843
reasons), also accepted a position at Leitz, where began
working in the newly created experimental department
on 2 January 1911. Ernst Leitz (I) was intrigued by
Barnack’s unconventionally small camera and he took
it along on a trip to New York and used it to take quite
a few candid pictures. That camera was the so-called
“Ur-Leica,” an improved version of which was placed
in production by Ernst Leitz (II) [the son] in 1924 and
introduced at the Leipzig Spring Fair of 1925, eventually
becoming the legendary Leica camera whose subsequent
models are still in production today!
Ernst Leitz (I) had a trait that was a strong character-
istic of the Leitz family for the generations that followed,
in that he was genuinely concerned for the welfare of his
employees and he knew nearly everyone by name and
would chat with them warmly during his regular rounds
through the shops. He introduced the eight-hour workday
and health care assistance and in 1899 a pension for in-
valids, widows, and orphans. His equally social-minded
wife Anna Leitz visited families in need and she would
discreetly slip money into their pockets to help them
with their expenses. As a result, “der alte Chef” (the old
boss) and his family were affectionately revered by his
employees. In recognition of his achievements and his
benign social engagement, on 24 December 1910 the
University of Marburg bestowed an honorary degree of
Doctor of Sciences upon Ernst Leitz (I).
Ernst Leitz (II) remained active until the end of his
days. While on a health visit to Solothurn in Switzerland,
he passed away on 12 July 1920, having survived his
wife by 12 years. Because his fi rst son Ludwig Leitz
had died of a riding accident at the prime of his career
in 1898, his second son Ernst Leitz (II) took over man-
agement of the company, which continued to fl ourish
under his competent guidance.
Rolf Fricke
LEMERCIER, LEREBOURS AND
BARRESWILL
Rose-Joseph Lemercier (Paris, 1803–1887), and Aloïs
Senefelder, a pupil from 1817 to 1819, worked in the
Senefelder printing house directed by Knecht from 1825
to 1829. Lemercier established a lithographic printing
house in 1829 in Paris, 57, rue de Seine. He came to
photography in 1839, and produced his fi rst daguerreo-
types. At the beginning of the 1850s, he became inter-
ested in photomechanic process. During this period, the
obstacle was in obtaining stable photographic images.
The rapid fading of some silver-based prints initiated
a search for a more reliable and commercially viable
process. The future of photography depended on it. This
issue became the central point of focus for the Société
d’encouragement pour l’Industrie nationale. The Society
became one of the most important institutional forces
for the development of photography. More than any
other group, it foresaw the development of photography
as an industry and organized competitions to encour-
age photographers to produce photographic prints that
were of high quality, economical to produce and easy to
conserve. As early as 1840, the Society concluded that if
it were to progress in the industry, photography needed
to abandon pre-industrial hand-made means for more
modern means geared toward mass production.
From 1852 to 1854, Lemercier linked up with
Lerebours, Barreswill and Davanne. Noël Lerebours
(1807–1873) was optician, founding member of the
Société heliographique and builder of photographic ma-
terial; Barreswill was a chemistry professor at the Turgot
school as was Alphonse Davanne (1824–1912).
Together they developed the lithophotographic pro-
cess, which was based on the work of Niépce de Saint-
Victor. This process consisted of pouring a solution of
bitumen of Jude on a lithographic stone. The stone was
then exposed under a negative (paper or glass). The
bitumen then received the light and hardened in the
areas not exposed to light. The image formed was then
engraved with acid and washed from its bitumen. The
hardened areas remained after the acid wash, and were
then covered with printing ink. After pressing the im-
age onto paper, the image was transferred to the paper,
providing various shades and tints.
Lemercier and his associates sent sealed letters con-
taining lithophotographic prints to photographers, the
prints which were later presented by François Arago
in a lecture to the Academy of Sciences on August 16,- They asked for an invention patent of fi fteen years
on July 3, 1852, the request was accepted on August
25, 1852. Next year, Lemercier established in his litho-
graphic studio, a photographic printing house, where he
produced prints from the negatives of Henri Le Secq.
Looking for a renaissance in the photographic under-
world, six of those prints from Le Secq were published
as prototypes of lithophotography in a treatise on the
new process entitled Lithophotographie ou impressions
obtenues sur pierre à l’aide de la photographie, 1er
cahier. It was published in notebook at the Academy
of Sciences in January 1854.
The prints from Le Secq represented subjects of
architecture and architectural sculpture that he photo-
graphs for the Missions heliographique. They accurately
reproduced old monuments and the printing on paper
gave the grain conferring a certain aesthetic. Lemercier
certainly tried to fi nd an outlet (and a market) for the
production of prints from the Missions heliographique.
That commision, the fi rst photographic project initiated
by the French government through the Commission des
monuments historique, needed printers able to produce
stable images in a timely manner and as accurately as