Journal of Film Preservation - FIAF

Washington
SBERBANK (Russian Savings Bank - the oldest and largest Russian
financial institution), and GAZPROM (one of the richest and largest gas
producers in the world), as well as the support and attention on the part
of the French Embassy in Russia, Goskino (Russian Ministry of Cinema)
and Russian Union of Filmmakers lets us count on a brighter future for
our festival of films.
Gosfilmofond of the Russian Federation has always been a never-ending
source of inspiration for Russian filmmakers, critics and researchers, it
has also always been open to foreign contacts, being a member of FIAF.
We hope that our new initiative - the festival of archival films “Belye
Stolby” will promote better acquaintance with our collection, which is
the third largest in the world, and attract more interest in Russia and its
treasures.
Inventing Entertainment: The Library of Congress
Makes Edison Motion Pictures Available on the
World Wide Web
Karen C. Lund
“I am experimenting upon an instrument which does for the eye what
the phonograph does for the ear.” With those words in 1888, Thomas A.
Edison formally announced his intent of inventing the motion picture
camera in a caveat filed with the Patent Office. In the thirty years
following, Edison’s name became forever associated with motion picture
history through his inventions and the films produced by his company.
The Motion Picture, Broadcasting, and Recorded Sound Division
(M/B/RS) of the Library of Congress contains impressive evidence of
Edison’s entertainment inventions and industries. The division houses
motion pictures, cylinder and disc sound recordings, and journals with
articles and photographs pertaining to the Edison Companies. A large
selection of these items, including 341 films and 81 sound recordings,
has been made available on the Library’s American Memory web site ( as
a special presentation entitled “Inventing Entertainment: The Motion
Pictures and Sound Recordings of the Edison Companies at the Library
of Congress.” This site is part of a larger initiative at the Library to
digitize many of its holdings and make them accessible via the World
Wide Web under the auspices of the National Digital Library. This
article focuses on the motion picture part of the web presentation.
Edison’s Work with Motion Pictures
Edison’s involvement with motion pictures is often traced to his meeting
with Eadweard Muybridge at his West Orange laboratory in 1888.
Edison viewed Muybridge’s Zoopraxiscope, a device which used a
circular disc with still photographs of the successive phases of movement
around the circumference to recreate the illusion of movement. Although
Muybridge hoped to collaborate, Edison decided instead to create his
96 Journal of Film Preservation / 58/59 / 1999