Odds and quads

The Praxinoscope is an early animation device, invented by Émile Reynaud in the 1870s. It creates the illusion of movement by rotating strips of pictures in a cylinder.

The menu is thought to be the only one surviving from the 1894 British "private view" of Thomas Edison's Kinetoscope for exhibiting motion pictures.

All are owned by the University of Exeter's Bill Douglas Centre for the History of Cinema and Popular Culture, which is a museum and research institute housing one of the UK's largest public collections of books, prints, artefacts and ephemera relating to the history and prehistory of cinema.

At its heart are about 50,000 items assembled by Douglas (1934-91) - a highly original film-maker - and his friend Peter Jewell, donated to Exeter in 1994.

The collection has since been enhanced by further gifts and bequests that cover everything from the development of optical recreations and popular entertainments in the late 18th century to the golden age of Hollywood cinema and beyond.

Send suggestions for this series on the treasures, oddities and curiosities owned by universities across the world to: matthew.reisz@tsleducation.com.