Stereoviews depicting World War I were issued and sold in large numbers in France in the immediate aftermath of the war. The large numbers of individual slides and boxes still offered today on online auction sites illustrate the grand scale of this “stereo war craze” in France in the 1920s.
However, complete collections with original invoices or catalogues are quite rare. These collections are valuable because they provide information about the publishers, sellers and the sales process. This set contains 100 glass stereoviews in the 6 x 13 cm format with an offer letter and catalogue from the seller Photo-Stéréo from Lagny. The set was sold in 1929.
The Photo-Stéréo catalogue shows 10 themed series of 10 stereoviews. The seller offered the complete collection of 100 stereoviews, or half the collection where the buyer could choose 5 series. Each purchase was completed with a box and simple hand-held stereoscope.
The stereoviews in this set come from two different publishers: Éditions S.T.L. and Brentano’s (whose publisher was probably Stéréo-Éditions F. Meiller). It shows that Photo-Stéréo was an example of a retailer that put together collections from the offerings of different publishers.
6 x 13 cm glass stereoview, Éditions S.T.L.
6 x 13 cm glass stereoview, Brentano’s