Universiteitsbibliotheek Gent

The Central Library of Ghent University houses a large art history collection (about 30 to 40.000 lantern slides stored in original cabinets). The lantern slides served as didactic materials for art history courses at the HIKO (Hoger Instituut Kunstgeschiedenis en Oudheidkunde). The collection also stores a Spencer projector, probably used for the projection of these slides.  Apart from the HIKO collection, the library holds thousands of lantern slides from different scientific domains, often linked to the professors who taught various courses at the university: Ethnographic Art (prof. Bruyninkx), Cultural Studies (Clemens Trefois), Sinology, Oriental Studies and Congo Studies (Prof. Burssens). The library also bought lantern slide series with private family pictures and travels by the Ghent artist Fréderic De Smet and pictures by the professional photographer De Mulder who worked for a postcard company in Sinaai.