Featured Publisher's History (H to P)

Henri Beraldi and (Les Gravures du XIX Siecle): From 1885 to 1892 the influential French writer, Henri Beraldi issued a twelve volume series of biographical catalogues under the title of "Les Gravures du XIX Siecle". With the emphasis placed upon living French etchers and lithographers, Beraldi requested a number of contemporary masters to contribute original graphic works for the catalogues dedicated to them. The response was an incredible success with such major artists as Buhot, Guerard, Boutet, Grandmaison, Cheret, Bracquemond and Lepere contributing brilliant works of a scale and size to fit within the pages of these volumes.

A valuable and scarce reference source, the volumes from these catalogues and particularly the original prints are very difficult to obtain. Beraldi is to be thanked for commissioning these great works, which represent some of the finest graphic art from one of the most exciting eras of the art of France.

John Boydell was clearly one of England's most remarkable 18th century people. Born to a poor family, he began his career as an at best mediocre engraver of book plates. At this time England was at a very low ebb as a serious centre for the creative arts (particularly engraving) and Boydell sought to eradicate this problem by beginning a second career as a print publisher. Modest experiments in the 1760's led to a rapid expansion and the mid 1770's saw the publication of his Liber Veritas, with mezzotint engravings by Richard Earlom after the drawings of Claude in the King's Collection. This expensive undertaking put England back on the printmaking map and was a huge financial success for Boydell.

Boydell had now established Britain as a major centre for the arts and this once poor and struggling artist was now acknowledged for his work by being elected no less than Lord Mayor of London, in 1791. The same year marked the beginning of Boydell's most grandiose undertaking. His new publishing establishment in Pall Mall, the 'Shakspeare Gallery', began by commissioning the most illustrious engravers and painters in the country to create and design large and expensive engravings based upon the plays and life of William Shakespeare. By this time as well John Boydell's nephew, Josiah Boydell (1752-1817), had joined the firm.

L'Estampe Originale: Of all the fine print portfolios published at the end of the nineteenth century, L'Estampe Originale must rank as the greatest. Directed by Andre Marty, L'Estampe published a total of ninety-five original prints from 1893 through 1895. Each lithograph, etching or woodcut was printed under the direct supervision of the artist and then signed and numbered by his hand in an edition of 100 s. This marked the first time in the graphic arts that prints were consistently hand signed and limited. Furthermore each print bore the blind stamp of L'Estampe Originale in the lower margin.

Not the least amazing quality of L'Estampe Originale was the array of superb artists who contributed. Albert Besnard, Pierre Bonnard, Eugene Carriere, Jules Cheret, Walter Crane, Maurice Denis, Fantin-Latour, Paul Gaugin, Eugene Grasset, Paul Hellue, Henri-Gabriel Ibels, Auguste Lepere, Sir William Nicholson, Camile Pissarro, Puvis de Chavannes, Odilon Redon, Pierre Renoir, Paul Signac, Henri Toulouse-Lautrec, Felix Vallotton, Edouard Vuillard, James Abbot McNeil Whistler and Adolphe Willette were all commissioned for the publication. Most of the artists were invited only to contribute one work of art while a smaller number produced two. Only three artists were commissioned by Marty to create original prints for each of the three yearly issues. Interestingly, they were Albert Besnard, Toulouse-Lautrec and Adolphe Willette.

Les Maitres de l'Affiche: Under the direction of a fine Art Nouveau designer, Jules Cheret (1836-1932), 'Les Maitres de l'Affiche' existed from December, 1895 to November, 1900. Every month it supplied four lithographs to its subscribers. Each lithograph measured approximately 11 3/8" X 15 3/4" and bore the embossed Maitres de l'Affiche blindstamp in the bottom right corner.

The prints were reduced lithographic versions of large contemporary posters by such masters as Toulouse Lautrec, Mucha, Berthon, Grasset, Steinlen, Penfield, Bradley, Hazenplug, Parrish and many others. These versions include many of the most renowned images in the history of Art Nouveau, and Cheret's masterful printing techniques were true to the colours and tones of the originals.

Altogether, 'Les Maitres' issued 240 lithographs in a reduced format. Living Posters was issued in the Autumn of 1897.

M. & N. Hanhart: The lithographic publishing house founded by Michael Hanhart had a long and successful history. It published its first prints in 1840 and continued to produce work beyond 1888. The firm published everything from book illustrations to lithographic sheet music covers, but it was in the field of large, individual chromolithographs that M. & N. Hanhart excelled. Using a complex layering of tint stones, Hanhart printed elaborate works unique for their colouration and tonal values.

Chromolithography -- printing images in colour by using a series of carefully registered tint stones -- became the most popular method for the original print-making of everything from posters to fine art during the last half of the twentieth century. Invented in Germany during the 1830's chromolithographic techniques quickly spread and by 1860 major lithographic firms had been established in the United States, Britain and the Continent. The work of such publishing and printing houses of this era, such as, Currier and Ives in New York, Louis Prang in Boston, the Arundel Society in London and Alfred-Leon Lemercier in Paris, are now well known to most collectors of nineteenth century chromolithographic art. One of the most technically accomplished chromolithographic firms was London's, M. & N. Hanhart.

Pan: During the late nineteenth and early twentieth century special art journals around the world published original etchings, lithographs and woodcuts on a regular basis. Some of the greatest original prints from this classic era were commissioned and published by Pan, in Germany, The Studio, in London, The Print Connoisseur, in America, and Vervielfaltigende Kunst, in Vienna.

Pan was the first German journal to commission independent works of original graphic art. During its five year history (1895 - 1900) it published a valuable number of etchings, lithographs and woodcuts by leading German printmakers.