‘Smile or weep even in the social circle’: secrecy, sharing, and the circulation of affect with Stanhope microphotographic viewers

‘Stanhope’ viewers are optical bijoux most popular in the 1860s, when they were first mass-produced in France, although they were widely available in Britain. These small novelty items contained a microscopic photograph (microphotograph) that could only be viewed or indeed seen through a tiny cylindrical magnifying lens, which was often hidden in the design of the object. Stanhopes were developed in the context of a rich media ecology. They draw on the work of John Benjamin Dancer and René Dagron in microphotography. They join kaleidoscopes, stereoscopes, and peep eggs as domestic peep media, and they stand with cosmoramas and microscopes themselves as peep practices dependent on magnification for effect. Although Dagron marketed them with hints of luxury and mystery, they were inexpensive mementoes available to purchasers for only a shilling. Stanhopes were often sold as souvenirs, fitted with microphotographs of notable places, but they could also be customized with personal images, such as photographs of friends or family members. This essay argues that Stanhopes were a uniquely affordable, adaptable, accessible, and portable way to reanimate and circulate memory and affect. They promised both secrecy and sociality. Stanhopes offer a unique perspective on Victorian tourism and souvenirs, fashion and jewelry, religious sentiment and death culture, and even erotica. With a Stanhope in hand, Victorians could readily access a hidden photographic image and stir up or share recollected love, friendship, faith, nostalgia, or desire.