Folding stereoscope

A folding stereoscope is a compact, hand-held stereoscope designed to be collapsed for portability or protection. Early examples include the Viewing Cases. The first folding design was therefore Claudet’s viewing case, patented in March 1853.

The first known patent for a folding Brewster-type stereoscope dates from the same year and was filed only three days later than Claudet’s patent. It describes a design by Warren Thompson, a daguerreotypist in Paris. His stereoscope consisted of five hinged sides that could be folded into each other. It is unclear whether the device was ever produced.

It is also uncertain whether the design by Jules Schiertz was realised. Schiertz patented a design in which the two halves of a Brewster-type stereoscope could be slid into each other.

The various folding stereoscope designs by the Parisian manufacturer Henri Noé were certainly constructed. The same applies to the English design by George Shears. In Shears’ Brewster-type stereoscope, the lens panel and the stereoview holder can be pushed towards each other by means of a collapsible structure.

Foldable versions of the Holmes-Bates stereoscope were also developed. An early design by Nelson Chase was patented in 1872, but few examples of his instrument are known. Peter Murphy’s folding Holmes-Bates stereoscope was more successful and was sold by E. & H. T. Anthony and Company.

The folding stereoscope evolved further and led to more compact pocket stereoscopes, which became popular from around 1900 onward.

Patents and registrations:

Number: 711
Filing: 23-03-1853, Applicant(s): Antoine Claudet

Number: 15984
Système de boîtes pliantes de stéréoscopes qui diminue le volume de l'instrument et le rend très portatif
Filing: 26-03-1853, Applicant(s): Warren Thompson. via: archives.inpi.fr

Number: 17563
Stéréoscope à corps mobile dit stéréoscope de voyage
Filing: 03-10-1853, Applicant(s): Jules Gustave Schiertz. via: archives.inpi.fr

Number: 1842
Stereoscope
Filing: 14-08-1855, Applicant(s): George Shears

Number: 31006
Stéréoscope de poche à développement
Filing: 20-02-1857, Applicant(s): Henri Noé. via: archives.inpi.fr

Number: 129100
Improvement in Folding-Stereoscopes
Filing: 16-07-1872, Applicant(s): Nelson Chase. via: worldwide.espacenet.com

Number: 136333
Stereoscopes
Filing: 25-02-1873, Applicant(s): Peter Murphy. via: worldwide.espacenet.com

Number: 161054
Stereoscope
Filing: 23-03-1875, Applicant(s): Peter Murphy. via: worldwide.espacenet.com

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