I have used both the Treasures and the Movies Begin series, and I would favor the latter for the purposes you describe. Treasures is a wonderfully eclectic collection, but The Movies Begin is a much more comprehensive survey of the early films-- coupled with the resources available online at the Library of Congress, there is a lot for students of early film history to work with here. If funds allow, I would also strongly recommend the Edison: Invention of the Movies collection. Jared Jared Gardner Associate Professor Department of English Program in Film Studies Ohio State University Columbus, Ohio 43210 614/323-6267 (mobile) On Sep 13, 2006, at 10:17 AM, Jessica Rosner wrote: > Um I hate to toot my ( or rather my company's) own horn but the > single best > compilation of early films is Kino's Five volume DVD set > THE MOVIES BEGIN. It has Melies, Lumiere, Edison, Porter, Griffith, > etc > 2 Volumes are from material from the BFI and 3 from film > historian/preservationist David Shepard. As it was an "early" DVD > release > straight from the previous VSH no real extra's though there are few > narrated > Docs from the BBC on it. Here is the link to the info > > http://www.kino.com/video/item.php?product_id=694 > > We also have a terrific VERY elaborate 4 volume set of Edison films > Done with MOMA & LOC material. Alas our great Lumiere DVD is out > of print > > > > > On 9/13/06 8:17 AM, "Jeff Evans" <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > >> My department is slowly replacing films on VHS cassettes w/ those >> on DVD.We're looking for suggestions for anthologies of early film >> that would conveniently include the likes of the Lumieres, Edison, >> Melies, Porter, etc. (I remember seeing a long time ago a >> wonderfully self-conscious Melies' short called, I think, "The Magic >> Box.") >> >> Any suggestions on or offline will be appreciated. >> >> Thanks, >> >> Jeff Evans >> University of Maine >> >> >> >> ---- >> Online resources for film/TV studies may be found at ScreenSite >> http://www.ScreenSite.org > > > > Proud Resident of a BLUE STATE > > Jessica Rosner > Kino International > 333 W 39th St. 503 > NY NY 10018 > [log in to unmask] > 212-629-6880 > > ---- > Online resources for film/TV studies may be found at ScreenSite > http://www.ScreenSite.org > > Spam > Not spam > Forget previous vote ---- Online resources for film/TV studies may be found at ScreenSite http://www.ScreenSite.org