Stereoscopic Glass plates
I am currently scanning a collection of stereoscopic glass plates from the late 19th century,I feel very honoured to have access to these. They are an incredible view into the past, quite literally. I can’t help but thinking how many of the impressionist painters were still around and Post Impressionism was still developing. Once scanned I am using a passive viewer called a pokescope which I purchased from PokeScope® Stereoscopic Resources. I have also produced MPO files that are compatible with my HTC EVO 3D phone so that I can view the images in 3d without any additional aides. There is something special however when these plates are viewed directly as they were originally intended with an antique viewer.
In order to scan these plates I needed to make a holder for my Epson V700. I chose to use ABS plastic because sheets of it were readily available and I was able to use regular plumbing adhesive to construct it. Each plate is 44x107mm so I made the width of the opening 104mm leaving just 1.5mm on each side to support the plate.
The plates themselves appear to have been produced at the time with some form of reproduction. I know this because I found two identical plates. They come from a diversity of sources but appear to primarily be French in origin. Hopefully I will know a bit more by the end of the scanning process. I will likely write an update post at that time perhaps with a few more images.