Leeds, England, and Dijon–Paris, France · 1888–1890
Key Facts
- Missing person: Louis Aimé Augustin Le Prince, aged 49.
- Last reported departure: Dijon, 16 September 1890, travelling towards Paris.
- Surviving work: Early moving-picture sequences, cameras, patents, drawings and correspondence.
- The mystery: What happened to Louis Le Prince after his visit to Dijon in September 1890?
Four people move through a garden in Leeds. A coat shifts as its wearer turns; one figure passes another. The surviving images last only a few seconds. They preserve a small, unremarkable gathering in the autumn of 1888.
Behind the camera was Louis Le Prince, an artist and inventor working towards a new kind of entertainment. He wanted photographs to move, and an audience to watch them together.
In 1888, he recorded his family in the garden and traffic crossing Leeds Bridge. In September 1890, while preparing to return to his wife and children in America, he visited his brother in Dijon. According to the family account, he then left for Paris.
He never rejoined the people expecting him.
His camera and some of its images survived. Of the journey from Dijon, there was no such record. What happened to Le Prince, and how far had his work progressed before he disappeared?
The Investigation Continues
Follow Le Prince into the Leeds workshop, examine the account of his final journey, and explore the competing explanations for his disappearance and the struggle to secure his place in cinema history. The Archive Vault includes his complete 1888 US patent, a patent reading guide, an evidence worksheet and an additional film sequence. The illustrated FI-024 poster is available in A4 and A3.
Already a member? Log in to continue.
Continue Through the Archive
Explore more cases in Historical Mysteries, or return to the Archive Index.