On Monday November 24, at 6.30 pm, you are invited to come and meet Brian May (Queen guitarist, astrophysicist and photo historian) and Denis Pellerin (historian of stereo photography), two of the co-authors of the book “Diableries : Stereoscopic Adventures in Hell,” the French version of which has just been released by Les Editions La Martinière.
This book is the result of the passionate work of three authors who have made it possible, for the first time in the 21st century, to publish in one book all of the known Diableries made in the second half of the 19th century.
Diableries were born in France in the late 1850s out of a general fascination for everything diabolical. They are tabletop clay tableaux depicting life in this underworld we call Hell and which bears a very strong resemblance to Paris.
At the time Diableries captured the interest of the public thanks to the medium of the stereoscopic cards which had been the latest trend since the early 1850s. These dioramas have several layers of meaning (satirical, political, religious) that are all revealed in the book.
These amazing and patiently restored binocular reproductions can been seen in glorious 3-D thanks to the OWL stereoscope included in the book.
THE AUTHORS
Brian May is one of the founding members of the rock band Queen, a world-famous guitarist, a composer, a producer and an artist who still performs a lot. After 30 years travelling around the world for the greatest glory of rock he went back to his early passion for astronomy and completed a Phd in Astrophysics in 2006 before co-writing his first book, Bang ! The Complete Story of the Universe.
Stereo photography has been a passion with him since he was a teenager and is an avid collector of 19th century stereocards.
Denis Pellerin, passionate historian of stereoscopy, was a teacher for 30 years. He wrote several books on 19th century stereo photography and has been fascinated by the Diableries for over a quarter of a century.
Paula Richardson Fleming is a photo historian with a special interest in stereoscopy. Her association with Brian and Denis came from their common passion for the Diableries.
Venue: Librairie Le Monte-en-l’air, 72, rue de Ménilmontant, Paris