to cal pryluck:
 
charles musser has just come out with two (or maybe it was three) books on
movies (films; cinematic entertainment) in the early part of the century.
in fact, i _just_ looked them up on our catalog here at smu; they are:
 
_before the nickelodeon:  edwin s. porter and the edison manufactuing
 company_
_the emergence of cinema:  the american screen to 1907_
_high-class moving pictures:  lyman howe. . ._
 
the bibliographies to these will probably cite things you need to know.
larry schwartz, theatre/film librarian, southern meth u, dallas(?), texas(??)