[Broadway in the Rain, likely taken from 308 or 310 Broadway, New York City]. Artist: Edward Anthony (American, 1818-1888); Henry T. Anthony (American, 1814-1884). Date: ca. 1860s.
Edward Anthony and his brother Henry were the founders of New York's first manufacturers and purveyors of cameras and photographic supplies. In 1859, Anthony published a series of their own stop-action or "instantaneous" stereographic views, including Broadway on a Rainy Day. Remarkable for its crystalline clarity, the photograph sold thousands of copies in the 1860s and still ranks among the most collectible images of New York City.
A stereograph, commonly known as a stereo view, is a double photograph presented in such a manner that an observer looking through a stereoscope sees a single image in three dimensions.