Robert William Paul, with the help of Henry William Short and Birt Acres, was at the forefront of British cinematography. As early as the summer of 1894, Paul took an interest in the Kinetoscope viewer invented by Thomas Edison and set about creating his own version of the technology in the United Kingdom. The three men began working together, around December 1894, on a project to build a 35mm motion-picture camera to produce new subjects for Kinetoscopes. The camera was operational by March 1895, but after the first known Lumière screening in December that year, their work took a turn, with Paul (in partnership with Short) soon developing a projector as well. 

In February 1896, Short filed a patent for an intermittent film advance mechanism, and another in early March 1896 for a type of flip book device – they were described as “book-form kinetoscopes” in the patent. While Short continued to collaborate with Paul until April 1897, he concurrently worked on the development of his flip book ideas.

There are two extant manually operated “The Tom Thumb Filoscopes”, an earlier iteration which appear to be very similar in design, to drawings in Short’s patents for his mechanical device. The leaves of the booklets were printed on both sides of the paper, so that they could be flipped from either side – displaying one title in one direction; and a second when flipped in the reverse direction. The four titles contained in the two existing Tom Thumb Filoscopes are: Derby and Conjurer in one booklet; and Gordons and Soldier in the other. These short sequences were reproduced from 35mm motion pictures originally made by R. W. Paul. The latest images date from the summer of 1896.

In June 1897, Short filed a new patent in France for a “New kinetoscopic apparatus without mechanism, called ‘Filoscope’”. Short was represented in France by Caron, based at 17 boulevard Rochechouart, Paris. It can be assumed that an earlier British patent exists, but it has yet to be located. Although still essentially a flip book, with the Filoscope, the flip book was inserted into a tinplate mechanical flipping device, which provided an interface between the flip book and the viewer. While the name Filoscope referred more specifically to the combination of the flip book and flipping device, it should be noted that this name also appeared on Short’s earlier, standalone flip books. Each flip book, now printed on one side only, along with the flipping device, was sold in a smart-looking box, similar to a presentation case (90mm x 60mm x 22mm), which lent the whole package upmarket appeal.

In February 1897, Short established a new company, the Anglo–French Filoscope Syndicate, to market his products (Brown, 1999: pp. 153–4):

“ANGLO-FRENCH FILOSCOPE SYNDICATE (LIMITED). This Company has been registered by Mr. G. Machieu, of 15, Victoria Street, Westminster, S.W., with a capital of £5000, in £1 shares. The objects of the Company are to acquire, work, develop, turn to account, and deal with the patent rights owned by H. W. Short in England, France, Italy, Austria, Germany, and the United States, and to enter into an agreement with him for the purpose. Registered without Articles of Association. Registered offices, 15, Victoria Street, Westminster, S.W.” (Anon. (1897). “News and Notes”. The British Journal of Photography, 44:1950, (Sep. 17): p. 604).

Short filed several other patents for his Filoscopes through 1897 and 1898. During 1898 and 1899, the Filoscope was covered quite extensively in the pages of both the British and the French press. Initially, Filoscopes were sold directly by Short and by resellers, including the French dealer Henri Kratz-Boussac, known for creating the company “Les Inventions Nouvelles”. Then, in November 1898, the British Mutoscope & Biograph Syndicate acquired a license to produce the Filoscope; subsequently, on January 23, 1899, a new company was incorporated – the British Mutoscope & Biograph Co. Ltd (The Electrical Review, 1899). Its purpose was to build, sell and market Mutoscope and Biograph equipment and films, as well as Short’s Filoscopes. The following was printed on the flip books at the time: “MANUFACTURED BY LICENSE FROM THE BRITISH MUTOSCOPE & BIOGRAPH Co LTD”.

In July 1903, Short was still selling Filoscopes, advertising The Blessing of Our Dying Pontiff from an address in north London – The Studio, 238 Seven Sisters Road. The latest record of Filoscopes dates from 1905, when the British Mutoscope & Biograph Co. Ltd was recorded as retaining stock of 139 boxes of the devices (Brown, 1999: p. 183).