Rowsell's Graphoscope

Charles John Rowsell patented the first stereographoscope #270 on February 1, 1864 in England. Rowsell would patent other improvements in later years. These viewers will be found in a variety of woods, veneers and sizes. This particular model is very large at 24" in length. Stereographoscope could be folded down for compact storage. The magnifying glass could be used for better detail in stereo views but mostly was used to view cdv's and post cards which became quite popular in that era. I purchased this viewer from Paul Wing in 1994 and it is the viewer illustrated on page 131 in his book.

© 2006 - Del Phillips