Stereophotography Illustration and Popular Publishing: Lovell Reeve’s Editorial Plan for Charles Piazzi Smyth’s <i>Teneriffe</i> (1858)

Contributing to the intersecting fields of photographic history, print history, the history of science and popular publishing, this article analyses Charles Piazzi Smyth’s Teneriffe as a critical case study to reassess the role of publishers as creative forces in the production of photographically illustrated books in mid-Victorian London. Shifting the focus from the intentions of the author-photographer to those of the publisher, Lovell Reeve, the study foregrounds his decisive role in the inclusion of stereophotographs as book illustrations. The article highlights the commercial identity of this multimedia object of popular science, linking its production and circulation to the mid-Victorian era and to Reeve’s broader editorial project, which from 1858 onwards incorporated stereophotographic illustrations in books and magazines for educational purposes. Ultimately, the article calls for a re-evaluation of the role of publishers, emphasising their influence on the commercial identity and material form of early photographically illustrated books.