845
later photoengraving. Lemercier’s production however,
marks an important step in the insertion of photography
into books.
Laure Boyer
Exhibitions: Amsterdam 1855, Paris 1855 (2d
section), Paris SFP 1857, Bruxelles 1857, Paris SFP
1859.
Publications: La lithophotographie ou impressions
obtenues sur une pierre à l’aide de la photographie»,
1er cahier, par MM. Lemercier, Lerebours, Barreswill
et Davanne, Paris, Goupil, Gide & Baudry, London,
Gambart, 1854.
Medals: London 1844, medal of honour; Paris 1848,
medal of honour; London, 1862, mention honourable;
Porto, International exhibition, 1866, medal of
honour; Paris, SFP, 1867, medal for his work on
photolithography; Chevalier of the Legion of Honour;
Paris, Photographic exhibition of the Central union of
the Decorative Arts, 1882, gold medal.
See also: Bisson, Louis-Auguste and Auguste-Rosa-
lie; and Société Française de Photographie.
Further Reading
Auer, Michel and Michelle Auer, Encyclopédie internationale
des photographes de 1839 à nous jours, Paris, Camera ob-
scura, 1985.
Bouquin, Corinne, Recherches sur l’imprimerie lithographique à
Paris au XIXe siècle, L’imprimerie Lemercier (1803–1901),
PhD dissertation, University of Paris I, December. 1993.
Figuier, Louis, Les applications nouvelles de la science à
l’industrie et aux arts en 1855, Paris, 1856.
Jammes, Andre, and Eugenia Parry Janis, The Art of French Calo-
type, Princeton, N.J,: Princeton University Press, 1983.
Pinsard, Jules, L’illustration du livre moderne et la photographie,
Paris, 1897.
Slythe, Margaret, The Art of Illustration: 1750–1900, London,
1970; Revue photographique, Chronique: Ateliers de M.
Lemercier, no. 18, 5 avril 1857, 1.
Rosen, H. Jeffrey, Lemercier & Cie: Photolithography and the
Industrialisation of Print Production in France, 1837–1859,
PhD dissertation, Evanston, Illinois, June 1988.
LEMERE, BEDFORD (1839–1911)
Bedford Lemere and his son Harry Bedford Lemere
are the most outstanding English architectural photog-
raphers of the nineteenth century by virtue of the sheer
scale and duration of their quality output. Studies of
English urban life cannot take place without taking into
account these key visual documents of late Victorian
England.
From the early 1870s until well into the twentieth
century both photographers operated from the same
address, 147 Strand which was conveniently and sym-
bolically situated on the border between the City of
Westminster and the City of London. By the 1880s the
company had became the standard for large format ar-
chitectural work in Britain. Taking over the premises of
Valentine Blanchard the fi rm did not vacate the same stu-
dio until after 1945. The core clientele of Lemere existed
between the poles of the City of London and fashionable
Westminster thus covering both the domestic and tourist
areas of the West End as well as the intensive banking
and commerce in the City. It thus encompassed the
entire spectrum of business, bourgeois and aristocratic
London. Though London generated much of the busi-
ness there were extensive clients throughout the rest
of England: Lemere was employed by the Rothschild
family to document their county estates, their mansions
in Westminster and their offi ces in the City—along
with their sporting and collecting activities. The key art
dealer Duveen used Lemere to provide the best images
of his desirable stock of antiques and paintings. In the
dark winter months studio commissions also came from
legal fi rms, piano makers and fi ne silver manufacturers.
Urban coverage is also extensive for areas in Liverpool,
Manchester, Birmingham, Edinburgh, and Glasgow and
other provincial cities. The only known foreign com-
mission is signifi cantly linked with a holiday by Queen
Victoria in a grand hotel the South of France. During
World War I Lemere was able to diversity by specialis-
ing in manufacturing and armaments often linked with
the peacetime shipping business.
By deliberately cultivating architects and their clients
from the outset Bedford Lemere built up such a sophisti-
cated network of designers, owners and estate agents that
by the 1890s prints from his standard 12x10 inch plates
could be found in key families, businesses and institu-
tions ranging from Queen Victoria and the Rothschild
family to offi cial government bodies and department
stores like Harrods. Sets were purchased by architects
in the United States wishing to learn about fashionable
English design like the Queen Anne movement.
The professional work of Lemere fi rst comes to atten-
tion with the important series of carved details designed
to educate those studying and applying the tenets of the
Gothic Revival through the collection of medieval orna-
ment displayed at the Architectural Museum in 1872
[later the Royal Architectural Museum]. With support
from the prominent architect John Pollard Seddon and
with endorsements from John Ruskin, Lemere rapidly
became associated with major Architects like G. E.
Street, G. G. Scott, and, later, Richard Norman Shaw.
In addition there are many associations with interior
decorators, stained glass and furniture designers, and a
range of art-manufacturing companies.
With the exception of churches, a huge range of build-
ing types were covered: best known for his total control