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.
45 x 107 mm glass stereoview
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. The cards can be numbered or unnumbered.
8.5 x 17 cm paper card stereoview
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 ↩︎