgique%22%20plateau%20%22sur%20de%20nouvelles%20applications%20curieuses%20de%20la%20persistance%20des%20impressions%22&pg=PT113|last=Plateau|first=Joseph|year=1827}}</ref><ref name=dorikens>{{cite book|title=Joseph Plateau 1801–1883: Living between Art and Science|last=Dorikens|first=Maurice|year=2001}}</ref>

In 1849 Joseph Plateau discussed the possibilities of combining the phénakisticope with the [[stereoscope]] as suggested to him by its inventor [[Charles Wheatstone]].<ref name=notices1849/> In 1852 Duboscq patented such a "Stéréoscope-fantascope, stéréofantscope ou Bïoscope". Of three planned variations only one was actually produced but without much success. Only one extant disc is known, which is in the Plateau collection of Ghent University.<ref name=dorikens/>

== Projection ==
A plan for a phénakisticope projector with a transparent disc was published by Englishman T.W. Naylor in 1843 in the ''Mechanics' Magazine – Volume 38''. His letter was illustrated with a detailed side view of the device. Naylor suggested tracing the pictures of available phenakisticopes onto glass with transparent paint and painting the rest black. Nothing else is known of Naylor or his machine.<ref name=Herbertproj1/><ref>{{cite journal |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3XY4AAAAMAAJ&pg=PA319 |title=Phantasmagoria for the exhibition of moving figures |first=T.W. |last=Naylor |journal=Mechanics Magazine |editor=J.C. Robertsone |publisher=James Bounsall |location=London |number=1027 |page=319 |date=15 April 1843}}</ref>

Austrian magician Ludwig Döbler debuted projected animations with his patented version of the ''Phantaskop'' in his show on 15 January 1847, at the Josephstadt Theatre in [[Vienna]]. The spectacle was well-received with sold-out shows in several European cities during a tour that lasted until the spring of 1848, although one critic complained about the flickering quality of the stroboscopic images.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tnY-AQAAMAAJ&q=geyling%20phantaskop&pg=PA58|title=Allgemeine Theaterzeitung und Originalblatt für Kunst, Literatur, und geselliges Leben|date=1847|publisher=im Bureau der Theaterzeitung|language=de}}</ref><ref name=before1896>{{Cite journal|last=Rossell|first=Deac|title=The Exhibition of Moving Pictures before 1896 |journal=KINtop: Jahrbuch zur Erforschung des frühenFilms |year=2006 |url=https://www.academia.edu/378569|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://anno.onb.ac.at/cgi-content/anno?aid=geg&datum=18470118&seite=4&zoom=48&query=%22d%C3%B6bler%22&ref=anno-search|title=ANNO, Die Gegenwart. Politisch-literarisches Tagblatt, 1847-01-18, Seite 4|website=anno.onb.ac.at|access-date=2020-04-15}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://anno.onb.ac.at/cgi-content/anno?aid=osm&datum=18470203&seite=2&zoom=33&query=%22d%C3%B6bler%22&ref=anno-search|title=ANNO, Österreichisches Morgenblatt; Zeitschrift für Vaterland, Natur und Leben, 1847-02-03, Seite 2|website=anno.onb.ac.at|access-date=2020-04-15}}</ref>

[[Franz von Uchatius]] started to develop an animation projector in 1851. Instrument maker Wenzel Prokesch made a first model for him which could only project images of a few inches in diameter. A more successful second model by Prokesch had a stationary disc with transparent pictures with a separate lens for each picture focused on the same spot on a screen. A limelight revolved rapidly behind the disc to project the sequential images one by one in succession. This model was demonstrated to the [[Austrian Academy of Sciences]] in 1853. Prokesch marketed the machine and sold one to Döbler, who used it in his shows that also included other magic lantern techniques, like [[dissolving views]].<ref name=Herbertproj1/>

From around 1853 until the 1890s J. Duboscq in Paris marketed different models of a projection phénakisticope. It had a glass disc with a diameter of 34 centimeters for the pictures and a separate disc with four lenses. The discs rotated at different speeds.<ref name=Herbertproj1/><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cinematheque.fr/fr/catalogues/appareils/collection/phenakistiscope-de-projectionap-95-1631.html |title=Phénakistiscope de projection (AP-95-1631) |language=French |publisher=La Cinémathèque Française |access-date=4 June 2017}}</ref>

An "Optical Instrument" was patented in the U.S. in 1869 by O.B. Brown, using a phenakistiscope-like disc with a technique very close to the later cinematograph; with [[Maltese Cross]] motion; a star-wheel and pin being used for intermittent motion, and a two-sector shutter.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://patents.google.com/patent/US93594 |title=U.S. Patent No. 93,594 |date=10 August 1869}}</ref>

Thomas Ross developed a small transparent phénakisticope system, called ''Wheel of life'', which fitted inside a standard magic lantern slide. A first version, patented in 1869, had a glass disc with eight phases of a movement and a counter-rotating glass shutter disc with eight apertures. The discs depicted Ice Skaters, Fishes, Giant's Ladder, Bottle Imp and other subjects. An improved version had 13 images and a single slot shutter disc and received British Patent 2685 on 10 October 1871.<ref name=Herbertproj1/><ref>{{cite web |url=http://collection.sciencemuseum.org.uk/objects/co8085514/ross-wheel-of-life-magic-lantern-slide-magic-lantern-slide |title=Ross 'Wheel of Life' magic lantern slide |publisher=Science Museum Group |location=London |access-date=4 June 2017}}</ref>

Henry Renno Heyl presented his ''Phasmatrope'' on 5 February 1870 at the [[Philadelphia Academy of Music]]. This modified magic lantern had a wheel that could hold 16 photographic slides and a shutter. The wheel was rotated in front of the light source by an intermittent mechanism to project the slides successively (probably with a speed of 3 fps<ref name=pony>{{cite web |url=https://ejmuybridge.wordpress.com/2010/01/ |title=Leland Stanford Jr, on his pony |first=Stephen  |last=Herbert |work=Muy Blog |location=UK |date=27 January 2010 |access-date=4 June 2017}}</ref>). The program contained three subjects: All Right (a popular Japanese acrobat), [[Brother Jonathan]] and a waltzing couple. Brother Jonathan addressed the audience with a voice actor behind the screen and professed that "this art will rapidly develop into one of the greatest merit for instruction and enjoyment." The pictures of the waltzing couple survived and consist of four shots of costumed dancers (Heyl and a female dancing partner) that were repeated four times in the wheel. The pictures were posed. Capturing movement with "instantaneous photography" would first be established by Eadward Muybridge in 1878.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IEUMWToGOtUC&q=heyl+phasmatrope&pg=PA47 |title=The Emergence of Cinema: The American Screen to 1907 |volume=1 |page=47 |first=Charles |last=Musser |publisher=University of California Press |year=1990 |isbn=9780520085336 |access-date=4 June 2017}}</ref>

[[Eadward Muybridge]] created his ''[[Zoopraxiscope]]'' in 1879 and lectured until 1894 with this projector for glass discs on which pictures in transparent paint were derived from his chronophotographic plates.

== Scientific use ==
The phénakisticope was invented through scientific research into optical illusions and published as such, but soon the device was marketed very successfully as an entertaining novelty toy. After the novelty wore off, it was mostly seen as a toy for children. Nonetheless, some scientists still regard it as a useful demonstration tool.<ref name=Herbert/>

The Czech physiologist [[Jan Evangelista Purkyně|Jan Purkyně]] used his version, called Phorolyt, in lectures since 1837.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=d9xDAQAAMAAJ&pg=RA4-PA62 |title=Uebersicht der Arbeiten und Veränderungen im Jahre 1841 |trans-title=Overview of works and changes in the year 1841 |pages=62–63 |language=German |location=Breslau |year=1842}}
</ref> In 1861 one of the subjects he illustrated was the beating of a heart.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cinematheque.fr/fr/catalogues/appareils/collection/phenakistiscope-disque-de-ap-94-374.html |title=Phenakistiscope (disque de) AP-94-374 |trans-title=Phenakistiscope (disk) AP-94-374 |language=French |publisher=La Cinémathèque Française |access-date=20 July 2016}}</ref>

German physicist [[Johann Heinrich Jakob Müller]] published a set of 8 discs depicting several wave motions (waves of sound, air, water, etcetera) with J.V. Albert in Frankfurt in 1846.<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-RwAAAAAMAAJ&pg=PG271 |title=Anwendung der strboskopischen Scheibe zur Versinnlichung der Grundgesetze der Wellenlehre; von J.Muller, in Freiburg |trans-title=Application of stroboscopic disc for demonstration of the basic laws of wave theory; by J. Muller, in Freiburg |journal=Annalen der Physik und Chemie |volume=67
|publisher=J. C. Poggendorff |location=Leipzig |language=German |pages=271–272 |year=1846 |access-date=20 July 2016}}</ref>

The famous English pioneer of photographic motion studies [[Eadweard Muybridge]] built a phenakisticope projector for which he had his photographs rendered as contours on glass discs. The results were not always very scientific; he often edited his photographic sequences for aesthetic reasons and for the glass discs he sometimes even reworked images from multiple photographs into new combinations. An entertaining example is the sequence of a man somersaulting over a bull chased by a dog.<ref name=pony/> Only one disc features photographs; a sequence of a horse skeleton with its legs positioned according to the successive phases of a running gait (thus an early application of the [[stop motion]] technique). Muybridge first called his apparatus Zoogyroscope, but soon settled on the name Zoöpraxiscope. He used it in countless lectures on human and animal locomotion between 1880 and 1895.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.stephenherbert.co.uk/mZoo.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110909130905/http://www.stephenherbert.co.uk/mZoo.htm |url-status=usurped |archive-date=September 9, 2011 |title=Compleat Eadweard Muybridge – Zoopraxiscope Story |first=Stephen |last=Herbert |website=www.stephenherbert.co.uk |access-date=19 July 2016}}</ref>

==20th and 21st centuries==
The [[Joseph Plateau Award]], a trophy resembling a phénakisticope, was a Belgian movie award given yearly between 1985 and 2006.

Several vinyl music releases have phénakistiscope-like animations on the labels or on the vinyl itself. In 1956 Red Raven Movie Records started a series of 78 RPM 8" singles with animations to be viewed with a device with small mirrors similar to a [[praxinoscope]] to be placed on the center of the disc. Since 2010 audio-visual duo Sculpture has released several picture discs with very elaborate animations to be viewed under a [[stroboscope]] flashing exactly 25 times per second, or filmed with a video camera shooting progressively at a very high shutter speed with a frame rate of 25fps.<ref>{{cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-AUd68okfs&t=333s |title=Red Raven, Bonobo, Sculpture and other animated records |via=YouTube |access-date=22 April 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.discogs.com/lists/Optical-Phenakistoscopes-Zoetropes-Thaumatropes/302199?page=1 |title=Optical: Phenakistoscopes, Zoetropes & Thaumatropes |website=Discogs |location=US |date=February 2017 |access-date=22 April 2017}}</ref>

==''Fantascope invented by Prof. Plateau'' published by Ackermann & Co, London==
The original handmade designs by Joseph Plateau have been preserved in the [[Ghent University Museum]]<ref>{{Cite book |last=Dorikens |first=Maurice |title=Joseph Plateau 1801–1883: Living between Art and Science |publisher=Provincie Oost-Vlaanderen |year=2001 |pages=64 |language=Dutch, French, English}}</ref> The first series was initially titled ''Phantasmacope designed by Prof. Plateau''.
<gallery>
File:Phenakistiscope Pirouetting Man 16 sections.gif|alt=A circular disk with multiple slightly alternating images of a dancer turning around which when you swirl the disk a moving image appears.|<div style="text-align:center">First series, July 1833 <ref>{{Cite web|url=https://images.is.ed.ac.uk/luna/servlet/detail/UoEgal~5~5~163357~369235:Phantasmascope%2C-unpaginated?qvq=q:phantasmascope&mi=4&trs=6 |title=Phantasmascope, unpaginated |website=University of Edinburgh}}</ref><br></div>
File:Phenakistiscope Snakes 16 sections - animated.gif|<div style="text-align:center">First series, July 1833 <ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.cinematheque.fr/fr/catalogues/appareils/collection/phenakistiscope-disque-de-ap-94-212.html |title=Phénakistiscope (disque de) |website=La Cinémathèque française}}</ref><br></div>
File:Phenakistiscope Frog 20 sections.gif|alt=A circular disk with multiple slightly alternating images of a frog leaping which when you swirl the disk the frog appears to move.|First series, July 1833 (original not preserved) <ref>{{Cite web|url=https://images.is.ed.ac.uk/luna/servlet/detail/UoEgal~5~5~163354~369238:Phantasmascope%2C-unpaginated?qvq=q:phantasmascope&mi=0&trs=6 |title=Phantasmascope, unpaginated |website=University of Edinburgh Heritage Collections}}</ref><br>
File:Phenakistiscope Hopping Man 20 sections.gif|alt=A circular disk with multiple slightly alternating images of a creature dancing which when you swirl the disk appears to be moving.|<div style="text-align:center">First series, July 1833 <ref>{{Cite web|url=https://images.is.ed.ac.uk/luna/servlet/detail/UoEgal~5~5~163355~369237:Phantasmascope%2C-unpaginated?qvq=q:phantasmascope&mi=2&trs=6 |title=Phantasmascope, unpaginated |website=University of Edinburgh Heritage Collections}}</ref><br></div>
File:Phenakistiscope Green Face 16 sections.gif|alt=A circular disk with multiple slightly alternating images of a scary green face showing teeth which when you swirl the disk the face appears to come towards you.|<div style="text-align:center">First series, July 1833 <ref>{{Cite web|url=https://images.is.ed.ac.uk/luna/servlet/detail/UoEgal~5~5~163353~369239:Phantasmascope%2C-unpaginated?qvq=q:phantasmascope&mi=1&trs=6|title=Phantasmascope, unpaginated |website=University of Edinburgh Heritage Collections}}</ref><br></div>
File:Phenakistiscope BlueToRedCircles 20 sections.gif|alt=A circular disk with colourful spots for swirling to see a moving image.|<div style="text-align:center">First series, July 1833<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://images.is.ed.ac.uk/luna/servlet/detail/UoEgal~5~5~163358~369234:Phantasmascope%2C-unpaginated?qvq=q:phantasmascope&mi=5&trs=6 |title=Phantasmascope, unpaginated |website=University of Edinburgh Heritage Collections}}</ref><br></div>
File:Dragons Animated Optical Illusion Disc 16 frames 12 fps 1000p.gif|alt=|<div style="text-align:center">Later addition, circa 1833 <ref>{{Cite web|title=Phénakistiscope (disque de) (CNC-AP-97-621) - Collection - Catalogue des appareils cinématographiques - La Cinémathèque française |url=https://www.cinematheque.fr/fr/catalogues/appareils/collection/phenakistiscope-disque-de-cnc-ap-97-621.html |access-date=2025-07-23 |website=www.cinematheque.fr}}</ref><br></div>
</gallery>

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:Optical Toy, Phenakistiscope Disc with Distorted Man, 1833 (Animated).gif|<div style="text-align:center"> ''Prof. Stampfer's Stroboscopische Scheibe No. XVIII'' (Trentsensky & Vieweg) 1833<ref>{{Cite web |title=Optical Toy, Phenakistiscope Disc with Distorted Man, 1833 |url=https://collection.cooperhewitt.org/objects/18607979/ |access-date=2025-07-26 |website=Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum |language=en-us}}</ref><br></div>
File:Optical Toy, Phenakistiscope Disc with Dancing Man, ca. 1835-Animated.gif|<div style="text-align:center">''Prof. Stampfer's Stroboscopische Scheibe No. XX'' (Trentsensky & Vieweg) 1833<ref>{{Cite web |title=Optical Toy, Phenakistiscope Disc with Dancing Man, ca. 1835 |url=https://collection.cooperhewitt.org/objects/18607977/ |access-date=2025-07-26 |website=Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum |language=en-us}}</ref></div>
File:Optical illusion disc with somersaults and horseback riding-whiteBalance-1000p.gif|<div style="text-align:center">[http://loc.gov/pictures/resource/cph.3g08088/ Library of Congress]<br></div>
File:Optical illusion disc with birds, butterflies, and a man jumping-Corrected.gif|<div style="text-align:center">[https://cdn.loc.gov/service/pnp/cph/3g00000/3g08000/3g08000/3g08084v.jpg Library of Congress]<br>1833 </div>
File:Optical Illusion disc with man and frog-Corrected.gif|<div style="text-align:center">[http://loc.gov/pictures/resource/cph.3g08091/ Library of Congress]<br>1833 </div>
File:Optical illusion disc with a face catching a ball and a man with blackface taking a bow-corrected.gif|<div style="text-align:center">[https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/00651160/ Library of Congress]<br>1833 </div>
File:Optical illusion disc with two men throwing and catching cakes and stars-corrected.gif|<div style="text-align:center">[https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/00651159/ Library of Congress]<br>1833 </div>
File:Optical illusion disc with man pumping water-corrected.gif|<div style="text-align:center">[https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/00651162/ Library of Congress]<br>1833 </div>
File:Optical Toy, Phenakistiscope Disc with Cats and Donkey, ca. 1830.gif|<div style="text-align:center"> [http://collection.cooperhewitt.org/objects/18607981/ Cooper Hewitt] <br>1833 </div>
File:The bogle-Corrected.gif|<div style="text-align:center">[https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/00651163/ Library of Congress]<br>1833 </div>
File:Afraid of Nobody-Corrected.gif|<div style="text-align:center">[http://loc.gov/pictures/resource/cph.3g08087/ Library of Congress]<br>1833 </div>
File:Optical Toy, Phenakistiscope Disc with Geometric Shapes, ca. 1840 (CH 18607983)-R.gif|<div style="text-align:center"> [http://collection.cooperhewitt.org/objects/18607983 Cooper Hewitt] <br>1833 </div>
File:Politeness-corrected.gif|<div style="text-align:center">[https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/00651166/ Library of Congress]<br>1833 </div>
File:Optical illusion disc with man jumping rope and a man sticking out his tongue.gif|<div style="text-align:center">[https://loc.gov/pictures/resource/cph.3g08092/ Library of Congress]<br>1833 </div>
File:The desert-corrected.gif|<div style="text-align:center">[http://loc.gov/pictures/resource/cph.3g08083/ Library of Congress]<br>1833 </div>
File:The zoopraxiscope - a horse back somersault-animated.gif|<div style="text-align:center">Eadweard Muybridge '' The Zoopraxiscope. 1 A Horseback Somersault''<ref>{{Cite web |title=The zoopraxiscope - a horse back somersault - digital file from original print {{!}} Library of Congress |url=https://www.loc.gov/resource/ppmsca.05946/ |access-date=2025-07-26 |website=www.loc.gov}}</ref></div>
File:Phenakistoscope 3g07692a.gif|<div style="text-align:center"> Eadweard Muybridge '' The Zoopraxiscope. 2 Athletes Boxing''<ref>{{Citation |last=Muybridge |first=Eadweard |title=The zoopraxiscope--Athletes--Boxing |date=1893-01-01 |url=https://www.loc.gov/resource/ppmsca.05948/ |access-date=2025-07-26 |language=english}}</ref></div>
File:The zoopraxiscope-Horse galloping-Animated.gif|<div style="text-align:center">Eadweard Muybridge ''The Zoopraxiscope. 42 Horse Galloping''<ref>{{Cite web |title=The zoopraxiscope--Horse galloping - digital file from original print {{!}} Library of Congress |url=https://www.loc.gov/resource/ppmsca.05947/ |access-date=2025-07-26 |website=www.loc.gov}}</ref></div>
</gallery>

==See also==
{{div col|colwidth=20em}}
* [[Eadweard Muybridge]]
* [[Electrotachyscope]]
* [[Flip book]]
* [[History of animation]]
* [[History of film]]
* [[List of film formats]]
* [[List of multiple discoveries]]
* [[Kaleidoscope]]
* [[Optical toys]]
* [[Praxinoscope]]
* [[Precursors of film]]
* [[Strobe light]]
* [[Thaumatrope]]
* [[Zoetrope]]
* [[Zoopraxiscope]]
{{div col end}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commonscat|Phenakistoscope}}
*[http://www.mhsgent.ugent.be/engl-plat5.html Collection of simulated phenakistiscopes in action] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160121145617/http://www.mhsgent.ugent.be/engl-plat5.html |date=2016-01-21 }} – Museum For The History Of Sciences
*[http://dickbalzer.tumblr.com/ The Richard Balzer Collection] (animated gallery)
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20040404000457/http://courses.ncssm.edu/gallery/collections/toys/opticaltoys.htm An exhibit of similar optical toys], including the [[zoetrope]] (Laura Hayes and John Howard Wileman Exhibit of Optical Toys in the NCSSM)
*[http://www.animage.org/index.php?page=image-animee&article=phenakistiscope Some pictures] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714101157/http://www.animage.org/index.php?page=image-animee&article=phenakistiscope |date=2014-07-14 }} – Example of the phenakistiscope
*[https://statenisland.pastperfectonline.com/webobject/8BB051A5-4D5D-40C3-A62A-231112560120 Magic Wheel optical toy, 1864, in the Staten Island Historical Society Online Collections Database]

{{Precursors of film}}
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:1830s toys]]
[[Category:Audiovisual introductions in 1832]]
[[Category:Austrian inventions]]
[[Category:Belgian inventions]]
[[Category:History of animation]]
[[Category:Optical illusions]]
[[Category:Optical toys]]
[[Category:Precursors of film]]