Compare the bust of Lemercier with the portrait of him in the lithograph he published of himself and his establishment in 1842.
Creative Commons LicenseJeremy Norman Collection of Images - Creative Commons
Compare the bust of Lemercier with the portrait of him in the lithograph he published of himself and his establishment in 1842. Note that all four men in the Conseil d'administration are sitting at the table wearing large hats.
Manual lithography and proof departments.
Creative Commons LicenseJeremy Norman Collection of Images - Creative Commons
Manual lithography and proof departments.
Lemercier was so proud of their advanced lithographic presses entirely powered by electricity that they reproduced two different views of the same pressroom.
Creative Commons LicenseJeremy Norman Collection of Images - Creative Commons
Lemercier was so proud of their advanced lithographic presses entirely powered by electricity that they reproduced two different views of the same pressroom.
In this page opening on the left we see the storeroom for the traditional lithographic stone while on the right we see the photography department associated with more modern methods of lithog
In this page opening on the left we see the storeroom for the traditional lithographic stone while on the right we see the photography department associated with more modern methods of lithographic reproduction, specifically printing from aluminum plates.
In the upper left corner we see the department that made aluminum plates that replaced the traditional lithographic stone, beneath which there is the engraving department. In the upper right
Creative Commons LicenseJeremy Norman Collection of Images - Creative Commons
In the upper left corner we see the department that made aluminum plates that replaced the traditional lithographic stone, beneath which there is the engraving department. In the upper right we see the pressroom for high-speedprinting. In the lower right there is the manual typesetting department.
On the left we see the very large steam engine generating electricity to run the lights and the power presses at Lemercier. On the right we see the mail order department opening orders for th
Creative Commons LicenseJeremy Norman Collection of Images - Creative Commons
On the left we see the very large steam engine generating electricity to run the lights and the power presses at Lemercier. On the right we see the mail order department opening orders for the Exposition Universelle catalogue, the distribution of which was apparently handled by Lemercier.
Detail map of Paris, Île-de-France, France Overview map of Paris, Île-de-France, France

A: Paris, Île-de-France, France

For the Exposition Internationale Universelle, Imprimeries Lemercier, Printer of the Catalogue, Includes a Pictorial Exposition of their Printing Facility

1900
Cover of the Volume Annex du Catalogue Genéral Officiel. Group 11, Classes 7 à 10.
Creative Commons LicenseJeremy Norman Collection of Images - Creative Commons
Cover of the Volume Annex du Catalogue Genéral Officiel. Group 11, Classes 7 à 10. The chromolithography of this cover is relatively crude, at best.
According to the Wikipedia, "The Exposition Universelle of 1900, better known in English as the 1900 Paris Exposition, was a world's fair held in Paris, France, from 14 April to 12 November 1900, to celebrate the achievements of the past century and to accelerate development into the next. The fair, visited by nearly 50 million, displayed many technological innovations, including the Grande Roue de Paris Ferris wheel, the moving sidewalk, diesel engines, talking films, escalators, and the telegraphone (the first magnetic audio recorder). It also brought international attention to the Art Nouveau style. Additionally, it showcased France as a major colonial power through numerous pavilions built on the hill of the Trocadero Palace. Major structures remaining from the Exposition include the Grand Palais, the Petit Palais, the Pont Alexandre III, the Gare d'Orsay railroad station (now the Musée d'Orsay) and two original entrances of Paris Métro stations by Hector Guimard."

From the standpoint of HistoryofInformation's coverage of the history of media, the portion of the Catalogue of the Exposition known as Groupe II, Classes 7 à 10, printed by Lemercier in Paris and L. Daniel in Lille, was distinctive in its devotion of about 30 pages to an unusually comprehensive and extensively illustrated "infomercial" to the Imprimeries Lemercier. The Catalogue was considered "preliminary," was was unpaginated throughout, suggesting that it was assembled quickly and would be revised later. Whether the whole section on Lemercier's huge printing operation was included in the final version I did not know when I wrote this entry in February 2021.

A feature of Lemercier's infomercial about its operation was the emphasis on powering their printing machines by electricity. At the end of the article they illustrated a very large steam engine that apparently could generate enough power to run most of their printing machines and also light their factory. Electricity was, of course, the "cutting edge" of innovation, and was featured extensively at the 1900 Exposition before the power grid had been built out enough in Paris to supply power to Lemercier's plant from the public utility. The Lemercier firm specialized in lithography. Notably also, besides the newer methods of image reproduction, Lemercier was still printing lithographs from stones, and they illustrated their extensive stone storage facility.

Timeline Themes

Printing by Machine