Baltimore, twice: Stereoscopic views from the NYPL

32 Photos

Long before the world’s first 3D movie was the stereoscope, a device that juxtaposed two pictures of the same object, making them appear to pop at the viewer.

“In fact, few persons who aspired to culture were without a stereoscope on the living room table and a stack of stereographs (double photos) which might range from historic scenes in this country to travel pictures from all parts of the world, and from sentimental and comic topics to natural history subjects,” recalled Frank Woodfield in The Sun in 1953.

The above images of Baltimore in the 1800s come courtesy of the New York Public Library website, which has a special feature that allows users to animate the archival images to give them the effect of movement.

GIF made with the NYPL Labs Stereogranimator - view more at http://stereo.nypl.org/gallery/index
GIF made with the NYPL Labs Stereogranimator