573
century the company also manufactured and marketed
various mutoscope fl ip-photo motion picture viewing
machines, including the Lumière-Casler Kinora, a
clockwork device for home entertainment.
From 1902 Gaumont gave demonstrations of me-
chanically synchronised motion pictures with sound.
Léon Gaumont and his company continued to develop
photographic inventions and devices, including sound
and colour motion picture systems, throughout the
early years of the 20th century. They maintained fi lm
production, distribution, and exhibition and Gaumont
became, with Pathé, one of the top two companies in
the cinema world. From 1905 to 1914 its studios at La
Villette were among the largest anywhere. The name
Gaumont survives in the twenty-fi rst century motion
picture business.
Stephen Herbert
Biography
Léon Gaumont was born in Paris, France, on 10 May
- His father was Auguste Ferdinand Gaumont, his
mother Marguerite Dupenloup. In 1888 he married
Camille Maillard. A meticulous individual, Gaumont
maintained a close involvement in all aspects of his
business across the audio-visual fi eld. He was evidently
reluctant to delegate; a wide range of company letters
of the period bear his signature. Léon Ernest Gaumont
retired in 1930 and died at Saint-Maxime on 1 January
See also: Demeny, Georges
Further Reading
Abel, Richard, The Ciné Goes to Town: French Cinema 1896–
1914. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California
Press, 1994.
Corcy, Marie-Sophie, Jacques Malthete, Laurent Mannoni,
Jean-Jacques Meusy, Les Premieres années de la société
L. Gaumont et Cie: Correspondence commerciale de Léon
Gaumont 1895–1899. Paris: Association française de re-
cherche sur l’histoire du cinéma, Bibliothèque du Film,
Gaumont, 1998.
Garçon, François, Gaumont: A Century of French Cinema. New
York, Harry N. Abrams, 1994.
GELATINE SILVER PRINT
Gelatine silver papers evolved from a number of sources,
including Richard Leach Maddox’s work with silver
bromide suspended in gelatine. These materials were
also suitable for printing paper; the gelatine coating
retained its permeability when dry, so that the paper
could be prepared and sold ready-sensitized. The fi rst
commercial gelatine silver paper was silver bromide,
predating gelatine silver chloride papers, which were
produced in a variety of formulations in the early 1880s
but not widely available until the next decade.
Variations in gelatine can affect photosensitivity; in
the 1880s, inconsistent sensitivity slowed the acceptance
of gelatine developing-out papers. In the late 1890s,
Eastman and Company established special herds of cows
fed on mustard plants to produce optimum photosensi-
tivity in the gelatine made from their bones. By 1895,
gelatine had replaced albumen as the standard colloidal
binder for silver salts. As opposed to albumen, which
contained residual sulphur compounds, gelatine was
less likely to produce yellowing of the base highlights
or sulphiding of the silver image.
Gelatine papers were made in both printing-out and
developing-out formulas. An early silver chloride print-
ing-out paper was introduced by William Abney in 1881.
The addition of citric acid increased shelf life, and in
1884, Emil Obernetter began large-scale manufacture
of pre-sensitized papers in Munich. Obernetter used
baryta (barium sulphate in gelatine) as a subbing layer,
providing a smooth surface to which the silver gelatine
coating readily adhered. Printing-out paper had initial
problems with the consistency of the emulsion, and its
wider use only came in the 1890s with the development
of continuous-roll coating machinery. Gelatino-chloride
papers were often denoted as “aristo” papers; in 1891,
Ilford called its version ‘POP,’ which has persisted as a
generic nomenclature.
Developed-out silver chloride paper was proposed
in 1881, when Guiseppe Pizzighelli published his work
with Josef Maria Eder on the chemical development of
silver chloride using new organic developers. In 1882,
Dr. E. Just began limited production in Vienna, and
subsequent improvements were introduced by Leon
Warnerke, and Dr. Leo Baekland. In 1893, Baekland ‘s
formula was used by the Nepera Chemical Company for
‘Velox’ paper (later popularized by Eastman Kodak).
Such papers attracted the colloquial name ‘gaslight’
paper, as they could be handled under a red-shielded
gas safelight and exposed by removing the shield and
turning up the gas. Developed-out silver chloride could
be contact-printed or exposed under an enlarger. Im-
age quality was very good; a fi ne grain is typical of a
silver chloride sensitizer. Gaslight paper was popular
with amateurs and more generally used for commercial
documentary and studio work.
In 1883, Eder reported a mixed emulsion develop-
ing-out paper of about 60% silver chloride and 40%
silver bromide. It was one-twentieth the speed of silver
bromide, but much faster than pure silver chloride and
easier to control than pure silver bromide. In 1890, Ilford
reintroduced ‘Alpha’ paper as chlorobromide gelatine.
Mixed emulsion papers remain the standard for modern
black-and-white photographic printing, marketed as
variable contrast papers.