Imprimerie Lahure [Maison Lahure; Imprimerie générale de Ch. Lahure; Typographie A. Lahure; A. Lahure] (Paris, printer/publisher, fl. 1842–1929)
The foundations of the firm date back to 1842, when Charles-Auguste Lahure (1809–1887) entered into a formal business partnership with Jules Delalain (1810–1877), the son of printer Sylvain Delalain (1773–1842), co-managing a workshop employing approximately 100 personnel. In 1856, Lahure assumed complete proprietary control of the asset under his own name. To accommodate escalating mechanical demands, the enterprise consolidated its industrial operations into a single mass facility located at 9, rue de Fleurus in Paris. By the peak of the Second Empire, the facility's specialized labour force had expanded to roughly 500 industrial tradesmen and typographical operators.
Following the Franco-Prussian War (1870), managerial operations were transferred to Alexis Lahure (1849–1929), who aggressively adapted the facility to meet emerging typographic standards and market demands. The business leveraged capital from steady industrial trade contracts to branch out into direct publishing. In 1883, the firm conceptualized and launched Le Paris illustré, recognized globally as the first recurring French periodical to integrate complex multi-colour relief illustrations seamlessly alongside standard typeset columns.
The printing establishment widely known as the Imprimerie Lahure operated continuously across nearly nine decades, executing transitions in both corporate governance and official imprint typography.
The chronology of its legal corporate names follows this sequence:
Imprimerie générale de Ch. Lahure (c. 1856–1870): Established under the sole ownership of founder Charles-Auguste Lahure.
Maison Lahure (c. 1870–1880s): Adopted as a broad trade name during the transitional management phase following the senior Lahure's progressive retirement.
Typographie A. Lahure / A. Lahure (c. 1880s–1920s): Registered by son and successor Alexis Lahure, defining the company's output during its late industrial expansion.
Internal Administration of Charles Lahure Jr. (c. 1890s–1907): While his name did not appear on primary title-page imprints, Charles Lahure Jr. served as an executive administrator alongside his father Alexis, assisting in managing the firm's daily operations until his death at the age of 30.