In the early twentieth century, Deyrolle expanded its educational mission by producing glass slides, designed to be projected with magic lanterns. Made in the Quatre-Septembre district of Paris, they brought the world into classrooms and parlors, at a time when travel was still out of reach for most people.
A true visual encyclopedia, this collection covers more than 11,500 subjects: geography, botany, anatomy, mineralogy, industry, sport, beekeeping and many other fields. From distant landscapes to natural phenomena, from everyday gestures to scientific advances, each image bears witness to an era driven by the desire to teach and to understand the world.
For PhotoSaintGermain, Deyrolle unveils a selection of these glass plates from the collection of Jean-Marie Donat. Combining photography, science and the history of education, they tell another story of the image: that of a photography conceived not only to preserve a trace of reality, but also to share it.
Long before our screens, all it took was a glass plate and a beam of light to capture the full diversity of the world and make it appear on a wall.
Deyrolle
Founded in 1831, Maison Deyrolle holds an essential place in the history of natural sciences, publishing and the transmission of knowledge. This emblematic address on rue du Bac houses a Cabinet of Curiosities, where taxidermy collections and entomology specimens form a singular universe, at the crossroads of science and art. Since the nineteenth century, it has accompanied major scientific and technical discoveries by designing teaching tools for schools, universities and natural history museums, a mission it pursues today through exhibitions, artistic collaborations and educational projects.