Gandhi Posing for his Sculpture   

Courtesy: Scarlet Johnston/A Time to Remember Collectibles.

Stereoview Leader of Gandhi posing as an artist sculpts

 What is a Stereoscope?

Stereoscopes, also known as stereopticons or stereo viewers, were one of America's most popular forms of entertainment in the late 1800s and early 1900s. The first patented stereoscope was invented by Sir Charles Wheatstone in 1838. Wheatstone had experimented with simple stereoscopic drawings in 1832, several years before photography was invented. Later, the two principles were combined to form the stereoscope.

A stereoscope is composed of two pictures mounted next to each other, and a set of lenses to view the pictures through. Each picture is taken from a slightly different viewpoint that corresponds closely to the spacing of the eyes. The left picture represents what the left eye would see, and likewise for the right picture. When observing the pictures through a special viewer, the pair of two-dimensional pictures merge together into a single three-dimensional photograph.

See Also:

• A Day with Gandhi -- Never before seen photographs of Gandhi in his hermitage by V.N. O'key; includes a commentary identifying various individuals close to Gandhi.
• Old Photographs of India