Brian May and Pellerin to release stereoscopy history

Queen star Brian May and Denis Pellerin are releasing Stereoscopy: The Dawn of 3D in November through The London Stereoscopic Company.

May said the new title was the book he had dreamed of publishing since resurrecting the  fine art publishing house in 2006. Out on 10th November 2021, priced at £60, it promises “the full story of how stereoscopy became a world-wide sensation”.

Its blurb explains: “Following the invention and popularisation of stereoscopy in the mid 19th century, millions of Victorians peered into a small, dark, magical box and were transported into another dimension. The immersive realism of what we now call 3D beckoned to them to experience the far-flung wonders of the world without ever leaving their fireside. It was as if they were actually there amongst the Great Pyramids of Giza, or looking up at the Matterhorn, or standing in the rice fields of China. This book tells the whole story, illustrated with the very stereoscopic pictures that captivated those Victorians.”

May, who edited the book, said: “It’s actually the most important book we have ever produced, because it chronicles the birth and first steps of what we now call 3D – the very core of what we at the LSC proudly bring to the 21st Century. Denis Pellerin, probably the foremost stereo photography historian in the world right now, has made it possible, with his uniquely original research, to put the historical record straight in this book. It’s quite shocking that nobody has undertaken to tell this story in its entirety until now, and some of the revelations you will find in the book are in themselves shocking, because so many falsehoods have been perpetuated over the years about what actually happened. The rivalries which led to serial misinformation are thoroughly explored in this work, and the result is a proper and final restoration of Charles Wheatstone as the true discoverer of stereopsis, and the true inventor of the stereoscope, the ancestor of every 3D and virtual reality device in the world today.”

Pellerin said :“This book has been in my head for so long and has involved so much research that I am thrilled it is being released at last, thanks to the efforts and dedication of Dr Brian May and all of our team. It is a dream come true! This publication should set a few things right about the history of the first thirty years of the medium and should put stereoscopy once more in the limelight, where it rightfully belongs.”