The World of Stereographs [Paperback]

William C. Darrah (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"...it can only help to have the The World of Stereographs available to inspire and challenge another generation of stereo collectors and researchers." -- John Dennis, Editor, Stereo World

"...the standard reference...it remains the place where one starts when dealing with stereophotography." -- T. K. Treadwell, Past-President, National Stereoscopic Association

About the Author

William C. Darrah (1909-1989), by profession a botanist, geologist and author, was professor of biology at Gettysburg College. He "discovered" stereographs in 1943 while researching background for Powell of the Colorado, a biography of John Wesley Powell, the American geologist. His forty years of assiduous research of nineteenth century commercially produced card-mounted photographs resulted in the publication of Stereo Views: A History of Stereographs in America and Their Collection (1964), The World of Stereographs (1977), and Cartes de Visite In Nineteenth Century Photography (1981). These seminal works have become classics in the history of photography.

Product Details

• Paperback: 248 pages
• Publisher: Land Yacht Pr; 2nd Rep edition (August 29, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0965051315
• ISBN-13: 978-0965051316
• Product Dimensions: 11.2 x 8.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,052,900 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Great info but reproductions FAR inferior to those in 1st HB edition, January 11, 2010

By 

SocJan (Champaign, IL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The World of Stereographs (Paperback)

WARNING: If what you are seeking is Darrah's heroic and indispensable scholarship -- his listing, for example, of several thousand (!) commercial stereographers active on the American scene in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, then this book is for you.

But if you also value high quality reproductions of rare stereoviews from Darrah's own enormous collection, you will want to pass up on this reprint and get a copy of the first HB edition -- its faithfulness to the original stereoviews is FAR superior and even includes color plates.

The illustrations in this reprint edition are severely degraded by comparison to those in the first edition.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Indispensible Source, 3-D Photography Guide and History of Stereoviews, September 13, 2008

By 

SocJan (Champaign, IL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The World of Stereographs (Hardcover)

William Culp Darrah was a biologist (specialist in paleobotany) with a strong interest in history and especially the history of stereography. He tracked down the local and peripatetic stereo photographers of the second half of the 19th century who recorded images of the rapidly-changing world of that era. Darrah built an enormous private collection of early stereographs. Not surprisingly, his collection was particularly strong in local American views, but the book covers stereo photography in 60 (!) countries. This 1977 privately printed book draws on that collection and includes fine-screen color and black and white reproductions of many rare stereoviews.

The illustrations in this first edition are enormously superior in quality to those in reprint editions of this magisterial monograph. Its 246 pages include details about the careers of hundreds of local photographers whose stereoviews are now highly collectible. No serious student of photography or collector of early stereoviews can be without it.

1 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent reference book for the stereo view enthusiast, November 14, 2005

By 

David Burkhart "author" (San Francisco) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The World of Stereographs (Paperback)

After all these years, Darrah's fascinating book remains one of the definitive resources for the serious collector of stereo views. Highly recommended.
-David Burkhart, author of Earthquake Days: The 1906 San Francisco Earthquake & Fire in 3-D.