P3D Verascope Richard slides (repeat)

[Tom Gardner <tgg@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I sent this before, but I didn't see it in the digest; my apologies if
it is a repeat...

Andre Burr asks:
>Would someone mind describing Verascope Richard stereoviews?
>What is the size of the glass (including non-image area)?

45mm*107mm*1mm, two images each 45mm*45mm. The central
empty strip contains the company name, image description, and 
an image number - an incomplete check of my slides revealed 
numbers in the range 40,000 to 132,000. 
Example: 
	VERASCOPE RICHARD
	++++++
	CHINE
	--
	Pekin Ville interdite
	--
	Temple des Lamas
	--
	Portique d'entree
	--
	No 44,502

>What type camera/size film was used to make them?

Presumably a Verascope Richard camera which directly exposed
dry glass plates. The copies are, I presume, contact prints. 
(see below)

>When were they produced?

No definite information, but the turn-of-the-century plus or minus
a couple of decades seems plausible.

>Is there a typical number of views in a "set"?

I suspect sets, but there is no direct indication of which image 
belongs in which set.

>Do they normally come with booklets, viewers, or other 
>accessories?

Not that I've seen

>I believe they are French, non?
Oui, bien sur.

>What is the usual market value of a typical set; say,
>something like a Versailles tour?
No idea. I'd be interested in an answer, but I suspect it would
require a trip to an auction of photographic equipment (see below)

>merci beaucoup,
>Andre Burr

The format used is extremely common; it is easy to get
commercial and amateur slides in this format. The ones from
the WWI trenches are haunting. However, the Verascope
Richard slides of "foreign lands" definitely have a certain
"je ne sais quoi".

From
	http://www.auctions-on-line.com/phillips/auct/a980318/Page8.html
	A RICHARD PARIS VERASCOPE STEREOSCOPIC VIEWER, 
	with thirty-four negatives depicting
            various Burmese subjects contained in a wooden case (2)
            £50-70
Sounds like a hand-held viewer, not a "Taxiphote" which normally
goes for >£200.

From
	http://www.auctions-on-line.com/phillips/auct/f970617/Page17.html#L2
	A FRENCH VERASCOPE STEREOSCOPIC CAMERA; together 
	with a book: Stereoscopic Photography, by Arthur W. Judge, 
	pub. 1926. £150-200

See also for hints 
	http://pearl.amnh.org/anthro/expeditions/congo/congo.htm
and I couldn't connect to
	http://ftp.cnam.fr/scf/pressescf.html
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            The above are my own views, not the views of HP
  Tom Gardner                 Hewlett Packard Laboratories, Filton Rd,
  tgg@xxxxxxxxxx              Stoke Gifford, Bristol, Avon, BS12 6QZ, ENGLAND.
  Fax: +44 117 9228924        Tel: +44 117 9799910 ext. 29291
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