The Poor Man's Picture Gallery: Stereoscopy versus Paintings in the Victorian Era

This astonishing set of stereocards from Brian May's collection reconstructs 14 well-known Victorian works in Tate Britain using real actors and staged scenes. The stereos are contemporary with the paintings, and their existence was hitherto unknown outside the circle of specialist collectors of Victoriana. They were produced for commercial reasons -- the advent of a new painting by a great artist was big news, but most people were not able to access and enjoy the new works of art. Entrepreneurial photographers of the day reconstructed the scenes, photographed them, and sold the stereocards for profit. In addition to their beauty, they shed light on the story of these famous paintings, and reveal a great deal about the society of the time.

The format shows the painting itself, followed by the stereocard versions of that painting with explanatory text. The artists include Landseer, Maclise, Wallis, Millais, Calderon, Collinson, Frith, Egley, Collins, Leslie, Haydon; and the photographers were the most distinguished of that time. The book accompanies an exhibition of these cards, which will be held at the Tate from October 2014 on.

With over 300 photographs and illustrations, this extraordinary volume comes slipcased with a 3-D viewer.