Éditions S.T.L. was a trademark of Lavelle et Cie1, a publisher of postcards and stereoviews, including erotic images. The company was founded around 19042 and located at 37, Rue du Parc, in Issy-les-Moulineaux, Paris. The company had a long history and was still in business after the Second World War, when it published sets of postcards with images of the liberation of Paris.
After the First World War, the company published a series of stereoviews with war scenes. The views were available in the glass formats 45 x 107 mm and 6 x 13 cm and as paper card stereoviews. The total number of titles is estimated at 2,000. Many stereoviews can be linked to the publisher because of the abbreviation “S.T.L.”. The stereoviews are of high quality with good contrast, tonality and stereo depth effects. It seems that Éditions S.T.L. favoured quality over quantity.
Éditions S.T.L used a consistent style of captions for their glass stereoviews: a black bar with a number, description and most of the time the abbreviation “S.T.L.”. The paper card stereoviews have three different styles.
8.5 x 17 cm paper card stereoview
Classification Chart
Glass
| Overall size: | 45 x 107 mm or 6 x 13 cm |
| Image tone: | Brown/sepia toned. |
| Text presentation: | Number and title are vertically written between both images on a black bar. Many glass stereoviews have the abbreviation S.T.L. |
| Text style: | Handwritten |
Paper type I
The printed image of type I is pasted on flat cardboard.
| Overall size: | c. 8.5 x 17 cm |
| Image size: | c. 6 x 6.5 cm |
| Image tone: | Sepia/brown toned |
| Paper surface: | Semi-gloss |
| Text presentation: | The title is written below the right image. No number. The full name of the publisher is printed. |
| Text style: | Typed |
Paper type II
The printed image of type II is pasted on curved cardboard. Print and cardboard are neatly merged, without borders.
| Overall size: | c. 8.5 x 17 cm |
| Image size: | c. 6.5 x 6.5 cm |
| Image tone: | Black and white |
| Paper surface: | Semi-gloss |
| Text presentation: | The title is vertically written between both images on a black bar. No number. No abbreviation S.T.L. |
| Text style: | Handwritten in italics. |
Paper type III
Type III cards have the same style as the glass stereoviews, but are printed on paper.
References
- L’Indicateur de l’industrie photographique. Annuaire général (1926), p. 452. Via: gallica.bnf.fr ↩︎
- Le Photographe : organe des photographes professionnels (1925), p. 136. Via: gallica.bnf.fr ↩︎