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# Realistiscope, or stereoscope, from the collection of the Sursock Museum in Beirut
- URL: https://theparnassian.com/en/realistikskop-iz-kollektsii-beirutskogo-muzeia-sursoka/
- Published: 2019-04-08T14:40:22.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-02T18:58:11.000Z
- Author: Alexandr Radayev
- Tags: The East, Museums, Mores

A realistiscope from the collection of the Sursock Museum in Beirut. More often it is called a stereoscope. In its day this device, devised in the 1850s, was enormously popular. To use the curious contraption, one must press the velvet edges of the mask firmly to the face, holding it by the handle, and arrange the photographs so that light falls upon them. The effect: you will see a three-dimensional, or stereo, image. Many homes had whole collections of stereo photocards, including improving and humorous subjects, and long before filmstrips and television sets whole families whiled away their evenings at the realistiscope