Antoine Claudet
1868
The stereoscope is the general panorama of the world.

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Quoted in an article by Claudet in: Pickering, Basil Montague, 1868, August, A. Claudet F.R.S. - A Memoir, (London: B.M. Pickering) [Reprinted from The Scientific Review for distribution at the meeting of the British Association at Norwich, 19 August, 1868.], p. 10
 
The stereoscope is the general panorama of the world. It brings to us in the cheapest and most portable form, not only the picture, but the model, in a tangible shape, of all that exists in the various countries of the globe; it introduces us to scenes known only from the imperfect relations of travellers; it leads us before the ruins of antique architecture, illustrating the historical records of former and lost civilisations, the genius, taste, and power of past ages, with which we have become as familiarised as if we had visited them. By our fireside we have the advantage of examining them, without being exposed to the fatigue, privation, and risks of the daring and enterprising artists who, for our gratification and instruction, have traversed lands and seas, crossed rivers and valleys, ascended rocks and mountains with their heavy and cumbrous baggage.
 
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