Zograscope is an optical device for magnifying flat pictures that also has the property of enhancing the sense of the depth shown in the picture. It consists of a large magnifying lens through which the picture is viewed. Devices containing only the lens are sometimes referred to as graphoscopes. Other models have the lens mounted on a stand in front of an angled mirror. This allows someone to sit at a table and to look through the lens at the picture flat on the table. Pictures viewed in this way need to be left-right reversed; this is obvious in the case of writing. A print made for this purpose, typically with extensive graphical projection perspective, is called a vue d'optique or "perspective view", a catalogue of 1784, to look at “remarkable Views of Shipping, eminent Cities, Towns, Royal Palaces, Noblemen and Gentleman’s Seats and Gardens in Great Britain, France and Holland, Views of Venice, Florence, Ancient and Modern Rome, and the most striking public Buildings in and about London”. These pictures were available at a price of a shilling plain or two shillings coloured, a substantial sum for the period.
H.20 in x square top 8.5 x 10 in base D.8 in . comes with 3 optical view