Item is a wooden handheld stereoscopic viewer with a black metal hood. Hood is engraved with floral patterning and branded with The Mercury Stereoscope trademark. The edges of the hood are lined with black velvet. Handle folds back onto viewer. The entire stereoscope is kept within a black box. This item was patented by R.Y. Young an American photographer most known for his stereographs. This object was used to view two nearly identical photographs, or stereographs, as one three dimensional image. The stereograph would be placed in the sliding card holder and adjusted to fit the user's vision until the two images overlap to mimic a three-dimensional effect.

Written on box label : The Stereo - Gothard patented 1901, by R.Y. Young Sold Only By American Stereoscopic Company 725 Broadway, New York.