Plasticke Obrazy Zoologicke

Prague: Nakladem Zoologicke zahrady v Praze-Troji, 1937. Octavo. 4pp., + 40 plates, each one printed in red and green for 3-D viewing, enabled by the astonishingly rare survival of four 3-D glasses held in a sleeve inserted into the front board. Each plate shows a different animal, altogether an exciting and almost realistic personal zoo. The history of three-dimensional printing owes its lineage to the parallel history of experiments in depth perception, and its incorporation into print culture begins with the stereoscope. But here the specific technique of "anaglyphic" printing arrived in the late 19th century, based on earlier principles but adding to the equation manipulations of light and color. Shortly thereafter, anaglyphic films entered the market. By the time of this compendium's publication, the technological procedure had become more widely diffuse, but nevertheless retained its novelty value (as it still does today, in the grandeur of IMAX cinema). The timing, too, deserves further attention for its near-coincidence with the onset of Nazi Germany's aggression in central Europe; it would annex the Sudetenland a year later. Mild toning overall, trace rubbing to exterior, else fine in full gray cloth portfolio.