Printed: 2024-04-27
Simonau, [Gustave] & Toovey, [William]
Identity
Category
Partnership
Alternative name or descriptor
- Atelier de Photolithographie
Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules
Status
- Connected
Details
Life dates
Activity
1860 - 1870 / Bruxelles, Rue de la Pompe, 3
Successor: Simonau Veuve & Toovey
Gustave Simonau (° Bruges, 10.6.1810; + Brussels, 10.7.1870), water colour painter and lithographer, trained in the studio of his father, Pierre Simonau. Husband of Ann(e) Toovey (° Canterbury [GB], 13.6.1820; ° ? [GB], 1895), lithographer and William's sister. It was William Toovey (see that name), born into a family of engravers and printers, who was the driving force behind the photomechanical side of the establishment.
Transfer on 31.12.1860 to Simonau & Toovey of rights to Eduard Isaac Asser's patent for "a process for printing photographic positives, either in autographic ink or in printing ink" [photolithography]. Patent of invention of 1.7.1863 [in the name of William Toovey] for "improvements in the processes of photolithography, photozincography and photographic engraving" [improved Asser process]. The photolithographs which the firm went on to produce as illustrations for books and periodicals were amongst the finest photomechanical half-tone prints marketed in Europe in the 1860s.
Transfer to Simonau & Toovey on 5.11.1869 of the rights to W. B. Woodbury's import and improvement patents of 28.3.1865 for "a method for producing relief surfaces by means of photography", enabling the firm to exploit the Woodburytype process.
Successor: Simonau Veuve & Toovey
Gustave Simonau (° Bruges, 10.6.1810; + Brussels, 10.7.1870), water colour painter and lithographer, trained in the studio of his father, Pierre Simonau. Husband of Ann(e) Toovey (° Canterbury [GB], 13.6.1820; ° ? [GB], 1895), lithographer and William's sister. It was William Toovey (see that name), born into a family of engravers and printers, who was the driving force behind the photomechanical side of the establishment.
Transfer on 31.12.1860 to Simonau & Toovey of rights to Eduard Isaac Asser's patent for "a process for printing photographic positives, either in autographic ink or in printing ink" [photolithography]. Patent of invention of 1.7.1863 [in the name of William Toovey] for "improvements in the processes of photolithography, photozincography and photographic engraving" [improved Asser process]. The photolithographs which the firm went on to produce as illustrations for books and periodicals were amongst the finest photomechanical half-tone prints marketed in Europe in the 1860s.
Transfer to Simonau & Toovey on 5.11.1869 of the rights to W. B. Woodbury's import and improvement patents of 28.3.1865 for "a method for producing relief surfaces by means of photography", enabling the firm to exploit the Woodburytype process.
Locations
1860 - 1870 / Bruxelles, Rue de la Pompe, 3
Exhibitions
Brussels, 1853; Brussels, 1856; Brussels, 1861; Paris, 1861; Paris, 1863; Paris, 1864; Brussels, 1867; Paris, 1867 (bronze medal).
Genres / subject matter
Techniques
Bibliography/Webography
VALCKE, Sibylle. "Simonau Gustave" in "Le Dictionnaire des peintres Belges du XIVe siècle à nos jours", La Renaissance du Livre, vol. 2, 1994, p. 902.
JOSEPH, Steven F. "Simonau & Toovey: The Introduction of Photomechanical Printing to Belgium, 1860-1873" in "European Society for the History of Photography. Jubilee – 30 Years ESHPh. Congress of Photography in Vienna", edited by Anna Auer and Uwe Schögl. Salzburg, Fotohof edition, 2008, pp. 150-159.
MEUNIER, Laurence. "Les imprimeurs-lithographes Simonau & Toovey" in "Le livre illustré en Belgique 1800-1865", edited by Claude Sorgeloos, In Monte Artium: Journal of the Royal Library of Belgium, vol. 7, 2014, pp. 37-56.
JOSEPH, Steven F. "Simonau & Toovey: The Introduction of Photomechanical Printing to Belgium, 1860-1873" in "European Society for the History of Photography. Jubilee – 30 Years ESHPh. Congress of Photography in Vienna", edited by Anna Auer and Uwe Schögl. Salzburg, Fotohof edition, 2008, pp. 150-159.
MEUNIER, Laurence. "Les imprimeurs-lithographes Simonau & Toovey" in "Le livre illustré en Belgique 1800-1865", edited by Claude Sorgeloos, In Monte Artium: Journal of the Royal Library of Belgium, vol. 7, 2014, pp. 37-56.
Context
Affiliations
Management
Record source
DIRECTORY_1997#3883
Status
Level of detail
Dates of creation/revision
SFJ revised 23.1.2017; SFJ revised 16.3.2022 based on information supplied by M. Demaeght; MD revised 18.10.2022