Cinema arrived in 1895 and had reached almost every corner of the globe by 1896. This reference records the lives of the people who made it happen. From Thomas Edison, inventor, to Alice Guy, director, this book documents over 250 key figures worldwide

Cinema is considered to be 105 years old; its centenary was celebrated in 1995. What is much less known is that motion pictures existed almost from the beginning of the 19th century. These motion pictures did not project films; they used different systems and techniques to create the impression of movement. They form the "Victorian cinema" in the title of this book. The most popular mass entertainment medium of the 20th century came about because, during the 19th century, a huge number of scientists, entertainers, industrialists, speculators and crazy inventors devoted their lives (and a lot of them came to sticky ends because of that) to the improvement of motion pictures. This book is an encyclopedic collection of short biographies that provide a great glimpse into their lives and the various pre-cinematic motion picture systems. It is not a narrative that one can be immersed into but all the same it is moving, because so many of these people had tragic lives, and impressive, because of its comprehensive and truly international scope. Also, it is extremely useful for students of both early cinema and the Victorian era.