Table of Contents
General Preface
 Acknowledgments
 Introduction
 PART 1
 Before Cinema
 1 Toward a History of Screen Practice
 2 Thomas Edison and the Amusement World
 3 Projecting Motion Pictures: Invention and Innovation
 PART 2
 The Novelty of Cinema: 1896-1897
 4 The Vitascope
 5 Early Motion-Picture Companies
 6 The Proliferation of Motion-Picture Companies and an Assessment
 of the Novelty Year
 PART 3
 The Exhibitor Plays a Creative Role: 1897-1900
 7 Full-Length Programs: Fights, Passion Plays, and Travel
 8 Commercial Warfare and the Spanish American War: 1897-1898
 9 The Film Industry Achieves Modest Stability: 1898-1901
 PART 4
 The Production Company Assumes Creative Dominance: 1900-1905
 10 A Period of Commercial Crisis: 1900-1903
 11 The Transition to Story Films: 1903-1904
 12 Cinema Flourishes Within Its Existing Commercial Framework:
 1904-1905
 PART 5
 The Beginnings of the Nickelodeon Era: 1905-1907
 13 Nickels Count: Storefront Theaters: 1905-1907
 14 Production as the Nickelodeon Era Begins: 1905-1907
 Concluding Remarks
 List of Abbreviations
 Notes
 Bibliography
 Picture Sources
 General Index
 Index of Films