Benutzer:MYR67/Artikelwerkstatt London Stereoscopic Company

Die London Stereoscopic Company (LSC) war ein britisches Photo-Unternehmen, das unter anderem räumlich wirkende Photographien (Stereoskopien) vertrieb. Es wurde im Jahr 1854 von George Swan Nottage (1823–1885) zusammen mit seinem Vetter Howard Kennard in London als London Stereoscope Company (LSC) gegründet. Sie war ab 1856 als London Stereoscopic Company und ab Mai 1859 als London Stereoscopic and Photographic Company bekannt; sie bestand bis 1922.

Unternehmensentwicklung: Gründung, Aufstieg und Niedergang der London Stereoscopic Company

Das Aufkommen der Stereoskopie

Im Jahr 1838 hatte Sir Charles Wheatstone (1802–1875) seine Forschungsergebnisse über räumliches Sehen veröffentlicht. Er berechnete und zeichnete Stereobildpaare und konstruierte für deren Betrachtung einen Apparat, bei dem der Blick des Betrachters durch Spiegel auf die Teilbilder umgelenkt wurde. Diesen Apparat nannte er Stereoskop. Elf Jahre später, 1849, stellte der schottische Physiker und Privatgelehrte Sir David Brewster (1781–1868) die erste Zwei-Objektiv-Kamera vor, mit der man zum ersten Mal bewegte Motive stereoskopisch festhalten konnte – Bei den bis dahin verwendeten Kameras mit nur einem Objektiv mussten die beiden Teilbilder nacheinander belichtet und die Kamera zwischen den beiden Aufnahmen im Augenabstand verschoben werden, was bei bewegten Motiven zu abweichenden Bildinhalten zwischen der ersten und der zweiten Aufnahme führen konnte, die den räumlichen Eindruck störten. Ebenfalls im Jahr 1849 vereinfachte Brewster das Stereoskop, indem er die Spiegel durch linsenartig geschliffene Prismen ersetzte.

Der französische Optiker Jules Duboscq (1817–1886) führte der Öffentlichkeit auf der Londoner Weltausstellung von 1851 seine Stereoskope nach Entwürfen von Brewster vor, mit denen man Stereo-Daguerreotypien betrachten konnte. Die Resonanz des Publikums war groß, auch die britische Königin Victoria interessierte sich für diese neue Präsentationsmöglichkeit.

Die weiteste Verbreitung fand das Stereoskop in der 1861 von Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. entwickelten Bauform; sein Stereoskop mit Schärfeeinstellung wurde praktisch zum Standard-Gerät, das auch von vielen Privathaushalten gekauft und benutzt wurde. Nicht nur im Vereinigten Königreich waren Stereoskopien von den 1850er bis in die 1870er Jahre sehr populär.

Erste Hochphase der Stereo-Photographie

Auf diesen neuen Trend reagierte George Swan Nottage im Jahr 1854 durch die Gründung seiner London Stereoscope Company (LSC). Sie wuchs rasch zum größten Hersteller von Stereografien der viktorianischen Zeit.

Im Februar 1856 warb die London Stereoscopic Company (LSC) im „Photographic Journal“ der Royal Photographic Society damit, über die – mit mehr als 10.000 Aufnahmen – europaweit größte Sammlung von Stereoskopien zu verfügen.

Zwischen 1854 und 1856 verkaufte die London Stereoscopic Company zwei Millionen Stereoskope, also Betrachtungsgeräte für Stereoskopien.

Allein im Jahr 1862 verkaufte die LSC eine Million stereoskopische Ansichten.

Sie unterhielt mehrere Niederlassungen und Vertretungen, unter anderem auch in New York. In 1861 Charles Gaudin, one of the preeminent Parisian dealer of stereoviews, became the sole agent of London Stereoscopic in France. ​Their first agent in the US was likely William Hall & Son, a music store on Broadway which started advertising “that exquisite novelty in the way of parlor entertainment” in the spring of 1857. By the end of 1858 it was Wiley & Halsted, the well known publisher, that became an agent for the US. Next summer the London Stereoscopic Company decided to establish its own depot in New York, which was located at 534, Broadway. It moved to the Irving building at 594, Broadway in the spring of 1860. That year Paul & Curtis became the agent and published a catalogue. From March 1st 1861 the agency for London Stereoscopic was transferred from Paul & Curtis to James L. Warner who initially traded at 531, Broadway and then moved to No. 579 on the same street. Warner closed the shop at the end of July, 1869.

Ab den 1870er Jahren ließ die Popularität der Stereoskopie allmählich etwas nach. London Stereoscopic diversifizierte daraufhin sein Angebot und nahm großformatige Reiseansichten und Porträts in seine Kataloge auf. Bis 1889 warb das Unternehmen für sein umfassendes Sortiment an Kameras, Objektiven und Photozubehör verschiedener Art und bot auch eine breite Palette fotomechanischer Druckdienstleistungen und verschiedene Lichtdruck- und Photolithographie-Verfahren an, darunter auch Woodburytypie und Wothlytypie. Woodburytypien der LSC wurden in großem Umfang in Buchpublikationen und Zeitschriften verwendet; neben der Woodbury Company selbst war die London Stereoscopic Company der größte Hersteller von Woodburytypien in England. Im Jahr 1896 bot die Abteilung des Unternehmens in der Londoner Cheapside 54 Buchdruck sowie den kommerziellen Massen-Druck von Phototographien in verschiedenen Druckverfahren an. Die LSC wurde auch in der Photogravur tätig und stellte Halbton-Platten für das Druckgewerbe her.

Im Jahr 1881 errichtete das Unternehmen eine Produktionsstätte in Southgate bei London.

Portraitphotos im Carte de Visite-Format und „Cartomania“

In den Jahren 1850/51 entwickelten Frederick Scott Archer und Gustave Le Gray die Kollodium-Nassplatte für Photonegative. Im Jahr 1854 ließ André Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri (1819–1889) sich Photographien im Carte de Visite-Format patentieren. Für dieses Bildformat wurden mehrere verschiedene Photographien auf dieselbe Photoplatte aufgenommen. Die neue Möglichkeit, Kollodium-Nassplatten mit mehreren Negativen zu belichten, schuf ab Mitte der 1850er Jahre gute Voraussetzungen für die kommerzielle Massenproduktion von Photographien, insbesondere von Portraits der Reichen und Berühmten. In der zweiten Hälfte des 19. Jahrhunderts legten sich private Photosammler Alben mit Aufnahmen von Politikern, Geistlichen, Schauspielerinnen und bekannten Sportlern an; eine Sammelleidenschaft, die im Vereinigten Königreich als „Cartomania“ bezeichnet wurde.

Die London Stereoscopic Company profitierte von dieser neuen Sammel-Mode; sie erzielte auch mit ihren Photographien im Carte de Visite-Format gute Umsätze. Die London Stereoscopic Company eröffnete 1861 in der Regent Street 110, 1864 in der Regent Street 108 und 1875 auch noch in der Regent Street 106 Porträtphotostudios. Dort ließ – neben ungezählten unbekannten Personen – auch so manche prominente Persönlichkeit ihr Konterfei aufnehmen, darunter etwa der Autor Charles Dickens, die Schauspielerin Sarah Bernhardt, William Booth (der Gründer der Heilsarmee), der Maler John Everett Millais und die Politiker und Staatsmänner William Ewart Gladstone und Lord Palmerston. Die LSC veröffentlichten etwa auch die bekannte, von Robert Howlett aufgenommene Photographie des Ingenieurs Isambard Kingdom Brunel vor einer Ankerkette des von ihm entworfenenen Riesen-Schiffs Great Eastern.

Im Jahr 1888 wurde das Porträtphotoatelier der LSC in der Regent Street 110 geschlossen.

Pressephotographie

Photographen der LSC dokumentierten in ihren Photographien aktuelle Ereignisse mit Nachrichtenwert, zum Beispiel die Wiedereröffnung des Crystal Palace in Sydenham durch Königin Victoria im Jahr 1854. Für die exklusive Erlaubnis, auf der Londoner Weltausstellung von 1862 zu photographieren, zahlte die LSC die damals enorm hohe Summe von 1.500 britischen Pfund.

Die LSC verkaufte Lizenzen zur Veröffentlichung seiner Photographien in Zeitschriften wie „The Illustrated London News“ und „The Graphic“ sowie für Theaterprogramme und Notenblätter.

Weitere Aspekte der LSC

Im Jahr 1871, während des Deutsch-Französischen Krieges, fertigte die London Stereoscopic Company mikrofotografische Abzüge, kaum größer als eine Briefmarke, von Sonderseiten der „Times“ an, die dann Brieftauben in die belagerte französische Hauptstadt Paris brachten.

Ab 1895 durfte sich die London Stereoscopic Company als Phototographen ihrer Majestät bezeichnen.

Prinzessin Alexandra von Dänemark, die Ehefrau des britischen Königs Edward VII. (er regierte das Vereinigte Königreich von 1901 bis 1910), entwickelte ein reges Interesse für Photographie und für das Photographieren. Sie ließ sich in einem Studio der London Stereoscopic and Photographic Company in der Regent Street offiziell in die noch relativ junge Photo-Technik einweisen.

Das Unternehmen besaß das Patent für ein beliebtes Zoetrop-Modell und stellte solche Wundertrommeln auch her. Eine Zeit lang war die LSC zudem einzige Lizenznehmerin des Phonographen.

Ihr Gründer Nottage erwarb mit der LSC ein stattliches Vermögen. Er wurde zunächst zum Alderman (Beigeordneten) und später zum Oberbürgermeister von London (1884/85) gewählt.

Ende der Geschäftstätigkeit

Der Gründer der London Stereoscopic Company, George Swan Nottage, starb am 11. April 1885.

Bald nach dem Tod von George Swan Nottage, am 1. Juli 1885, ging die London Stereoscopic and Photographic Company an die Börse. In ihrem Börsenprospekt wurde erwähnt, dass sich die jährlichen Gewinne in den vorangegangenen 23 Jahren auf mehr als 6.000 britische Pfund beliefen. Die LSC versprach den Aktionären eine Dividende von sieben Prozent. Howard John Kennard und der Sohn des Gründers George Swan Nottage, Charles George Nottage, wurden in den Vorstand der Aktiengesellschaft berufen, Kennard als Vorstandsvorsitzender und Nottage als geschäftsführender Direktor.

Anders als andere Stereobildagenturen, etwa die Keystone View Company oder Underwood & Underwood, konnte die LSC nicht mehr vom Revival der Stereophotographie um die Wende vom 19. zum 20. Jahrhundert herum profitieren. Sie bekam im Bereich der Pressephotographie und bei den Carte de Visite-Photographien immer mehr Konkurrenz durch andere Photounternehmen. Auch das Aufkommen von Film und Kino war den Umsätzen der London Stereoscopic and Photographic Company abträglich. Im Oktober 1922 stellte die London Stereoscopic Company ihre Geschäftstätigkeit ein.

Der letzte Vorstandsvorsitzende des Unternehmens war der Sohn eines ihrer beiden Gründer, Robert William Kennard.

Einen Teil des Bildbestandes der London Stereoscopic and Photographic Company hat später die Getty Images Inc. aufgekauft.

Bekannte und anonyme Photographen der LSC

Zu den namhaften Photographen der LSC zählten Reinhold Thiele (1856–1921), William England (1830–1896), Thomas Richard Williams (1824–1871), der früh verstorbene Robert Howlett (1831–1858) sowie Edward Pocock (1843-1905).

William England, der von Anfang an für das Unternehmen tätig war, reiste 1858/59 durch die USA und lieferte Aufnahmen aus New York, vom Hudson River und den Niagarafälle sowie der neuen Eisenbahnstrecken und Brücken entlang seiner Route. Die „North America Series“, eine der ersten mit fotografischen Ansichten aus den USA, die nach Großbritannien gelangten, erfreute sich großer Nachfrage. W. England trug auch mit seinen Aufnahmen aus Irland (1857) und Paris (1860) sowie mit technischen Verbesserungen an der Fotoausrüstung, etwa der Erfindung des Schlitzverschlusses für Fotoapparate, maßgeblich zum Ruf des Unternehmens bei. Er produzierte auch die beliebte „Comic“-Fotoserie der LSC.

Der bekannte Sport- und Kriegsfotograf Reinhold Thiele arbeitete zwischen 1880 und 1894 als Aquarellist und Photograph für die London Stereoscopic Company. Er liefert Photos aus dem südafrikanischen Burenkrieg.

London Stereoscopic kaufte, vertrieb und veröffentlichte auch Bildmaterial von Photographen, die weder bei LSC angestellt waren noch im Auftrag dieser Photoagentur arbeiteten, zum Beispiel Photos von William Grundy (1806-1859) aus Sutton Coldfield, dessen Sammlung von 200 Negativen die LSC nach seinem Tod erwarb. Grundy hatte eine Reihe von Photos zur Illustration von „Sunshine in the Country, A Book of Rural Poetry“ (Richard Griffin & Co., 1860) veröffentlicht, die idyllische ländliche Szenerien sowie andere Szenen aus dem Leben von Landbewohner, etwa in der Ausübung ihrer Berufe, zeigten.

Im Katalog von London Stereoscopic von 1860 wurde auch eine Serie von Ansichten der Schweiz von Adolphe Braun (1812–1877) beworben.

Im Katalog der London Stereoscopic Company von 1855/56 erschienen zahlreiche Stereoskopien aus den Beständen der Photoateliers von Claude-Marie Ferrier und Charles Soulier bzw. ihrer Geschäftsnachfolger Léon & Lévy.

Nachdem William England 1863 das Unternehmen verlassen hatte, um eine eigenständige Karriere zu verfolgen, veröffentlichte er in den LSC-Katalogen weiterhin seine photographischen Ansichten, nun allerdings unter seinem eigenen Namen.

Die meisten Photographen, deren Bilder die London Stereoscopic Company vertrieb, sind jedoch anonym geblieben, da das Unternehmen die Namen ihrer Mitarbeiter nur in Ausnahmefällen nannte.

Rohstoffe und Zettelkasten

LSC in: „Encyclopedia of Nineteenth-Century Photography“

LONDON STEREOSCOPIC COMPANY (c. 1854–1922)

When stereographs were demonstrated to the public at the Great Exhibition of 1851 they started a collecting craze that was to last for the next twenty years. The principle of using binocular vision to create the illusion of space had been known for some time but the introduction of photography meant its potential could finally be realised and the stereoscope, developed by Charles Wheatstone and Sir David Brewster, allowed photographs to be viewed in “solid” three dimensions. The London Stereoscopic and Photographic Company, as its name suggests, furnished the Victorian mania for stereographs and by 1854 the company had sold over half a million viewers, proclaiming in their advertising that “no home is complete without a stereoscope.”

Shopkeeper George Swan Nottage (1823–1885) founded the company with his associate Howard Kennard in the early 1850s. Nottage went on to make his fortune, and was later elected Alderman and then Lord Mayor of London (1884–1885.) London Stereoscopic was soon the largest photographer and manufacturer of stereographs in the Victorian era. By 1858 they were advertising 100,000 views of famous buildings and places of interest in England and abroad (although the actual figure is more likely to have been a tenth of that) and manufacturing stereoscopic cameras as well as viewers for the consumer market. Their photographers travelled as far afield as the Middle East and America. William England, who was with the firm from its inception travelled in America in 1858 and 59, documenting New York, the Hudson River, and Niagara Falls, and the new railways and bridges along the route. The important “North America Series” was immensely popular, being amongst the first photographic views of the US to arrive in Britain. England was instrumental in building the firm’s reputation with travels in Ireland in 1857 and Paris in 1860 and technical advances in equipment including the invention of the focal plane shutter. He also produced the popular Comic series, which though derided at the time by intellectuals as “low art” is now an important record of Victorian domesticity and street life. His last major venture for the company was as sole photographer of the 1862 International Exhibition, for which London Stereoscopic paid the enormous sum of £1,500 for exclusive photographic rights.

London Stereoscopic also bought, distributed and published material by non-commissioned photographers, including the work of William Grundy of Sutton Coldfield (1806–1859) whose collection of 200 negatives was acquired after his death. Grundy had published a series of half stereos to illustrate Sunshine in the Country, A Book of Rural Poetry, (Richard Griffin & Co, 1860) comprising of idyllic rustic scenes, country folk and rural occupations. London Stereoscopic’s 1860 catalogue also advertised a series of views of Switzerland by Adolphe Braun and though William England left to pursue his own career in 1863 he continued to publish views through the company’s catalogues under his own name. Renowned sports and war photographer Rheinhold Theile [gemeint ist: Reinhold Thiele] worked as a watercolourist and photographer for the company between 1880–1894. These references to individuals are unusual, however, as London Stereoscopic rarely divulged the names of their operators.

In 1862 alone the company sold one million stereoscopic views and had offices and agents as far afield as New York. During the 1860s and 1870s, however, stereoscopy began to decline in popularity. London Stereoscopic diversified their interests adding large format travel views and portraiture to their catalogues. By 1889 they advertised a comprehensive range of cameras, lenses and general photographic goods and also offered a wide range of photomechanical printing services, including Woodburytpe, collotype, photomezzotype, photolithography, and platinogravure. Their Woodburytypes were widely used in book publication and periodicals, and next to the Woodbury Company itself London Stereoscopic were the largest manufacturers of Woodburytypes in England, often donating albums of Woodburytypes to hospitals and charities. In 1896 the commercial department of the firm at 54 Cheapside, London offered letterpress printing to the trade, as well as commercial printing of photographs in silver, bromide, carbon and platinum. They had also begun to expand into newly opened area of photoengraving and made half-tone blocks for the printing trade.

An important spin-off for the company was the carte de visite market. Originally introduced as a novel and inexpensive idea for personalising visiting cards, Disdéri’s method of taking multiple images on a single plate was the perfect medium for mass producing images of the rich and famous. The Victorians wild thirst for collecting, building up albums of politicians, clerics, actresses, and sporting heroes, was termed “cartomania” and sparked an unquenchable fascination with celebrity images that persists today. In 1861 and 1864 London Stereoscopic opened portrait studios at 110 and 108 Regent Street respectively (106 was added in 1875 while 110 closed in 1888.) They were amongst the most fashionable and chic in Europe and their catalogue of clients reads as a Who’s Who of the Victorian age. Names such as Charles Dickens (including a rare portrait without beard), Sarah Bernhardt, William Booth, John Everett Millais, and William Gladstone filled the catalogues. Lord Palmerston sat for four dozen portraits in one sitting alone. They also published the famous image of the Leviathan engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel by Robert Howlett in various formats and became Photographers to Her Majesty after obtaining the Royal Warrant in 1895. In addition to their brisk trade for the private carte-de-visite collector the London Stereoscopic commercially licensed their photographs and celebrity images for use in the press and periodicals of the day such as The London Illustrated News and The Graphic, and in theatre programs and music sheets. Their photographers covered newsworthy events such as the re-opening of Crystal Palace by Queen Victoria in 1854. In 1871, during the Franco-Prussian War London Stereoscopic Company produced micro-photographic prints, each barely larger than a postage stamp, of special pages of The Times devoted to messages to the inhabitants of Paris, which arrived in the besieged French capital by pigeon post.

A great deal of London Stereoscopic’s success can be attributed to their versatility, keeping pace with new trends and innovations in photography. Their interests were incredibly diverse and forward-looking. The company held the patent for and manufactured a popular model of the zoetrope, having earlier revived interest in persistence of vision by demonstrating the illusion of a vase by rotating a bent piece of wire and, for a time, was the sole licensee of the phonograph. Their Regent Street offices finally closed in 1922 but they should be remembered as one of the world’s first and largest producers of licensed imagery on a global basis. Their catalogue is a lasting record of and tribute to the Victorian era, documenting new worlds and great engineering projects alongside the growing obsession with celebrity and home entertainment.

Sarah McDonald

See also: Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations, Crystal Palace, Hyde Park (1851); Brewster, Sir David; Wheatstone, Charles; England, William; Braun, Adolphe; War Photography; Woodburytype, Woodburygravure; Collotype; Cartes-de-Visite; and Victoria, Queen and Albert, Prince Consort.

Further Reading:

Darrah, W.C., The World of Stereographs, USA, 1977. Gernsheim, Helmut, The Rise of Photography, 1850–1880, Great Britain, 1988. Gernsheim, Helmut, Masterpieces of Victorian Photography, Great Britain, 1951. Jeffrey, Ian, An American Journey: The Photography of William England, Munich: Prestel, 1999. Malcolm, John, Thesis on Woodburytype Process, Manchester Polytechnic, 1979. Mathews, Oliver, The Album of Carte-de-Visite and Cabinet Portrait Photographs 1854–1914, London, 1974.

Sarah McDonald, „London Stereoscopic Company“, S. 870–872, in: John Hannavy (Hrsg.), „Encyclopedia of Nineteenth-Century Photography“, Routledge-Verlag, New York/ London, 2008, 1630 Seiten, ISBN 978-0-415-97235-2, http://home.fa.utl.pt/~cfig/Anima%E7%E3o%20e%20Cinema/Fotografia/Enciclopedia%20of%20the%2019th%20Century%20Photography.pdf

LSC bei Kirill Kuzmichev, „The Third Dimension: History of stereoscopic views“

The London Stereoscopic Company

The “London Stereoscope Company” first appears on the pages of British newspapers around Christmas 1854. It was founded by George Swan Nottage and Howard John Kennard, his cousin, and had as its first address 313, Oxford street, on the corner of Hanover Square. The shop was originally called the Artistic Repository (or Repository of Art) and was intended to sell various iron and bronze goods. However trade in stereoscopes and stereoviews very soon took over. The company sold “a large collection” of stereoscopic slides, as well as stereoscopes. Already in 1854 the London Stereoscope Company published stereoviews of Thomas Richard Williams, a student of Antoine Claudet and an important figure in the 1850s stereoscopy. It was also distributing landscape views of Italy, possibly by Claude-Marie Ferrier. A newspaper wrote:

​“We cannot recommend to our readers, who have not yet witnessed the effect produced by these instruments, a more elegant treat than to pay a visit to the Stereoscope Company, and judge for themselves. We know nothing so well adapted for a Christmas present - by its ever new and entertaining variety, and by its affording an intelligent amusement for social parties.”

​In half a year, the company was advertising 1,000 views for purchase in its store. In another 3 months already 10,000 subjects were on sale at the LSC, including views of France, Italy, Spain, Germany, the Paris exhibition of 1855, etc.

Sometime in 1855 the company changes its name to the London Stereoscopic Company. In the beginning of 1856 an additional location opens at 54, Cheapside. (There are some references also to an address 20, Moorgate street in the City of London in 1855.)

By the end of 1856 the company advertised 100 000 “amusing and instructive stereoscopic views and groups”. And in December, 1859 it announced a Christmas sale of its stock of 1 million stereoviews (presumably not all of different subjects).

In 1860 the company hires a “very eminent Foreign Operator” and starts producing portraits in the Carte-de-Visite (CDV) format. At the end of 1860, probably to reflect this change in business focus, the company starts calling itself the London Stereoscopic Company and Photographic Institution. Presumably in 1862 the official name becomes the London Stereoscopic and Photographic Company. In order to handle the demand for the new format the company even establishes a separate printing site in Surrey to which a private line of telegraph was laid.

The firm continues to produce stereoscopic views as well. Thus in November and December of 1861 it publishes a series of 24 instantaneous stereoviews of Paris taken by William England. And in 1862 the London Stereoscopic Company produces official photos of the International Exhibition in its home city (including many stereoscopic views of the interiors). The Paris stereographs earned it a medal at the Exhibition.

In order to expand its business the LSC signed up agents around the UK, but also abroad. Thus in 1861 Charles Gaudin, one of the preeminent Parisian dealer of stereoviews, became the sole agent of London Stereoscopic in France.

​Their first agent in the US was likely William Hall & Son, a music store on Broadway which started advertising “that exquisite novelty in the way of parlor entertainment” in the spring of 1857. By the end of 1858 it was Wiley & Halsted, the well known publisher, that became an agent for the US. Next summer the London Stereoscopic Company decided to establish its own depot in New York, which was located at 534, Broadway. It moved to the Irving building at 594, Broadway in the spring of 1860. That year Paul & Curtis became the agent and published a catalogue. From March 1st 1861 the agency for London Stereoscopic was transferred from Paul & Curtis to James L. Warner who initially traded at 531, Broadway and then moved to No. 579 on the same street. Warner closed the shop at the end of July, 1869.

​Throughout its years of operation the London Stereoscopic employed numerous photographers, most of whom remain unknown, but some, like William England and Thomas Richard Williams were big names in the world of 19th century photography.

In 1881 the company built a manufacturing facility at Southgate near London.

On July 1st 1885, soon after the death of George Swan Nottage, the London Stereoscopic and Photographic Company became public. In its prospectus it mentioned that over the previous 23 years its annual profits amounted to more than 6 thousand pounds. It promised a dividend of 7 percent to stockholders. Howard John Kennard and Charles George Nottage, the son of the founder, became members of the Board with the former being the Board Chairman and the latter the Managing Director.

The company existed until 1922 and went into voluntary liquidation on the 2nd of October of that year. The last Chairman of the Board of the company was the son of one of the founders, Robert William Kennard.

Quelle: Kirill Kuzmichev, „The London Stereoscopic Company“, in: „The Third Dimension: History of stereoscopic views“, 2018, https://www.stereoview.me/london-stereoscopic-company

Englische Wikipedia

London Stereoscopic and Photographic Company Type: Private Industry: Photography Founded: 1854 Defunct: 1922 Headquarters:

• 313 Oxford Street, London
• 54 Cheapside, London
• 110 Regent Street, London

Key people: George Swan Nottage (founder), Thomas Richard Williams, William England Products: Photographs, Stereo cards

The London Stereoscopic and Photographic Company began in 1854 as the London Stereoscope Company (LSC), from 1856 was known as the London Stereoscopic Company, and from May 1859 as the London Stereoscopic and Photographic Company.

It closed in 1922.[citation needed]

Photographers

Its principal photographer was William England and also featured Thomas Richard Williams. Edward Pocock 1843–1905. Edward Pocock 'an artist about to travel for the same Company to take photographs and (make) sketches of places of interest for publication in England. Date lacking but witnessed by Sir Thomas White, Lord Mayor of London.[1]

Prints from Robert Howlett's photographs were published after his death in 1859.[2]

References

"Declaration by George Swan Nottage of 54 Cheapside, London, managing partner of the London Stereoscopic and Photographic Company", http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/d594ebc1-9651-4926-95a6-cc7f5e52671e .

Answers, Profile of Robert Howlett, http://www.answers.com/topic/robert-howlett-1

External links

• Wikimedia Commons has media related to London Stereoscopic and Photographic Company, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:London_Stereoscopic_and_Photographic_Company
• London Stereoscopic Company revival website, http://www.londonstereo.com/
• LSC at University of Oregon, http://libweb.uoregon.edu/speccoll/photo/fLondon.html
• LSC at Getty Images, http://corporate.gettyimages.com/masters2/BeforeAfter.aspx?id=lsc

Quelle: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Stereoscopic_and_Photographic_Company

Prinzessin Alexandra von Dänemark erhielt Schnelleinführung in die Photographie bei der LSC

König Edward von England, Thronfolger der Queen Victoria, regierte von 1901 bis 1910 als King Edward VII., heiratete 1863 Prinzessin Alexandra von Dänemark. »..., Alexandra entwickelte schon bald ebenfalls ein reges Interesse für Photographien und sogar fürs Photographieren. Sie ließ sich deshalb im Studio der London Stereoscopic and Photographic Company in der Regent Street offiziell in die neue Technik einweisen. Überdies trug sie, wann immer möglich, eine Kamera bei sich.«

• Quelle: »London in alten Photographien 1997–1914), mit Texten von Alistair Cooke und Felix Barker, Heyne-Verlag, München 1995, S. 16

History of the LSC

INTRODUCTION TO THE LONDON STEREOSCOPIC COMPANY, (and T. R. WILLIAMS)

History of the LSC

Some time in 1854, at 313 Oxford Street, the “London Stereoscope Company” was born, and under the leadership of Managing Partner George Swan Nottage, by 1856 the company had changed its name, to “The London Stereoscopic Company”, and finally in May 1859 assumed the name it was to retain for years to come: the “London Stereoscopic and Photographic Company”.

Their business was selling stereo views and viewers to the public, and they were leaders in a boom – a craze - which swept England, Europe, and eventually the United States too, of stereo photographs of every conceivable subject, which, viewed by means of a stereoscope, presented scenes in life-like three dimensions. In a world which had never experienced Television, the Movies, or the Internet, this was understandably a revelation. In February 1856, the London Stereoscopic Company (LSC) advertised, in the Photographic Journal, “The largest collection in Europe, upwards of 10,000” stereo views.

Much of the workings of the LSC in its early years is still shrouded in mystery, and the relationship it had with the pioneering photographers whose work it published remains unclear, but the company was evidently at a peak of production by the end of the 1850s; today’s collections of the finest cards from this period by James Elliott, Alfred Silvester, Mark Anthony, Charles Goodman, and many others always contain large numbers of examples bearing the familiar blindstamps of the LSC. In the 1860s, one of the LSC’s notable publications of stereo cards was a long series depicting the interior of the 1862 International Exhibition, in what is now Exhibition Road, South Kensington.

When the stereo card craze faded during the late 1860s, the company appears to have continued to do a healthy business, catering for the newer (and, for us, much less interesting) fashion for Cartes de Visite, but this too was fading by 1870. The company subsequently diversified into many areas; Getty images, who much later bought much of the surviving archives of the LSC, say, “At its peak, LSC was one of the largest and most diverse businesses, with a global network of offices and staff photographers, selling and licensing images, cameras, equipment, papers and plates.” It seems that at some point in the continued life of the LSC it fell on leaner times, and the company does not appear to have been able to participate in the second great stereoscopic boom at the turn of the century, dominated by Keystone, and Underwood and Underwood. The company was finally dissolved in 1922. But again, by the 1980s, the London Stereoscopic Company had again vanished from view.

Quelle: https://www.londonstereo.com/introduction.html

Reinhold Thiele bei der LSC

Nach seiner Rückkehr nach London im Jahr 1880 wurde Thiele Kolorist und später Kamera-Operator bei der „London Stereoscopic Company“ (LSC) von George Swan Nottage. Wie etwa auch sein LSC-Kollege William England fotografierte Thiele Ansichten und Motive verschiedener Szenerien und Sehenswürdigkeiten mit der Stereo-Kamera, die die LSC dann reproduzierte und vermarktete.

Quelle: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reinhold_Thiele

William England bei der LSC

1854 trat er in die London Stereoscopic Company ein. Die LSC etablierte sich auf dem rasch wachsenden Markt für Stereoaufnahmen. William England wurde zusammen mit Thomas Richard Williams und dem früh verstorbenen Robert Howlett zu den führenden Fotografen der bis 1922 bestehenden Company. William England spezialisierte sich mit einer von ihm mitentwickelten kompakten stereoskopischen Kamera zunächst auf die stereoskopische Landschaftsfotografie und Reisebilder. [...] 1862 fertigte England zusammen mit seinem Team 350 Stereofotos von der Weltausstellung in London; ein Projekt, für das die LSC die exklusiven Rechte erworben hatte. [...] 1863 verließ er die LSC [...]

Quelle: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_England

Vertrieb von Ferrier und Soulier durch die LSC

Ferriers und Souliers Glas-Stereografien wurden in England von der „London Stereoscopic Company“ und in den USA von den Brüdern Friedrich und Wilhelm Langenheim gehandelt.[22]

[22] Leonard A. Walle, Fotobuchrezension: „The Glass Stereoviews of Ferrier & Soulier, 1852–1908“ von John B. Cameron und Janice G. Schimmelman; The Collodion Press, 2016, in: iPhoto Central, E-Photo Newsletter, Ausgabe Nr. 227 vom 22. August 2016, http://www.iphotocentral.com/news/article-view.php/239/227/1487

Quelle: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Soulier#cite_note-22

Wothlytypie

[...] die Wothlytypie, ein spezielles Edeldruckverfahren mit Hilfe von Uran in der Photographie.[1] Ihr Entdecker, der Aachener Jacob Wothly, hatte am 26. November 1864 das französische Patent für seine neue Technik erhalten. [...] Unter anderem durften im Laufe der Zeit folgende Personen und Institutionen das neue Verfahren anwenden: [...] London Stereoscopic and Photographic Company

Quelle: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soci%C3%A9t%C3%A9_fran%C3%A7aise_de_Wothlytypie#cite_ref-6

Auszüge aus „Encyclopedia of Nineteenth-Century Photography“

In 1859, the London Stereoscopic Company sent British photographer William England to North America to create stereo views of Canada and the United States.

Andrea Kunard, CANADA, S. 261–266, in: John Hannavy (Hrsg.), „Encyclopedia of Nineteenth-Century Photography“, Routledge-Verlag, New York/ London, 2008, 1630 Seiten, ISBN 978-0-415-97235-2, http://home.fa.utl.pt/~cfig/Anima%E7%E3o%20e%20Cinema/Fotografia/Enciclopedia%20of%20the%2019th%20Century%20Photography.pdf

---

Queen Victoria and Prince Albert were also responsible for the popularity of the stereoscope, an instrument that, thanks to their endorsement at the Great Exhibition of 1851, quickly became a household item throughout Europe and North America. Between 1854 and 1856, the London Stereoscopic Company sold two million stereoscope viewers—this before Oliver Wendell Holmes designed and placed in the public domain the archetypal nineteenth century stereoscope device. By the early 1860s, the most successful of the British, American and French stereoscope companies were each selling nearly one million stereographs (stereo cards) per year. Before the interest in stereography faded in the early twentieth century, some two to five million different stereograph images would be produced in the United States alone.

Renate Wickens-Feldman, DOMESTIC AND FAMILY PHOTOGRAPHY, S. 431-434, S. 432, in: John Hannavy (Hrsg.), „Encyclopedia of Nineteenth-Century Photography“, Routledge-Verlag, New York/ London, 2008, 1630 Seiten, ISBN 978-0-415-97235-2, http://home.fa.utl.pt/~cfig/Anima%E7%E3o%20e%20Cinema/Fotografia/Enciclopedia%20of%20the%2019th%20Century%20Photography.pdf

---

After building a reputation as both a gifted technician and portrait photographer of some talent, he eventually abandoned portraiture to join The London Stereoscopic Company, upon its founding in 1854. England soon became the company’s principle photographer and leading technical innovator. England was largely responsible for building London Stereoscopic Company’s global reputation over the next decade and his travels took in a wide variety of foreign destinations such as Ireland (1858), the U.S. and Canada (1859) and Paris (1860 and 1861). It was primarily these ‘exotic’ views that captured the imagination of the public and contributed greatly to the rapid rise of London Stereoscopic Company in the 1850s and 60s when stereography was at the height of its popularity. Originally founded by George Swan Nottage, London Stereoscopic Company produced a wide variety of stereoscopic views that were all the rage during the Victorian era and London Stereoscopic Company were one of the very first companies to license their imagery for commercial reproduction on a global basis. Staff photographers such as Reinhold Thiele and William England traveled the world in their mobile, horse-pulled darkrooms shooting a variety of subjects and views for commercial reproduction by London Stereoscopic Company. Aside from his outdoor work England produced a variety of subject matter including formal portraiture and London Stereoscopic Company’s renowned ‘Comic’ series which included the hugely popular ‘ghost’ stereographs, employing double exposure techniques. England left London Stereoscopic Company at the height of their popularity in 1863 to concentrate on a freelance career though his last major project on behalf of London Stereoscopic Company was as the exclusive photographer for the International Exhibition od 1862 in London. England’s collection of some 15,000 stereoscopic plates have survived relatively intact over the years and was once ‘saved’ from being turned into greenhouse glass shortly after London Stereoscopic Company ceased trading in the early 1920s. The invention of 3-D photography (stereography) first received popular acclaim at the Great Exhibition of 1851 in London and within 10 years stereographs had entered almost every home in Europe and America as a new form of entertainment. England’s most important series for London Stereoscopic Company were taken during his American journey in 1859. He traveled from New York, up the Hudson river and through the Catskill’s to Niagara into Canada, capturing over 230 views along the way, as well as other locations including Philadelphia and Washington D.C. where he shot the Capitol under construction. His focus was on both urban and engineering works including the railroads as well as the dramatic scenery of the rivers and waterfalls and this series the first American views to be commercially available in Europe. His memorable shot of Blondin crossing Niagara Falls on tightrope became one of the best selling stereographs of all time—allegedly selling some 100,000 copies worldwide. The majority of England’s stereo views were taken on a single short focus lens ‘pocket’ stereoscopic camera which was introduced by London Stereoscopic Company in 1858. [...] England was also a great technician and a number of London Stereoscopic Company’s developments in photographic apparatus—particularly those connected with stereography—were largely due to England’s technical expertise, for example he developed a shutter with variable openings in 1861. After leaving London Stereoscopic Company in 1863 to pursue a freelance career, England continued with his stereo work,

Matthew Butson, ENGLAND, WILLIAM (1816–1896), S. 488, in: John Hannavy (Hrsg.), „Encyclopedia of Nineteenth-Century Photography“, Routledge-Verlag, New York/ London, 2008, 1630 Seiten, ISBN 978-0-415-97235-2, http://home.fa.utl.pt/~cfig/Anima%E7%E3o%20e%20Cinema/Fotografia/Enciclopedia%20of%20the%2019th%20Century%20Photography.pdf

---

William Morris Grundy worked in Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham and specialized in stereoscopic views of picturesque rural scenes. The London Stereoscopic Company bought about 200 of his negatives, and individual stereographs still exist.

John Taylor, GRUNDY, WILLIAM MORRIS (D. 1859) English commercial photographer, S. 624, in: John Hannavy (Hrsg.), „Encyclopedia of Nineteenth-Century Photography“, Routledge-Verlag, New York/ London, 2008, 1630 Seiten, ISBN 978-0-415-97235-2, http://home.fa.utl.pt/~cfig/Anima%E7%E3o%20e%20Cinema/Fotografia/Enciclopedia%20of%20the%2019th%20Century%20Photography.pdf

---

Howlett’s major work was to document the construction of the massive steamship Leviathan, later re-named The Great Eastern. At the time of its launching it was the largest ship in the world. It was constructed in London on the banks of the river Thames (at present day Millwall) and Howlett’s photographs of the event date from November 1857. His images (along with some by Joseph Cundall) were translated into engravings for The Illustrated Times (16 January 1858, vol. 6, no. 146, 45–69) and thus achieved wide circulation. Some of the photographic prints were exhibited at the Photographic Society of London annual exhibition of 1858. He also produced stereographs of the ship with George Downs for the London Stereoscopic Company.

Martin Barnes, HOWLETT, ROBERT, S. 718, in: John Hannavy (Hrsg.), „Encyclopedia of Nineteenth-Century Photography“, Routledge-Verlag, New York/ London, 2008, 1630 Seiten, ISBN 978-0-415-97235-2, http://home.fa.utl.pt/~cfig/Anima%E7%E3o%20e%20Cinema/Fotografia/Enciclopedia%20of%20the%2019th%20Century%20Photography.pdf

---

One such company, Bamforth & Company of Holmfirth, Yorkshire, picked up the “story-telling” idea which had been so successfully exploited in the 1860s and 1870s by the London Stereoscopic Company,

John Hannavy, LANTERN SLIDES, S. 827, in: John Hannavy (Hrsg.), „Encyclopedia of Nineteenth-Century Photography“, Routledge-Verlag, New York/ London, 2008, 1630 Seiten, ISBN 978-0-415-97235-2, http://home.fa.utl.pt/~cfig/Anima%E7%E3o%20e%20Cinema/Fotografia/Enciclopedia%20of%20the%2019th%20Century%20Photography.pdf

---

a long series in the London Stereoscopic Company stocklist of 1855/1856, appended to the Brewster treatise of 1856;

John B. Cameron, LEON, MOYSE & LEVY, ISSAC; FERRIER, CLAUDE-MARIE; AND CHARLES SOULIER, S. 851, in: John Hannavy (Hrsg.), „Encyclopedia of Nineteenth-Century Photography“, Routledge-Verlag, New York/ London, 2008, 1630 Seiten, ISBN 978-0-415-97235-2, http://home.fa.utl.pt/~cfig/Anima%E7%E3o%20e%20Cinema/Fotografia/Enciclopedia%20of%20the%2019th%20Century%20Photography.pdf

---

Literatur und Quellen

• Sarah McDonald, „London Stereoscopic Company“, S. 870–872, in: John Hannavy (Hrsg.), „Encyclopedia of Nineteenth-Century Photography“, Routledge-Verlag, New York/ London, 2008, 1630 Seiten, http://home.fa.utl.pt/~cfig/Anima%E7%E3o%20e%20Cinema/Fotografia/Enciclopedia%20of%20the%2019th%20Century%20Photography.pdf
• Kirill Kuzmichev, „The London Stereoscopic Company“, in: „The Third Dimension: History of stereoscopic views“, 2018, https://www.stereoview.me/london-stereoscopic-company
• London Stereoscopic Company website, https://www.londonstereo.com/index.html

Links etc.

• Wikimedia Commons: Category:London Stereoscopic and Photographic Company, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:London_Stereoscopic_and_Photographic_Company
• Wikimedia Commons: Category:Stereo cards by London Stereoscopic Company, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Stereo_cards_by_London_Stereoscopic_Company
• WikiData: London Stereoscopic and Photographic Company (Q12061362), https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q12061362
• File:Australian Cricketers, ca. 1884, Scott London Stereoscopic Company.jpg, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Australian_Cricketers,_ca._1884,_Scott_London_Stereoscopic_Company.jpg?uselang=de
• https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:%D0%9A%D0%BE%D0%BD%D0%BD%D0%B8_%D0%93%D0%B8%D0%BB%D0%BA%D1%80%D0%B8%D1%81%D1%82_London_Stereoscopic_Company.jpg?uselang=de
• https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Connie_Gilchrist_(_London_Stereoscopic_Company).jpg?uselang=de
• Victoria & Albert Museum, London Stereoscopic Company, http://collections.vam.ac.uk/search/?q=London%20Stereoscopic%20Company
• https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:-86_Stereographic_Views_of_The_International_Exhibition_of_1862-_MET_DP329897.jpg
• https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:-Group_of_42_Stereograph_Views_From_the_London_Stereoscopic_Company,_1860-1870,_Many_Hand-Colored_to_Illustrate_Books-_MET_DP73905.jpg?uselang=de

Verlinken in folgenden Wikipedia-Einträgen:

• William England
• Reinhold Thiele
• Charles Soulier
• Société française de Wothlytypie