1 lenticular stereoscope : wood, glass, and ivory ; 16 x 19 x 10 cm. + 5 stereoscopic photographs
Collection:
Rare Books and Manuscripts
Copyright Status:
Copyright Not Evaluated
Classification:
Three-Dimensional Artifacts
Notes:
In 1849, Sir David Brewster, the Scottish scientist and expert on optics, devised a version of the stereoscope that improved upon the earlier invention of Sir Charles Wheatstone, in which binocular pictures were made to combine by means of mirrors, producing a three-dimensional effect. Brewster's innovation was the use of prisms for uniting the stereoscopic images; his stereoscope was considerably smaller and lighter than Wheatstone's, and the lenticular stereoscope may fairly be said to be his invention. The first working model of Brewster's stereoscope was produced by the Parisian opticians François Soleil and Jules Duboscq. This device was subsequently displayed, with considerable success, at the Great Exhibition in London in 1851, where it impressed none other than Queen Victoria. It quickly became a great commercial success; nearly half a million devices were sold by 1856 (see Kemp). The stereoscope was used in conjunction with stereoscopic photographs--double pictures of a single scene taken from two slightly different perspectives, to produce the effect of three dimensionality. The development of the collodion process (for photography) in the 1850s helped popularize the production of stereoscopic images.