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Mascher Stereo Daguerreotype Viewer with Original Image Pair, c.1853

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    Posted 8 years ago

    rniederman
    (343 items)

    Long before radio, television and social media (etc.), photography was an early form of entertainment. Stereo photography, in particular, was very exciting. Stereo daguerreotypes and a way to view them started appearing in 1841; however, the first truly portable viewers became available in 1853.

    John Mascher, a Philadelphia inventor, patented a novel approach by adding a hinged viewing flap with a pair of magnifying lenses to an ordinary daguerreotype case. These early “Mascher” style viewing cases became quite popular for a brief period from 1853 to 1856.

    Shown here is a very nice example of an early Mascher viewing case with its original pair of ninth plate stereo daguerreotypes of a gentleman. When closed, the viewer looks like any typical leather covered, quarter plate, push-button image case. Opening the case reveals the patented leather viewing flap imprinted with “Mascher’s Improved Stereoscope” and its patent information of March 8th, 1852 ... the first American patent for a stereoscopic viewing device (#9611). Oddly, the viewer’s imprint is the year 1852 but the actual patent is dated as 1853.

    Viewing the image is somewhat cumbersome. You have to somehow grasp the case while at the same time hold upright the viewing flap and image. Although clumsy, the stereo 3D effect for this particular image is quite good.

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    Comments

    1. vetraio50 vetraio50, 8 years ago
      Amazing pix actually ... just slightly different but when you look at them in pic. 2 they are quite distinctly different .... in tone as well as in perspective ... does that make sense ????
    2. vetraio50 vetraio50, 8 years ago
      A Gorgeous Device !!!
    3. SEAN68 SEAN68, 8 years ago
      FANTASTIC!!!! VERY NICE ROB!!
    4. scottvez scottvez, 8 years ago
      You have a nice collection of these-- hard to find!

      scott
    5. rniederman rniederman, 8 years ago
      Thanks, Kevin and Sean. Kevin ... you have a good eye. The pose is identical but you are seeing a slightly different perspective. This is from using a stereo camera with lenses separated by about the same distance as your eyes (referred to as interocular spacing). Underneath the frame are two separate daguerreotypes. While the two images were taken at the same time, each plate had to be developed separately which accounts for the slight difference in tonality. You can see another example of the same concept by looking at my Stull viewer post at: http://www.collectorsweekly.com/stories/169537-stull-daguerreotype-viewing-case-c-1855?in=user

      Thanks, Scott ... I'm slowly building a collection of early stereo dags in their viewers to go along with my cameras.
    6. SEAN68 SEAN68, 8 years ago
      Your very welcome Rob!!
    7. rniederman rniederman, 8 years ago
      Thanks!
      Michael
      BB2
      fortapache
    8. walksoftly walksoftly, 8 years ago
      Very interesting!
    9. rniederman rniederman, 8 years ago
      Thanks!
      shughs
      Longings
      racer4four
    10. rniederman rniederman, 8 years ago
      Thanks!
      mtg75
      aura
      Caperkid
    11. JohnKratz JohnKratz, 8 years ago
      As I lack a stereo viewer of any kind, it's nice that I can see the effect via the cross-eyed method. Wonderful image!
    12. kerry10456 kerry10456, 8 years ago
      Rob, another top shelf posting, really neat image viewer, I've never seen one this early, Thanks for sharing and the history.
    13. rniederman rniederman, 8 years ago
      Thanks!
      Designer
      kyratango
      sanhardin
    14. rniederman rniederman, 8 years ago
      Thanks!
      AnnaB
      sugargirl
      gargoylecollector
    15. rniederman rniederman, 8 years ago
      Thanks!
      Roycroftbooksfromme1
      egreeley1976
      Manikin
    16. rniederman rniederman, 8 years ago
      Thanks!
      David
      Lady_Picker
      SpiritBear
    17. rniederman rniederman, 8 years ago
      Thanks!
      John
      Ben
    18. rniederman rniederman, 8 years ago
      Thanks!
      Radegunder
      f64imager
      leighannrn
    19. verbatim verbatim, 8 years ago
      This is a fine example!
    20. rniederman rniederman, 8 years ago
      Thanks!
      Hunter
      Moonstone
      Kerry
    21. rniederman rniederman, 8 years ago
      Thanks!
      Tanni
      verbatim
      crazycharacter
      crswerner
    22. rniederman rniederman, 8 years ago
      Thanks!
      Bluereded
      AntigueToys
      Nicefice
    23. rniederman rniederman, 8 years ago
      Thanks!
      snowman3
      Beachbum58
    24. rniederman rniederman, 8 years ago
      Thanks, MooreAntique!
    25. rniederman rniederman, 8 years ago
      Thanks, chrissylovescats!
    26. kerry10456 kerry10456, 8 years ago
      Good day Russ, what is your opinion on the "A" series Canon SLR cameras, I recently acquired at least on of each and a few doubles of a couple. Only one I didn't get, was the A T. 10 cameras total and various lenses.......everything was very well cared for and minty. The A-1 is nos in box,
      Anyways, my question is what ISO film should I use to get acquainted with camera and technic s
    27. rniederman rniederman, 8 years ago
      Hi Kerry. The Canon A Series was an important camera because it was the first to incorporate nearly all of the key automated exposure modes seen in today's cameras. The A Series was well built and very popular. The AT is the manual version of the cameras.

      As far as film ... ISO 100 - 200 print film is a decent place to start because the colors are decent and exposure latitude (variations from good exposures) is foregiving. Sharpness is pretty good. Keep in mind that the higher the ISO (such as 400 for dimmer settings without flash), the grainier the image.

      If you're after the richest colors and finest grain for outdoor shooting, go with lower ISO (i.e. 100) transparency film.

      FWIW ... at end of my roll film shooting days (35mm through 6x7 cm), I was shooting a lot of Fujichrome.

      Have fun. - Rob
    28. kerry10456 kerry10456, 8 years ago
      Thanks Russ, I will have to experiment with some 200 Fuji, it's available at my local Walmart and 4 rolls of 24 is 9 bucks, fun place to start. I acquired all the cameras and 14 different lens for 85 bucks, so will have to give it a shot.....Thanks again
    29. rniederman rniederman, 8 years ago
      Kerry ... I'll be interested to hear about your results. - Rob
    30. rniederman rniederman, 8 years ago
      Thanks, pops52!
    31. rniederman rniederman, 7 years ago
      Thanks, Oroyoroyisthatyourhorse!
    32. PostCardCollector PostCardCollector, 7 years ago
      How impressive!
    33. rniederman rniederman, 7 years ago
      Thanks, PCC!

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