Virtual Reality, 1770s-style

The German engraver Franz Xaver Habermann, who never visited North America, used his imagination to create this curious Québec City street scene. The title printed backward is a clue that this print was to be viewed through a zograscope, a trendy gadget that used a lens and a mirror to make “perspective views” appear three-dimensional. Views of exotic places delighted European audiences, who enjoyed them in middle-class parlours and at carnival sideshows.

Visitors to the exhibition will have an opportunity to peek through a reconstructed zograscope and experience this early precursor to “virtual reality.”

View of the Upper Town of Québec with the Square Leading to the Cavalier du Moulin (translation)
Franz Xaver Habermann, about 1775
Copperplate engraving on paper, watercolour
© Library and Archives Canada, e011309357

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