Manuscript minutes of the Board of Directors of the Société Anonyme des Papeteries du Marais et de Sainte-Marie, from 21 November 1860 to 21 October 1868.
[1860-1868]
Folio (365 x 255 mm), 482 pp., contemporary green cloth (contemporary binding).
An unpublished primary source on one of the most important paper manufacturers of the Second Empire, which supplied a large number of the leading printers and publishers of the period. These minutes are exceptionally rich in previously unpublished information concerning the company’s operations and its wide-ranging activities.
• Papermaking techniques: the director’s journey to London to study paper-drying machinery; acquisition of a cardboard-manufacturing process from the Docelles paper mill; filing of a patent for a manufacturing process intended for the Banque de France; visits to Belgium and the Netherlands to investigate new methods of producing paper pulp; experiments with and introduction of straw pulp; etc.
• Commercial strategy and clientele: contracts with and investments in various newspapers (L’Illustration, Le Charivari, Journal amusant, etc.); agreements with the Banque de France and other national banks; negotiations with the publishers Jules Hetzel, Michel Lévy, etc.
• Internal management: changes in the company’s management and Board of Directors; inspections of the mills; a table recording profits and their allocation from 1828 to 1860; etc.
• Working conditions: establishment of a mutual aid society for employees; cessation of work on Sundays and public holidays; etc.
2 600€
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