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
Category: Early stereoscopy
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
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
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
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
Stereoview workshop by Gaudin
A very interesting 8,5x17cm French tissue of a workshop where stereoviews were made. The back has the inscription Fabrication de cadres photographiques, 7e série no. 1 and the name A. Aubenas, Verny. According to Denis Pellerin, the stereoview is manufactured by Alexis Gaudin in c.1860[1]. Alexis Gaudin (1816-1894) was one of the pioneers of stereo… Continue reading Stereoview workshop by Gaudin
Mascher daguerreotype viewing case
A viewing case with a black and white stereo daguerreotype of a man and a woman. The viewing case dates from the 1850s and is made by Mascher from Philadelphia. John Frederick Mascher was a German born clock and watchmaker in Philadelphia. He patented his stereoscopic viewing case on 8 March 1853 and it was… Continue reading Mascher daguerreotype viewing case
Ferrier & Soulier stereoviews
The glass stereoviews of Ferrier & Soulier were of a high technical and artistic level. They were very popular in the 1850s and 1860s and were admired as the finest produced. Claude-Marie Ferrier worked as a photographer for Jules Duboscq and created the first stereo daguerreotypes for him. These could be viewed with the Brewster-style stereoscopes that were manufactured… Continue reading Ferrier & Soulier stereoviews
Francis Frith stereoviews of Egypt
Francis Frith (1822-1898) was an English photographer who became famous for his photographs of Egypt and the Holy Land that he took on three trips. His photographs were also published as a collection of 8,5x17cm paper card and glass stereoviews. Frith started his career as a wholesaler in the grocery business. He earned a fortune, allowing him… Continue reading Francis Frith stereoviews of Egypt
Stereo daguerreotype of a woman
Joseph Nicéphore Niépce made the first photographic image in 1826 or 1827. He worked together with Louis Daguerre to improve his process. After Niépce’s sudden death in 1833, Daguerre continued to work on the development that would eventually lead to the invention of photography in 1839. He named the process daguerreotype. A daguerreotype consists of polished… Continue reading Stereo daguerreotype of a woman