This is a very unique, vintage Gettysburg collectible. In the shaft of this bullet is a Stanhope view of the Virginia Memorial, General Meade’s monument, and an artist’s rendition of Pickett’s Charge. Below these images it is labeled, “GETTYSBURG, PA”.

Stanhopes were novelty souvenirs that became popular during the 19th century. These objects (ranging from pens to sewing accessories to jewelry) are unique because of the tiny hidden image placed somewhere inside the object. The image can be found by holding the object up to the light and looking into a tiny hole where the magnified image becomes visible. These images range from landscapes to portraits and are about 1/10th an inch in diameter and 1/4 an inch long.

The term “Stanhope” comes from the inventor of the Stanhope Lens, Lord Charles Stanhope (1753-1816) (Note: Lord Charles died before photography had been invented). The name “Stanhope” is somewhat of a misnomer because the actual lens used in the objects known as “Stanhopes” is not actually a Stanhope lens. It is actually called the Codding Magnifier, invented by Sir David Brewster (1781-1868). In 1839, John Benjamin Dancer (1812-1887) attached a microscope lens to a daguerreotype camera and produced microphotographs. This new technology influenced Rene Dagron (1819-1900), a portrait maker in Paris, to invent the Stanhope by affixing a micro-image to a lens. After these new developments, Dagron manufactured novelties with tiny photographs in them beginning in the early 1860’s. Eventually Stanhope novelties began to lose their popularity as souvenirs and the last true Stanhopes were made in 1972 by Roger Reymond.   [sm]

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