If you're an uncompromising collector of antique technology, make sure to check out all my listings after you look at this one. I don't think you'll find a better, broader or more balanced assortment of technical antiques anywhere -- hundreds of listings each year, almost all of them featuring eye-popping "gee whiz" gadgetry in exceptional original condition. And don't forget, you can click this link to quickly add and then save me to your favorite seller list and Ebay will automatically send you updates when I put similar new listings online.

Though it bears little resemblance to the historic projector he invented and first demonstrated in 1895, Charles Francis Jenkins' 1913 Phantoscope -- manufactured in Washington, DC, where Jenkins lived for most of his life -- was in its own right quite a marvel. 

Using a projector head mounted laterally, with film reels that were positioned parallel to the viewing screen rather than perpendicular to it, Jenkins' 1913 Phantoscope beamed a moving picture onto a prism (Jenkins' later invention, the "Radiovisor" scanning mechanical television, would also make use of a prism, several of them actually), which then bent the image 90 degrees, sending it fully illuminated and sideways through a lens that projected it onto an 8 foot screen. 

Nothing like the 1913 Phantoscope had ever been seen before, and despite Jenkins' vigorous promotion of its virtues -- including the fact that its lamp house could be repositioned during a break so that the blazing hot lamp did not set the film on fire -- the projector was a commercial flop, and within a couple of years after its launch, it was being dumped at a discount by a New York based entity calling itself the National Projector Company.

Condition of this very rare working example is very good, and I've been told by someone who would know that it's one of only a handful of examples known. It appears to be complete and correct, and mechanically it's in good order, as you can see in the video I've posted above. 

No visible damage, and no repairs. Original paint on the metal surfaces, with wear and deterioration consistent with age and authenticity.

With its 10" reels mounted, the Phantoscope measures approximately 29" across by 10" deep by 19" high. Shipping weight, properly packed, will be about 30 lb.

Please review the video and the photographs and consider them an integral part of the description.

And finally, to give credit where credit is due, I should note that the last two photos are from Gregory Waller's Beyond The Movie Theater, published in 2023 by the University of California Press. Much of the information I've provided above, as it relates to the 1913 Phantoscope, was gleaned from Waller's book.

I'm one of ebay's best known, most highly regarded sellers of technical antiques. I've been selling and shipping them for more than 25 years. When you purchase an item from me, you can rest assured that it will arrive safely because it's been carefully packed (by me, not by some well-intentioned but nonetheless confounded, doe-eyed teenager working at the UPS store who wouldn't know a projector from a popcorn maker), Sure, you can probably get a lower price from Joe and Janet Barn-Find, but when your "bargain" arrives broken, and without any hint of how you might be able to put it back together, you'll realize that you really do get exactly what you pay for.