Cosmorama

The Cosmorama name referes to a style of viewer first registered September 15, 1854 to George Knight of London. Several different makers produced their own adaptation of it. It is basically a box style viewer with a moveable lens board. Glass eye lenses also vary, several had large glass lenses that resembled the Gothic style of church windows. These will be found on ornate stands in a variety of styles and in hand held versions. They were produced by the French and English. My only example was made by Doboscq & Soliel of Paris.

This viewer has a faint label between the lenses on the faceplate. Brevete means having patent papers. The initials "D. S." are for Duboscq & Soleil of Paris who manufactured stereoscopes for Brewster starting in 1850. Jules Duboscq was the son-in-law and business partner of Soleil. This viewer differs from other models in that the view was inserted from the top down and the brass slide for securing the lid was located on the inside instead of the outside. The wood on the stand does not match but appears to have been professionally made at about the same time period, the paper on the base and the threaded dowel on the base is consistent with other viewers of this period.