Stereoscope photograph: The ascent of Jungfrau
Object
Photograph
Production date
1900 = 1910
Object number
1991.789
Physical Description
Sepia, on grey card, 2 stereo views, '32 - 1767 - The ascent of Jungfrau'
Object history
This stereoscopic image is from a 'Berne and the Bernese Alps' a piece of travel writing and photography by American writer M.S. (Mabel Sarah) Emery. The larger work, 'Switzerland through the Stereoscope' contains a 'keyed' map, many more stereoscope images and chapters of travel writing.
The stereoscopic image would be viewed through a stereoscope which makes the scene appear three-dimensional. The third person writing style - inclusion of 'we' - and these realistic images are meant to give the viewer/reader the sense of being on the journey through Switzerland.
The stereoscopic image would be viewed through a stereoscope which makes the scene appear three-dimensional. The third person writing style - inclusion of 'we' - and these realistic images are meant to give the viewer/reader the sense of being on the journey through Switzerland.
Dimension
Length: 178mm
Width: 90mm
Width: 90mm
On display?
No
Inscription
This is the sort of travelling we find on the Grindelwald-Fiescher Glacier. We are in the very midst of the Bernese Alps, with the Schreckhorn and the Lauteraarhorn behind us at the east , and the Eiger, the M**onch and the Jungfrau ahead of us at the west. The town of Interlaken is about 12 miles away over the ice fields at the northwest (ahead and off at our right).
"Now we begin to see what it means to traverse these Alpine heights and valleys. Seen at a distance, this chasm would be only a streak in the general whiteness, if it showed at all. The guides make little of crossing it as it is, but the undertaking seems to a novice exciting indeed. The three men are tied together by a rope in the traditional Alpine fashion. Our guide - at the left side of the gulf - has already leaped over. Now he stands, with his feet in nail-studded shoes, well braced, and the other guide at the other side stands likewise braced, while the third man makes ready for his own leap to the farther side. A clever mountain climber can do that easily; and, even if the leap should be short of the first foothold insufficient, letting him fall into the crevasse the rope around his waist is more than sufficient to hold his weight. The guides can pull him up, none the worst for a disagreeable experience. The ropes approved and used by members of the great Alpine Clubs have a distinguishing strand of red running through their whole length. There is a good deal in howking how to use a rope - so the best guides say. It should be kept reasonable tight between the men all the time, else when a strain does come it is too much of a shock and foothold cannot be well maintained. On the other hand, it must not be kept all the time at extreme tension."
From Switzerland through the Stereoscope, by M.S. Emery, with special "keyed" maps locating every standpoint, and identifying the various peaks, passes and glaciers seen; published by Underwood and Underwood.
"Now we begin to see what it means to traverse these Alpine heights and valleys. Seen at a distance, this chasm would be only a streak in the general whiteness, if it showed at all. The guides make little of crossing it as it is, but the undertaking seems to a novice exciting indeed. The three men are tied together by a rope in the traditional Alpine fashion. Our guide - at the left side of the gulf - has already leaped over. Now he stands, with his feet in nail-studded shoes, well braced, and the other guide at the other side stands likewise braced, while the third man makes ready for his own leap to the farther side. A clever mountain climber can do that easily; and, even if the leap should be short of the first foothold insufficient, letting him fall into the crevasse the rope around his waist is more than sufficient to hold his weight. The guides can pull him up, none the worst for a disagreeable experience. The ropes approved and used by members of the great Alpine Clubs have a distinguishing strand of red running through their whole length. There is a good deal in howking how to use a rope - so the best guides say. It should be kept reasonable tight between the men all the time, else when a strain does come it is too much of a shock and foothold cannot be well maintained. On the other hand, it must not be kept all the time at extreme tension."
From Switzerland through the Stereoscope, by M.S. Emery, with special "keyed" maps locating every standpoint, and identifying the various peaks, passes and glaciers seen; published by Underwood and Underwood.
