table top stereoscopic viewer

Our table top stereoscopic viewer is designed to hold up to some 30 image slides and was built for entertainment purposes, very similar to our handheld Brewster type stereoscope. The switching of slides is done by operating a handle knob on the side, operating a chain type revolving system. These were very common in the early periods of construction of these viewers. The idea to have more than one stereoscopic image pair available for every user was a standard beyond the beginning of the 20th century. The image series in public stereoscopic installations such as the so-called Kaiserpanorama were even sometimes designed to fulfill an educational purpose. The table top viewer such as the one in our HistoLab were designed to hold as many cards as the household probably owned.

Our model is made from mahogany wood and probably of french making. It is reday to be operated with both cardboard slides and transparent slides painted on glass. The proper illumination is acieved by either the semitransparent glass pane on the back for the transparent slides or by opening  the top lid for cardboard slides.