(Coronation, Queen Victoria, 19th-Century Ephemera) SPOONER, William (Publisher). Spooner's Transformations No. 10. The Queen Enthroned. Changing to the Ceremony of the Crowning in Westminster Abbey. June 28, 1838. London: William Spooner, 377 Strand, [1838]. 8vo. 7-3/16" x 5-15/16" (print); 1-1/16" x 5" (paste-label); 11-7/16" x 9-1/16" (mount). Hand-colored lithograph structured as a hold-to-light transformation print, mounted on original publisher brown stiff paper mount, with a pictorial lithograph paste-label featuring title and imprint printed in black applied to the mount below the print. The physical condition of the print, including the hand-painted scene on the verso, is graded (8/10) - VERY FINE (utilizing a standardized 10-point scale for grading photographs, prints and original works of art); exhibiting mild or moderate condition issues visible under very close inspection or under raking light; with the original stiff paper mount showing age-tanning along the upper edge, a crease at the lower right-hand corner, and scattered light spotting/soiling, remaining complete as issued with no tears or major defects.
The Optical Mechanics of Nineteenth-Century Transformation Prints
Optical print novelties gained immense popularity during the early Victorian era, offering viewers interactive visual experiences through structural manipulation and lighting effects. William Spooner, operating from the Strand in London, specialized in these ingenious optical sheets. This hand-colored lithograph depicts Queen Victoria in her coronation robes, holding the royal scepters, seated upon the Coronation Chair inside an empty Westminster Abbey. When held to a light source, a completely transformed image appears: what had previously been a solitary scene now reveals Westminster Abbey packed with spectators at the climax of the coronation ritual, with the Archbishop of Canterbury about to place St. Edward's Crown upon Queen Victoria's head, surrounded by a crowded assembly of attending bishops, peers of the realm with coronets in hand, and other high-ranking officers of state. Spooner achieved this effect by painting this secondary image on the back of the print and covering the back with a layer of tissue paper, which acted as a diffuser to scatter light evenly across the entire sheet while masking the hidden scene from direct front lighting and protecting fragile, dried pigments from handling damage.
Bibliographical Rarity and Institutional Census
Ephemeral optical novelties of the early Victorian period experienced heavy handling by contemporary audiences, making surviving specimens in collectible condition uncommon. A current global sweep of the OCLC/WorldCat database locates no copies preserved in institutional special collections worldwide.
AN EXCEEDINGLY RARE SURVIVING SPECIMEN OF EARLY VICTORIAN OPTICAL EPHEMERA, UNRECORDED IN INSTITUTIONAL CENSUSES, REPRESENTING A WONDERFUL ADDITION TO ANY COLLECTION DEVOTED TO THE HISTORY OF THE BRITISH MONARCHY, NINETEENTH-CENTURY PRINTING, OR RARE OPTICAL EPHEMERA.
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