Lyon, Société des Papiers Keller-Dorian, ca 1950-1960. Oblong folio (9.5 x 15.5 cm). 34 samples in different colours, several embossed in various patterns, in wrappers of the same material.

A fine example of a velvet paper sample booklet, showing the work of the Keller-Dorian firm in Lyon. Albert Keller-Dorian ran custom fabric-engraving plants in Mulhouse and in Lyon. He is best known for The Keller-Dorian process, an additive colour process invented and patented by the French physicist Rodolphe Berthon in 1908. In this catalogue, the leaves are numbered (stamps, a few on a label, on versos), but in no particular order. "The first mention of the Keller-Dorian company, metal engravers located at 19 Chemin Saint-Eusèbe, on the corner of Rue de l'Espérance in Lyon, appears in the Fournier directory of 1895. In 1897, the Keller-Dorian company still specialized in metal engraving and also manufactured fancy paper at the same address (at number 17). From 1901 onwards, this dual activity was separated: metal engraving remained at number 19, and paper manufacturing moved to an extension at 15-17 Chemin Saint-Eusèbe, adjacent to the engraving workshop. This company was the only one in France to manufacture multi-colored fancy paper. The head office was founded in Mulhouse in 1825. The Keller-Dorian family were originally wood and metal engravers for printing on silk and cotton of all kinds, dresses, furniture, scarves, specializing in embossing, crepe, and moiré" (Halitim-Dubois). Provenance: stamp of the firm I. Oostra's Agenturen in Papier, in Amsterdam, Herengracht 155. Isodor Oostra bought the Herengracht canal warehouse in 1953, but the firm's name, as stamped here, dates from 1961. Slight wear to spine foot; tiny chip to the lower outer corner of one leaf; otherwise, an excellent, clean copy. Halitim-Dubois, N. (ed.) Sté de Papiers Keller-Dorian.