A salt-print stereoview depicting a narrow street in Montmartre, Paris, flanked by tall multi-story townhouses receding toward the base of the hill (butte). At the top of the rise stands the ruined remnant of the Chappe optical telegraph tower, its semaphore mast still visible against the sky. The image is mounted within arched, gold-ruled window mats typical of mid-19th-century French stereo cards.
The handwritten identification on the verso, naming the site and the tower, corresponds to the Chappe telegraph relay that stood above the former church of Saint-Pierre de Montmartre, a structure largely dismantled after the telegraph line ceased operation in the late 1840s; its continued presence in ruined form here supports a dating in the early 1860s, shortly after Montmartre's annexation to Paris in 1860.
Photographer/publisher: Unknown
Period/date: circa 1855
Dimensions: 175 x 85 mm
Condition: Good; overall toning and light yellowing of the mount, scattered light foxing spots visible across both image panels and surrounding card stock, corners and edges intact with minor handling wear, images slightly faded with reduced contrast in the highlights.
Reverse: Pencil inscription in a period hand reading 'Montmartre' and below it 'Tour de Chappe.', with an additional pencil numeral '60' at lower left and a faint mark resembling '9' at lower right.
Keywords: France, Montmartre, stereoview, Chappe telegraph, Paris streetscape
Photographer Biography:
No verified biographical information available.
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