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History
LITHOGRAPHIE, Ltd. 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 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 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 text match 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 text in their third book Tourmaline was original to the English edition. Subsequent English extraLapis issues have included progressively more original material, geared toward their growing international, English-speaking audience.
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. The company also began the process of changing the company name to Lithographie. In 2008, Lithographie introduced is popular calendar series and published the award-winning hardcover American Mineral Treasures.
Lithographie marked 2011, its 10th year in publishing, with a Topaz monograph, showcasing the work of a stellar cast of contributors. We closed out the year with a series original The San Juan Triangle of Colorado, our first foray into publishing a regional North American monograph.
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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, Ltd 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. Next up: Amethyst, slated for summer 2012, and then Apatite, to be released at the end of 2012.
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