Pedestal-Graphoscope Genus (ca. 1879 - 1886)

Figure PG.1 – Pedestal Stereoscope
This is not a Pedestal-Graphoscope, but was probably the inspiration for its design. Photo © invaluable.

The Pedestal-Graphoscope is a large-lens, short-focal-length viewer that is supposed to enhance the depth-effect of 19^th-century photographic formats such as the carte de visite. It is a genus of "optical machine" within the Optical Machine Taxonomy.

 

The original graphoscope, patented by Charles John Rowsell in 1864, integrated a pair of Stereoscope lenses with the graphoscope lens. At what point manufacturers decided that the graphoscope lens could be marketed as a stand-alone is uncertain. The two dates we have for these pedestal versions are 1879 and 1886.

 

Rowsell's design had a rectangular base or pediment and his inspiration for the stereoscope elements was the English Brewster-style stereoscope. American designers used the lighter, more skeletal Holmes stereoscope as their inspiration. These frequently came with table-top supports which were invariably pedestal-style: a slender turned column on a wide turned base (Figure PG.1). I suspect that the Pedestal-Graphoscope was designed by way of the Pedestal-Stereo-Graphoscope. If so, then the Mono-Graphoscope version was a kind of afterthought. No surviving examples, other than the illustrations below, have come to my notice.

 

Defining Features: The defining features of the Pedestal-Graphoscope are:

	• A single, large lens (⌀>8 cm, ƒ<40 cm) with the unique features described under the Graphoscope Family
	• A pedestal-style base
	• An adjustable armature supporting the lens and image-plate

 

Each row in the following table represents a different species of Pedestal-Graphoscope.

Anderson Krum:
	[Future] Link

This graphoscope is from an 1886 advertisement Anderson Krum's devices. It has an articulated armature that allows the distance between lens and image-plate to be adjusted. The device is made of nickel-plated steel.

 

Pattberg:
	[Future] Link

This is an illustration from a patent application made by H. Pattberg in 1879. It has a telescoping armature that tilts.

 

We do not know if it was ever manufactured for sale.

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