Book : DISCOVERING LOST FILMS OF GEORGES MÉLIÈS IN FIN-DE-SIÈCLE FLIP BOOKS (1896-1901)

A book by Thierry LECOINTE, Pascal FOUCHÉ, Robert BYRNE, Pamela HUTCHINSON
(United-Kingdom - 2021)

Prefaces by André GAUDREAULT & Pascal FOUCHÉ
Introduction by Jacques MALTHÊTE

No living person has seen the earliest films of pioneering cinema magician, Georges MÉLIÈS. All that remain are his catalog and a few archival images.

The 2013 discovery of a flip book manifactured by an obscure Parisian bimbelotier, Léon BEAULIEU, promised a glimpse of an unseen MÉLIÈS film. This idea inspired years of investigation by researcher Thierry LECOINTE - a trail that led him to collector and historian Pascal FOUCHÉ and his amazing collection of more than 10,000 flip books, including 27 produced by the mysterious BEAULIEU.

The conclusions of LECOINTE's groundbreaking research are astonishing. Léon BEAULIEU primitive flip books were comprised of images appropriated from early films, many of them lost treasures. Early films by MÉLIÈS, but also GAUMONT, SKLADANOWSKY and PATHÉ suddenly came to life after more than a century!

The results of this rigorous work were presented on May 2, 2019 at the 24th San Francisco Silent Film Festival and from October 5 to 12, 2019 at the 38th Giornate del cinéma muto de Pordenone.

One of the animations visible on San Francisco Silent Film Festival >

This meticulously researched volume reveals how these miraculous discoveries were made and features more than 500 previously unpublished images that you won't have seen anywhere else.

EN SAVOIR PLUS ...

What is a flip-book ? >

The site of more than 10,000 flip books by collector and historian Pascal FOUCHÉ! >