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We've Changed Our Name!
LITHOGRAPHIE, LLC is mineralogical / geological book publisher. We are a United States-based family business with strong ties to Munich, Germany, the hometown of cofounder Günther Neumeier and the city in which their books are printed.
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History
LITHOGRAPHIE, LLC began business under the name Lapis International, LLC in 2001, when mineral dealer and small business consultant Gloria Staebler teamed up with mineralogist and Lapis editor Günther Neumeier to publish licensed English-language editions of the prestigious German mineralogical monograph series extraLapis.
Working with author Federico Pezzotta, pegmatite specialist William “Skip” Simmons and translator Alfredo Petrov, the pair published Madagascar, the first extraLapis English monograph, in December 2001. While the English edition of Madagascar was updated and re-edited, it remained was fairly close to the German original.
For the second extraLapis, Emeralds of the World, the late John Sinkankas and then Royal Ontario Museum gemologist Terry Ottaway were guest editors. John encouraged Gloria and Günther to depart from the German editions by replacing select texts with articles designed to give the books a more international appeal. John also introduced more rigorous editorial standards, insisting that the quality of the texts matched that of Lapis’ stunning illustrations. He was adamant that the English issues should include a reference list.
With two books under their belts, Gloria and Günther were looking to the German issues as a basis for the English series, but began freely working new authors, articles, and photographs into their editions. Thirty percent of the texts in their third book Tourmaline were original to the English edition. Subsequent English extraLapis issues have included progressively more original material.
While maintaining its license agreement, Lapis International moved to better express its independence from Lapis by releasing its sixth monograph Pakistan with a newly designed cover. Gloria and Günther also began the process of changing the company name to better reflect the relationship to the German Lapis.
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Our Name
The German term Lithographie was coined in the early 18th century and has its roots in the Greek words lithos (stone) and graphein (write). The term originally meant “description of stones” or “the art of engraving on gemstones.” It took on a new meaning sometime after 1796 when Munich native Alois Senefelder invented the process of printing stone printing, known in Germany today as Lithographie.
The name Lithographie expresses something of the company’s history and purpose, while also connoting its trademark standard of quality. The name change was complete on Jan. 1, 2006.
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What's Next?
With an eye on further improving the quality of its publications, Lithographie, LLC will continue to publish the popular updated and re-edited English editions of the German extraLapis and plans to insert entirely original books into the English-language series.
A few new non-series books projects are also on the agenda for 2006. In the Spring, look for The Smale Collection—Beauty in Natural Crystals, a coffee table book illustrating some 100 specimens from the collection of Steve and Clara Smale. Slated for the Fall is a new two-volume edition of the late John Sinkankas’ legendary book Mineralogy, which has been revised and updated by Joel Bartsch of the Houston Museum of Natural Science.
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