"A Certain Jean Laurent:
Proved Data and Published Mistakes"

Jean Laurent is one of the most outstanding photographers in the second half of nineteenth-century Spain. Thus, his name is always mentioned in publications on the history of Spanish photography. The same applies to Charles Clifford, another "classic."

Since 1981, Laurent has been well known as an artist thanks to research published by the American scholar, Dr. Lee Fontanella. It is also known through research undertaken by Marie-Loup Sougez, a French scholar residing in Spain. Subsequently, numerous experts have studied the work of Jean Laurent, spreading new sources of information and hypotheses. In spite of strictly accurate data, several errors and fantasies have made their way to scholarly writings.

J. Lacoste, attributed to Jean
(Juan) Laurent
(France, active Spain and Portugal,
1816-before 1892)
[Reproduction of a work by
Francisco de Goya]
n.d.
Courtesy Nuno Borges de Araújo,
Braga, Portugal

Most of his negatives are wet collodion plates. He used a small cart as a portable darkroom to coat and develop his wet collodion glass plates. He frequently transported his equipment by train.

Laurent had several assistants and associates. His right-hand man was his son-in-law, Alfonso Roswag, who passed away in 1899. In 1883 his stepdaughter, Catalina Melina Dosch de Roswag, was the owner of the photographic studio.

It has not been demonstrated--or it is completely false--that Laurent "had started his photographic work in Paris," or that "he had a daguerreotype studio in Paris." It is important to take into account that, even if there was a daguerreotypist named J. Laurent in Paris, both the name and the surname are common in France. Furthermore, there was a photographer called "J. Laurent" in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Neither the former, nor the latter, were ever connected with the Jean Laurent active in Madrid. However, it is true that since 1868 J. Laurent had a branch in Paris where prints of Spain and Portugal were put on sale, but he never had a studio in Paris. To say that J. Laurent arrived in Spain as part of the entourage of Queen Regent Maria Cristina is a foolish remark.

It is unlikely that J. Laurent lived in his portable darkroom, because a person standing up was taller that the cart.

It is also false that "Lacoste succeeded him as head of the business in 1892." It is true that Lacoste succeeded Roswag in 1900. The date of J. Laurent´s death is unknown. He must have passed away sometime between 1883 and 1890, before 1892, a date that has been considered probable.

Carlos Teixidor works as a curator at the Archivo Fotográfico Ruiz Vernacci, Instituto del Patrimonio Histórico Español, Ministerio de Educación y Cultura, Madrid. He is the author of an extensive bibliography on photography, particularly the life and work of Jean Laurent.

"The Papel Leptográfico"

The invention of leptographic paper by J. Laurent and José Martínez-Sánchez in 1866 is a clear example of the activity of the photographic industry in the 1860s and represents an important moment in the technological evolution of photographic supports. Historically situated between albumen papers (1851-1890) and twentieth-century developing-out papers, leptographic paper can be considered the forerunner of an entire generation of printing-out papers that were popular between 1880 and 1930.

Leptographic paper, for printing positive images, consists of a collodion emulsion (cellulose nitrate) sensitized with silver halides. Three varieties of leptographic papers were available in the late nineteenth century. One had a collodio-chloride emulsion coated onto Saxe paper (Papier leptographique mat); the second had the same emulsion and introduced a baryta sulphate layer between the paper and the emulsion (Papier leptographique brillant); the third still had the same emulsion and was coated on both sides of the paper support with a baryta layer (Papier leptographique porcelaine). Two important contributions derived from these innovative papers. Structurally, they introduced a layer of barium sulphate between the emulsion and the paper support and, from a practical point of view, the paper was sold sensitized,

ready to use. The intermediate barium sulphate layer introduced a new generation of three-layer papers that are still on use today. The third layer acts like an insulator between the paper support and sensitized emulsion. It isolates the silver image from the impurities of the paper and thus increases the long-term stability of the photograph. Aesthetically, the appearance of the image is also improved, since the light that falls on the photograph is reflected by an extremely white and smooth element, resulting in an impression of major contrast, sharpness, fineness, tonality range and transparency in the highlights.

The first documentary reference to leptographic paper appeared on February 19, 1866, in the Revista del Movimiento Intelectual de Europa, a periodical published in Madrid. The article features a "… photographic discovery. A new photographic printing method discovered a few months ago by the renowned photographers of this court, Sres. Matínez-Sánchez and Laurent, that has been named 'Leptofotografía' [sic] and that they have perfected. …" 1 A number of articles that recorded the appearance of leptographic paper in France appeared beginning in April 1866. In these articles, the double authorship of the invention is established, and the advantages and drawbacks of the process are discussed. In April 30, 1866, the columnist of La Lumière described Martínez-Sánchez and Laurent as "… two of photography´s intelligent veterans …" 2 to end up saying that "… the paper on sale is already sensitized and thus the silver nitrate sensitizing baths, the drying of albumen sheets are through. … Leptographic paper can be kept for a considerable amount of time …" 3 Finally, the article explains the process, simplified in comparison with the process of that of albumen paper, and concludes with a sentence that reveals the spirit of the time: "… Thus, now more than ever, in this business, time is money." 4

In 30 August 1866 we learn also from M.A. Gaudin, writer for La Lumière, that the Société leptographique, The Leptographic Society, had established a factory in Paris. In November 1866 the launch of the new process takes place at the Société française de photographie (SFP), The French Photographic Society, in Paris. In the November 1866 meeting of the SFP (of which Laurent was member since 1859), M. Davanne reads a letter in which the manager of the Leptographic Society offers to the SFP and its members several prints made with the new paper for their consideration and for their inclusion in the collection, as well as "… several boxes of unexposed paper for the member of the society who would like to test them and explain the results obtained in following meetings. …" 5 The letter continues explaining that the prints' provenance was to be found at the Disdéri´s and Frank´s studios in Paris. Although by the time the meeting finished the representative of the Leptographic Society had not revealed the components or the process of leptographic paper, he distributed among the audience a brochure with the instructions to print correctly the unexposed paper that he had just given out.

Leptographic paper was used by a certain number of photographers. It is worth mentioning the name of a few renowned professional photographers such as Disdéri, Frank, Laurent, Martínez-Sánchez, Regnault and Vogel. It seems likely that the paper was to the liking of other Spanish photographers, such as Escandell or Rives (López-Mondéjar, 1989, p. 38). Furthermore, there must have been much talk about the leptographic paper so that the French photographer Beauchy, established in Seville, named his studio "Leptografía Francesa," or "French Leptography" (Yáñez-Polo, 1998, p. 166).

The images on leptographic paper that have been identified until the present moment are generally portraits of a relatively small format: carte de visite (6 x 9 cm), and cabinet (10 x 15 cm). This could indicate that, as the coeval comments suggest, larger formats must have been difficult to handle. However, the albums of the Castellano Collection at the Biblioteca Nacional in Madrid, Spain, include beautiful examples of carte de visite portraits on leptographic paper not yet attributed. The Disdéri Collection housed at the Bibliothèque nationale in Paris, France, also contain some carte de visite photographs on leptographic paper.

As far as preservation is concerned, the photographs on leptographic paper that have been examined are in a good chemical condition and still present rich and velvety shadows of a beauty only comparable with the best preserved salted and albumen papers. Physically, they often present flaking of the cellulose nitrate layer, abrasion of the emulsion and curl of the support.

The identification of leptographic paper is still problematic. As it has been discussed, leptographic paper is composed of a collodion emulsion that may or may not be found next to baryta coated paper. Thus, what the Leptographic Society calls papier leptographique mat (with no barium sulphate layer) can be mistaken easily for an albumen paper. In spite of that, microscopic examination of the degradation of the emulsion materials and the presence of iridescence can help in the identification process. In fact, collodion neither turns yellow nor cracks the same way as albumen. Furthermore, albumen does not erode or flake as easily as collodion.

But, if the three-layer paper, later on known as aristotype, turned into the most universal paper at the turn of the century, why leptographic paper was not widely adopted by professionals in the late 1860s? Several aspects must be considered to solve the question. The simplification of leptographic paper process is a sign of the tendency of the photographic industry to widen the market, to look for a new customer, a new photographer that would be offered an easier process that would not demand the necessary skills for sensitizing paper. However, this new type of customer would not exist until the 1880s, when the silver-bromide negative glass plates, also known as dry-plates, and a new generation of photographic cameras allowed the emergence of this new photographer: the amateur that would take pictures of his or her family, the founder of photo-clubs. Furthermore, leptographic paper was too expensive and demanded a change in the organization of the work chain that the majority of studios were not willing to undertake. As P. de Chameaux said in 1896: "… sometimes it is an error to make it too soon. …" 6 (BSFP, 1896, p. 314).

Finally, several interpretations of the term leptography have been pointed out. One of these interpretations can be found in the instruction manual that the Leptographic Society handed out to the members of the SFP in November 1866. In the section in which the fixing process is explained compared to the traditional method. It says: "… the prints must remain in the fixer only between half a minute and one minute. The short time that the proofs must remain in the fixing bath is due to the fact that the sensitized emulsion layer is superficial, and very thin. …" (BSFP, 1866, p. 293.) 7 From these interpretations and the etymology of the prefix lepto (thin, narrow) it can be deduced that the term leptographic designates a photographic paper with a particularly thin emulsion. This fineness explains also the fastness of treatment of the prints, the presence of color iridescence in the surface, and a great number of deteriorations that can be observed in this paper.

Pau Maynés holds a degree in Restoration from the National School of Heritage (IFROA), Paris (France). At present, he is a Research Scholar in Residence at the George Eastman
House-International Museum of Photography and Film, Rochester, New York. He has specialized in the leptographic paper, producing an extensive dissertation on the subject. He has also contributed to several publications.

1 "… Descubrimiento fotográfico. Un nuevo sistema de impresión fotográfica descubierto hace pocos meses por los reputados fotógrafos de esta corte, Sres. Martínez Sánchez y Laurent, al que sus autores han dado el nombre de `Leptofotografía´ [sic] y que han llevado al último grado de perfección. …"
2 "… dos veteranos inteligentes de la fotografía …"
3 "… el papel se vende sensibilizado, así pues, se acabaron los baños de sensibilización al nitrato de plata, el secado de hojas a la albúmina. … El papel leptográfico se conserva durante un tiempo considerable. …"
4 "… Así pues, ahora más que nunca, en esta industria, time is money. … "
5 "… varias cajas de papel virgen para que los señores socios que lo deseen puedan hacer sus propias pruebas y explicar los resultados en siguientes reuniones. …"
6 "… parfois il est une erreur d'arriver trop tôt. …"
7 "… les épreuvres doivent rester dans le fixateur seulement entre une demie minute et une minute. Ce peu de temps est du a ce que la couche d'émulsion sensibilisée est superficielle, très fine. …"

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