probably made in London

Stereoscope

The lenticular stereoscope was perhaps Sir David Brewster's (1781-1868) most famous invention connected with photography, a subject with which he had been involved since its English beginnings in the late 1830s. The stereoscope gives an illusion of a three dimensional scene from two slightly different flat pictures which are viewed through the apparatus so that each eye sees only one image. It is the three inches or so between the human eyes which allow the brain to use these different images to determine distance and relief.

This is a Brewster-type lenticular stereoscope, veneered in walnut. It has simple semi-lenses, an adjustable mirror and an opaque ground glass screen.

The French firm of Duboscq exhibited an example of the lecticular stereoscope at the 1851 Great Exhibition, and Queen Victoria herself was delighted with it. Overnight the stereoscope became an enormous success, and was subsequently produced in vast quantities, and a variety of different forms.

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Online ID:	000-180-000-992-C
Image Rights Holder:	National Museums Scotland
Project:	0504: National Museums Scotland Part 2 Project description \| View all records in project
Ref:	National Museums Scotland T.1952.25
Date:	Around 1860
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What:	Stereoscope, lenticular
Subject:	21. PHOTOGRAPHY (Departmental Classification)
Who:	Sir David Brewster
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Description:	Lenticular stereoscope after Sir David Brewster's design for direct and reflected light
References:	Clay, R.S. The Stereoscope, Transactions of the Optical Society 29 (1927-28), pp 149-166. Gill, A.T. Early Stereoscopes. Photographic Journal 109 (1969), pp 546-559; 606-614; 641-651. Morrison-Low, A.D, and J.R.R. Christie. 'Martyr of Science': Sir David Brewster 1781-1868. Edinburgh, 1984, pp 98-99.
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