The origins of the Éditions LL trademark lie in the company of Moïse Léon and his son-in-law Isaac-Georges Lévy. Léon & Lévy were from 1864 the successors of Ferrier père fils et Soulier, the company that was renowned for the manufacturing and publishing of high-quality glass stereoviews.
In 1871, Léon & Lévy published an extensive series of glass stereoviews showing a devastated Paris after the Franco-Prussian War and the Paris Commune. However, the focus gradually shifted from exclusive glass stereoviews to magic lantern slides, cartes de visites, postcards and paper card stereoviews.
Léon left the company in 1871 and the business continued as J. Lévy & Cie. After the death of Isaac-Georges Lévy, it was continued by his sons as Lévy & ses files, and after 1915 as Lévy fils & Cie. The manufacturing of glass stereoviews ended around 19111 and the company continued publishing paper stereoviews and postcards until 1920. The paper images were published under the name Éditions LL, referring to Léon & Lévy.
During the First World War, Éditions LL postcards and paper card stereoviews were published in the format 9 x 14 cm. The postcards were sold in booklets of 20 cards, the stereoviews were sold in series of 24. The back of a booklet of postcards from 1916 mentions a catalogue of 17 series of postcards and 4 series of stereoviews. The cover mentions La Guerre Européenne 1914–1916, which shows that the booklet was published during the war, which would last until 1918.
The Éditions LL images that were published during the war were subject to French censorship and show only staged images and war damage. The stereoviews mention VISA PARIS, followed by a number. Visa Paris (also Vise Paris or Visé Paris) appeared on many images printed in France during the First World War. It probably indicated that the image had been approved by a central department in Paris before publishing2.
References
- John B. Cameron and Schimmelman, J.G. (2016) The glass stereoviews of Ferrier & Soulier 1852–1908. p. 91 ↩︎
- Mackain, F. (2014) What is the meaning of “Visé Paris”?, via: fergusmackain.com ↩︎