Page 151 - Auction Team Breker | Photo | 21. März 2015

Am 1.10.1905 teilt die Firma Romain Talbot mit, daß die Photo-Detail-Abteilung an den langjährigen Mitar- beiter Walter Talbot durch Kauf übergegangen ist. Die Firma Romain Talbot werde sich in Zukunft nur noch mit dem Engros-Verkauf beschäftigen!
Die Mappe umfaßt mehr als 150 Briefe und Schrift- stücke. Dieses bisher unveröffentlichte Archiv erlaubt einen wertvollen Einblick in die frühe Entwicklung der Photo-Industrie in Paris und die Firmengeschichte eines führenden deutschen Objektivherstellers.
Archive of Original Correspondence between Romain Talbot, Paris, and the Steinheil Firm, 1865–1905 Romain Talbot established his photographic shop at 50 rue d'Enghien in Paris in 1855, moving to 32 Faubourg Poissonière by 1868. The quality of German production evidently appealed to Talbot, who became one of the first importers of Steinheil lenses in France, replacing the Voigtländer line he had dealt in previously.
With the introduction of the Periskope, followed by the Aplanate and the Antiplanete, Steinheil was able to break into the market and remained unchallenged until the appearance of the Zeiss Anastigmat and the Goerz Doppel-Anastigmat.
The first body of correspondence spans the period form 18th October 1865 to 29th August 1882. Talbot's last letter from Paris is dated 15th December 1869. He presumably left the city due to the outbreak of the Fran- co-Prussian war in 1870 and business remained quiet from 1871 till 1882. There then followed a break in the correspondence until 1885 when the letters testify to a renewal of business with Steinheil.
In addition to correspondence with Steinheil, the ar- chive contains advertising material printed by Talbot on the occasion of the Universal Exposition in Paris of 1867 and a general communication in September 1885 informing customers of the firm's relocation from Au- gust-Straße to Brüderstraße 10 in Berlin.
In a particularly illuminating letter of 30th December 1899 – the first piece of type-written correspondence in the archive – Talbot offers Steinheil a line of folding cameras of his own production, which are apparently "identical in every respect to those of the competition ... and of very good value". Talbot, evidently on the look- out for a retailer of his cameras in South Germany, wanted Steinheil to sell them with Orthostigmat lenses. The documentation concludes in 1905. A general com- munication of 5th September 1905 informs customers of Romain Talbot's retirement from the firm and the eleva- tion of the former buyer Maurice Talbot to the position of partner alongside Robert Talbot. On 1st October 1905 the Talbot firm announced the sale of its photo- graphic department to longstanding employee Walter Talbot and the future direction of the company as a wholesaler.
This folder comprises more than 150 letters and docu- ments. This unpublished archive provides a valuable glimpse into the early photographic industry in Paris and the history of a leading German lens manufac- turer!
– (3/–) – € 1.500/2.500 – (158/31)