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Keystone View Company World War Through the Stereoscope Collection
MSS.2011.02.15
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Table of contents
Language of Material:
English
Contributing Institution:
SJSU Special Collections & Archives
Title: Keystone View Company World War Through the Stereoscope Collection
creator:
Keystone View Company
source:
San José State University. Library. Special Collections & Archives
Identifier/Call Number: MSS.2011.02.15
Physical Description:
5.0 boxes
(1 linear foot)
Date (inclusive): 1923, 1928
Abstract: The Keystone View CompanyWorld War Through the Stereoscope Collection consists of 300 stereograph cards featuring scenes from
WWI, a stereoscope for viewing the cards, and a 1928 copy of the book "The World War Through the Telebinocular."
The collection is open for research.
Copyright is not assigned to the San José State University Special Collections & Archives. All requests for permission to
publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Director of Special Collections. Permission for publication
is given on behalf of the Special Collections & Archives. Copyright restrictions may apply to digital reproductions of the
original materials. Use of digital files is restricted to research and educational purposes. The collection resides in the
public domain.
Keystone View Company World War Through the Stereoscope Collection, MSS-2011-02-15, San José State University Library Special
Collections & Archives.
Collection processed by Lisa Zakharova. Finding aid EAD encoded by Lisa Zakharova. Reviewed by Danelle Moon.
Stereographs became a very popular entertainment medium from the 1850s to the 1930s, though a few companies continued to produce
stereographic images until the 1970s. Many different photographic processes were used to produce stereographs, including daguerreotypes,
ambrotypes, wet plate glass positives, salt paper prints, albumen prints, and gelatin prints. Stereographs were formed of
two images placed side by side and mounted on cardboard. They were commonly produced with cameras that had two lenses side
by side. Stereographic cards were produced in the millions by photographers all over the world. Invented in England, the novelty
and attraction of stereograph formats spread across Europe and the United States.
Stereographs provided a very popular entertainment medium predating television and film. Keystone and Underwood produced stereographic
sets packaged in box sets with spines that resembled classic book bindings, accompanied by descriptive guide books written
by recognized scholars, copyrighted maps depicting the exact location of the photograph, and the arrangement of sets by subject
intended for primary and secondary school instruction. Stereographic views cover a diverse range of subjects and include topographic
views, local history, events, industries and trade, urban and country life, portraits of famous people, and the production
of box sets of World War I and World War II. The box sets ranged in size from 50 to 200 images per box, and were viewed through
a stereoscope, which produced a unique three-dimensional (3-D) effect.
Scope and Content of Collection
The Keystone View Company World War Through the Steresoscope Collection consists of stereograph cards that feature graphic
battle scenes, trench warfare, war strategy, military aircraft, weaponry, and key WWI leaders such as Raymond Poincare, President
of the French Republic, Joseph Joffre, Commander-in-Chief of the French Army, and Sir Douglas Haig, Commander of the British
Armies in France. Many of the scenes featured in the collection were taken in France. The Keystone View Company was the only
company permitted to photograph the World War I battlefields and military operations.
The collection also includes a stereoscope for viewing the stereographs and a 1928 copy of the book "The World War Through
the Telebinocular: A visualized, vitalized history of the greatest conflict of all the ages," which was edited by Major Joseph
Mills Hanson and published by Keystone View Company. Included in the book is a history of the events of the war and a list
of all 300 stereographs found in the collection.
This collection is primarily arranged by stereograph number.
Keystone View Company Stereocard Collection, MSS-2010-08-25
Subjects and Indexing Terms
World War, 1914-1918 -- Photographs
Stereographs
Stereoscopic views
Photographic prints
Keystone View Company
San José State University. Library. Special Collections & Archives