William Edward Kilburn (1818-1891) was an English daguerreotypist. He was renowned for his skilful hand tinted daguerreotypes which he made in his studio on Regent Street in London. He was was one of the most commercially successful daguerreotypists in London and the first English photographer to receive the title of court photographer of the British… Continue reading Kilburn’s folding stereoscope
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The Sweetheart Viewer
A large deluxe revolving stereoscope for 8.5 x 17 cm paper card stereoviews with a burr walnut housing. The viewer has holders with lenses on both sides, allowing two people viewing stereoviews simultaneously. This type is therefore called “Sweetheart Viewer”, because someone could enjoy stereoviews together with his sweetheart. The revolving chain has fifty wooden… Continue reading The Sweetheart Viewer
Dioptichrome by Dufay
Dioptichrome was an early colour process invented by Louis Dufay in 1907. It was announced in 1908 as Diopticolore, but after an improvement it was renamed a year later to Dioptichrome. Like the autochrome process, it was based on the same principles of additive colour and the screen process but it had more similarities with… Continue reading Dioptichrome by Dufay
Zeiss Jena stereoscope
A somewhat peculiar stereoscope built by Carl Zeiss from Jena. I haven’t fount anything about this model in the catalogs of the company. The viewer most resembles a simple version of the well-known Zeiss Verant. It has the same robust features, but the lenses cannot be focused and the distance between the lenses is not… Continue reading Zeiss Jena stereoscope
Hemdé autochrome and invoice
Of all stereoscope manufacturers, Hemdé is my favourite. The Série I viewer was the first multiple view stereoscope I bought in 2019. Almost at the same time I found a rare catalog and from that moment my research into the history of the company began. I’m therefore very pleased with this acquisition of an autochrome… Continue reading Hemdé autochrome and invoice
Stereo tintype
A tintype or ferrotype is a positive image printed on an iron plate. Like an ambrotype, it’s a variation of the wet collodion process. The process was first described by Adolphe Alexandre Martin in 1853[1]. A sheet of iron was coated with dark brown or black varnish, followed by a coating of collodion. The plate… Continue reading Stereo tintype
Zeiss Jena Doppelverant
The Doppelverant is a simple yet versatile stereoscope for viewing glass and paper card stereoviews. The viewer can be used as a table-top or hand-held stereoscope and was designed by Moritz von Rohr of Carl Zeiss Jena[1][2]. There was also a model available for viewing “normal” images and this device was named Einzelverant[1]. The introduction… Continue reading Zeiss Jena Doppelverant
Stereo ambrotype
The ambrotype process is named after James Ambrose Cutting (1814-1867) who popularised the process and patented in 1854 a method of mounting and sealing the image plate. Cutting was not the inventor and actually it’s not a new process, but a variant of the wet plate collodion process. An ambrotype is an underexposed collodion negative.… Continue reading Stereo ambrotype
L’Astra
L’Astra is the last known stereoscope based on a design by Lucien Bize. The viewer was introduced in 1913 by Robert Pleyau, the successor of Bize’s company[1]. The stereoscope was available for the 45x107mm and 6x13cm format and has two achromatic lenses with eyepiece blinders. It could be purchased with an optional wooden cabinet for… Continue reading L’Astra
Stereo collodion negatives
The collodion wet plate process process was invented in 1851 by Frederick Scott Archer (1813-1857). The process was based on the light sensitivity of silver halides (bromide and iodide) suspended in a collodion binder on a glass plate. It had significant advantages over the daguerreotype process. The process was more light sensitive, which meant that… Continue reading Stereo collodion negatives