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'Diableries - Stereoscopic Adventures In Hell'
was published on 31 October 2013, and was written by Brian May,
Denis Pellerin and Paula Fleming.
The book is a study of 'Diableries', which are French stereo
cards produced between 1840 and 1900, which have fascinated Brian
for over 40 years since first discovering them as a student. The
book contains 280 pages and 500 full colour photographs, and
comes in a slipcase with an 'Owl' stereoscope viewer. It was also
available as a special deluxe collectors edition, which was
signed by the authors, bound in faux leather with gilt edged
pages, and came with a gold Owl stereoscope viewer and a
certificate.
The authors promoted the book by hosting a series of lectures,
talks, and book signings in the UK. Brian also opened a free
gallery in a disused telephone box in the English village of
Settle, which featured a selection of photographs from the book.
A short film titled 'One
Night In Hell' was released in 2014, which features animated
scenes based on Diableries featured in the book. Brian was one of
the producers of the film, contributed a new track to it, and
also briefly appears. In addition, an app was produced for the
iPad and iPhone platforms, and later Android, allowing you to
view 24 original stereo cards and interact with the characters
through a 'Diabl-O-Scope' augmented reality application.
A set of 12 stereoscope cards from the book were later included
in the 'Victorian Gems' boxed set in 2015.
The following is taken from the book's official website, www.diableries.co.uk:
Brian May is one of the world’s foremost collectors of
Victorian stereo cards. He published his first book about these
cards in 2009. 'A Village Lost And Found' contained a complete
series of stereo cards taken in a small Oxfordshire village, and
was a huge success and the subject of a great deal of media
attention.
In this second book, the subject is of broader interest and is
more controversial. Diableries (which translates roughly as
‘Devilments’) presents an extraordinary set of French
stereo cards, which were published beginning in the 1860's, and
continuing on until around 1900. They depict a whole imaginary
underworld, populated by devils, satyrs and skeletons which are
very much alive and, for the most part, having fun. The cards are
works of art in themselves, and are known as French tissues,
constructed in a special way to enable them to be viewed (in a
stereoscope, which is supplied with the book) illuminated from
the front, for a normal ‘day’ appearance in monochrome,
or illuminated from the back, the view becomes a
‘night’ scene, in which hidden colours magically
appear.
The scenes depicted in these Diableries were made in clay, on a
table-top, with amazing skill, by a small bunch of gifted
sculptors, and then photographed with a stereo camera. The
resulting stereo pair of prints was made on thin albumen paper,
and water-colours were applied to the back of the prints. The
eyes of each skeleton were then pricked out with a sharp
instrument, and small pieces of red gel, or blobs of reddened
varnish, were applied to the back of the pricked holes. Behind
this pair of prints was added a layer of tissue paper, which hid
the ‘works’ to the rear surface of the view. The print
and the backing tissue were then mounted together, sandwiched
between two cardboard frames – each with twin cut-out
‘windows’ for the prints, and the whole was glued
together to make a French Tissue stereo card and the eyes of the
skeletons leap out in red, in a most macabre way! Collectors
prize these cards, which are quite delicate, and must be handled
with care, in order not to damage them.
In addition to the beautiful images of the complete set of over
70 stereo cards which can be seen in 3D using the viewer
provided, Brian and his fellow authors and researchers Denis
Pellerin and Paula Fleming provide an explanatory text for every
card to unravel its meaning – the satirical nature of the
cards is hidden to modern eyes.
Brian May, CBE, PhD, FRAS is a founding member of Queen, a world
renowned guitarist, songwriter, producer and performer. Brian
postponed a career in astronomy when Queen’s popularity
first exploded, but after an incendiary 30 years as a rock
musician, returned to astrophysics in 2006, when he completed his
PhD and co-authored his first book, 'Bang! The Complete History
of the Universe', with Patrick Moore and Chris Lintott.
Stereoscopy has been a life-long passion, and his second book, 'A
Village Lost and Found', written with Elena Vidal, introduced the
genius of Victorian Stereophotographer T. R. Williams to a global
audience.
Denis Pellerin, dedicated photohistorian, was a teacher for over
30 years and has been interested in photography since the age of
ten. He was bitten by the stereo bug in the 1980's, has been
fascinated by the Diableries for over 25 years and has written
several books and articles on 19th-century stereophotography for
various magazines, institutions and museums. He graduated as an
MA in Art History at the Sorbonne in 1999 and has since been
specialising in French and British Victorian genre stereoviews.
He is also currently working on his PhD.
Paula Richardson Fleming is a photographic historian with a
special interest in stereo photography. She is the retired Photo
Archivist of the Smithsonian Institution National Anthropological
Archives, and a Fellow and former member of the Board of
Directors of the National Stereoscopic Association. Her credits
include publications on 19th-century photography, as well as the
curation of many photographic exhibits. Her association with
Brian and Denis came naturally from their mutual appreciation of
Diableries.
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