How film emerged in 19th-century Paris amid an array of social, political, artistic and technological innovations—with works by the Lumiere brothers, Mélies, Chéret and more.

This rich, 192-page volume tells the story of the pre-Hollywood origins of cinema emerging out of nineteenth-century Paris through posters, paintings, film stills and studio and documentary photography.

With images of and from the street by Jean Béraud, Charles Marville, Jules Chéret and Auguste and Louis Lumière; the technological experimentation of Loïe Fuller, Émile Reynaud and Georges Méliès; and the plein-air observations of Camille Pissarro and the staged artifice of Jean-Leon Gerome--all of which can be considered alongside the prototype film studios of Georges Méliès, Gaumont and Pathé.

Edited with text by Leah Lehmbeck, Britt Salvesen, Vanessa R. Schwartz; Text by Brian R. Jacobson; Designed by David Karwan