Some time in 1854, at 313 Oxford Street, the “London Stereoscope Company” was born, and under the leadership of Managing Partner George Swan Nottage, by 1856 the company had changed its name, to “The London Stereoscopic Company”, and finally in May 1859 assumed the name it was to retain for years to come: the “London Stereoscopic and Photographic Company”.
Their business was selling stereo views and viewers to the public, and they were leaders in a boom – a craze - which swept England, Europe, and eventually the United States too, of stereo photographs of every conceivable subject, which, viewed by means of a stereoscope, presented scenes in life-like three dimensions. In a world which had never experienced Television, the Movies, or the Internet, this was understandably a revelation. In February 1856, the London Stereoscopic Company (LSC) advertised, in the Photographic Journal, “The largest collection in Europe, upwards of 10,000” stereo views.
Much of the workings of the LSC in its early years is still shrouded in mystery, and the relationship it had with the pioneering photographers whose work it published remains unclear, but the company was evidently at a peak of production by the end of the 1850s; today’s collections of the finest cards from this period by James Elliott, Alfred Silvester, Mark Anthony, Charles Goodman, and many others always contain large numbers of examples bearing the familiar blindstamps of the LSC. In the 1860s, one of the LSC’s notable publications of stereo cards was a long series depicting the interior of the 1862 International Exhibition, in what is now Exhibition Road, South Kensington.
When the stereo card craze faded during the late 1860s, the company appears to have continued to do a healthy business, catering for the newer (and, for us, much less interesting) fashion for Cartes de Visite, but this too was fading by 1870. The company subsequently diversified into many areas; Getty images, who much later bought much of the surviving archives of the LSC, say, “At its peak, LSC was one of the largest and most diverse businesses, with a global network of offices and staff photographers, selling and licensing images, cameras, equipment, papers and plates.” It seems that at some point in the continued life of the LSC it fell on leaner times, and the company does not appear to have been able to participate in the second great stereoscopic boom at the turn of the century, dominated by Keystone, and Underwood and Underwood. The company was finally dissolved in 1922. But again, by the 1980s, the London Stereoscopic Company had again vanished from view.
We, the present New Management, are seeking to recreate the magic of the company, and hope that one day the London Stereoscopic Company will publish stereo cards once more. In the meantime, the immediate aim of the site is to provide a resource for information.
Our first priority in 2008 is the work of Thomas Richard Williams, photographer of great renown, whose work was among the first to be published by the original London Stereoscopic Company from 1855. There is some reason to suppose that the relationship between the LSC and TRW was not always a happy one (see our T. R. Williams Biography), and if the original LSC behaved at times with less than proper respect and consideration, we hope to make amends in the 21st Century. We also hope that the new LSC will help to reintroduce the magic of stereoscopy to the public, making it available to to a wider audience.
Within the T. R. Williams domain on this site, there are three thumbnail galleries – for his three major series of stereo cards and daguerreotypes - “First Series”, “Scenes in Our Village”, and “Crystal Palace”. These galleries are a visual index, a quick resource for identifying almost any T. R. Williams card and are seen in full by scrolling down the page. As time goes on, we will be adding information for each of these views individually, so clicking on a thumbnail will access an image of the front of the stereo card, an enlarged “half” stereo, the text on the back of the card, and some information on the view itself. This, we believe, is the first time such a resource has been attempted, and certainly the first attempt ever, to document the entire series of TRW’s most famous oeuvre, “Scenes in Our Village”. If you have the title of the card, the List view will be another way of navigating to information on it.
In the early days we will be constantly adding to the information, and working our way through the series. So the early numbers will immediately be ‘clickable’ (indicated by a title which is highlighted in Gold), and the later ones will for the time being not be highlighted, indicating that the information pages are still under construction. We will provide informatino as to what is currently being worked on, and what is new, in the What’s New section.
This encyclopaedia, particularly of Scenes in Our Village, is the result of 30 years of study, and has been made possible by the kindness of many friends, fellow-collectors and scholars. Our list of honorees, to whom we owe our sincere thanks, can be viewed here, in Acknowledgments, but specific acknowlegements will also be found at relevant spots in the site. Our Links to other sites and organisations relating to Stereo Photography are very important to us. Here you will find experts and dealers in 1850s images, and also sites which will help you procure equipment for viewing stereo material, and taking stereo pictures of your own. We also provide some information on the care and conservation of the stereoscopic photographs in “The Care of Stereo Photographs”
Our intention, in the future, is eventually to expand the site to include reference sections for other photographers and series from this fascinating period, when stereo photographs provided the common man’s first glimpse, through a stereo window, into a magical new world.
Please feel free to leave comments, suggestions, and criticisms, questions, or just a ‘hello’ in our Contact page. All will be appreciated. We will be deeply grateful for any information leading to additions or corrections which can be made to this resource. And if you feel you have a better copy of any of the views, please contact us - we would love a scan, which we will be able include here for all to enjoy !
Cheers !
Brian May.
Sources:
Russell Norton, Stereo World Magazine, Volume 16, Number 2, 1989.
The Getty Images Website - gettyimages.com
photoLondon website
David Webb
Bob Pullen
