Pre-Cinema History: An Encyclopaedia and Annotated Bibliography of the Moving Image Before 1896

by Hermann Hecht

Covering the history of projection, visual entertainments, and the beginnings of the cinema to 1896, this fascinating reference is a chronologically arranged and annotated list of published works and sources up to the year 1985, the year in which Hermann Hecht died. The entries are in the order of publication stating from the beginning of the 16th century; each entry is numbered in bold type for easy identification and cross-referencing purposes. Entries include full bibliographic references, content summaries, quotations from contemporary literature, and critical notes. Extensive indexes by name and subject enhance access. Annotation copyright Book News, Inc. Portland, Or.

476 pages, Hardcover

Reviews

[Fin · Rating 3 out of 5]

While this book is informative, it is not very clear. It is also heavily skewed towards certain countries.

I should have seen it as a red flag that there are instructions for reading it in both the preface and the introduction but I just found it difficult to read.
The entries are organized by date but the heading of each entry is the name of the author so if John Smith published in 1600, 1615, and 1620 his name would appear 3 times. That's not how I would have chosen to do it but it is fine, however, the date of publication would not appear in the heading, sometimes it would be as far as the third line of text so it makes searching in the book rather tedious.
The texts themselves are also extraits and I wish that more context had been included.