Kingston legend Eadweard Muybridge's world-renowned moving picture inventions are returning to Kingston and will go on display in the borough.

The pioneering photographer's work will find a new home in his home town thanks to a collaboration between Kingston University (KU) and Kingston Council (RBK).

The unique material is part of the Victorian photographer’s own personal collection, which he bequeathed to Kingston Museum on his death.

It includes 67 of Muybridge’s famous zoopraxiscope discs, which enabled him to create projected moving images, more than 2,000 glass lantern slides which he presented in his extensive international lectures, and 150 collotype prints, a type of printing that preserves fine detail.

Your Local Guardian: Image via commons.wikimedia.orgImage via commons.wikimedia.org

The fascinating materials form part of Kingston Museum’s Muybridge Collection, one of the largest worldwide.

A selection of the world-famous 19th century photographer’s work is displayed at the museum, but much of the collection is currently stored out of borough.

Thanks to the KU-RBK project, that is now set to change, with much of the material now set to find a new place of residence in the borough that Muybridge himself called home.

RBK signed a memorandum of understanding with the University to ensure the return of the materials, which will be housed at a specially designed home in KU's new Town House building.

KU Vice-Chancellor Professor Steven Spier praised the forthcoming fruits of the partnership and said it highlighted the close relationship between university and council in Kingston.

"The collection is a jewel in the crown of the borough’s rich cultural heritage. Kingston University is delighted to play its part in helping embed Muybridge in the DNA of Kingston by reuniting the collection he bequeathed to the town, making it more accessible to researchers and residents alike.

"This collaboration with the Council epitomises exactly what we want our new Town House building to represent — a shared space where both the university and town are enriched," he said.

Your Local Guardian: Eadweard Muybridge 1830-1904. Image via wikipediaEadweard Muybridge 1830-1904. Image via wikipedia

Council Leader Liz Green, who signed the partnership memorandum with Prof. Spier, meanwhile described the return of Muybridge's work as "wonderful".

"It’s wonderful to see one of Kingston’s most famous historical figures celebrated in his home town in this way — he sits at the heart of the borough’s cultural identity and I’m delighted to be able to sign the Memorandum of Understanding on behalf of the council," she said.

Muybridge, who was born in Kingston in 1830 and died in 1904 is widely regarded as one of the most influential early photographers of the nineteenth century.

He is best known for being the first man to successfully photograph a horse in motion, proving that all four of legs of a horse leave the ground when in full gallop (no one had captured such a fast motion with a camera before).

Muybridge also invented the zoöpraxiscope in 1879, a rotary device featuring still images that when spun created a moving image, a significant breakthrough in the art form at the time.