Sunday, November 25, 2012

Langsdorff & Co., Fine Art Publishers

Langsdorff & Co published a number of post cards of the Broxbourne area of Hertfordshire in the Summer of 1906, and as there appears to be nothing about the origins of this German company on the internet (at least in English) I was interested to get a query from Martin about its early days as a Fine Art Publisher as he has a print from 1901 giving the address 19 City Road, London..
Broxbourne Church from the River (Lea)
The Artist for this card (and others in the set) has not yet been identified
A provisional search showed that a Hans Langsdorff (born 1860 in Germany) was a merchant staying in Hamstead, London, in 1891 and 1901 while in 1899 Langsdorff & Co had an office in a large office block in Mincing Lane, London. However by 1910 they were in their own premises in City Road. It seems possible that Hans was an agent for a German company and saw an opportunity in the Fine Art Printing market, using German printers, and moved into the market, initially from the office in Mincing Lane.

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