Vitale Barberis Canonico

Ferdinand Guillaume Edouard Czeizorzinski (or Czeczorzinski, because the name appears in both versions) was born to Polish parents in Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines. The Journal Officiel de la République Française of 9th March 1930 names him as an “industriel” who was living in the village. Industrialist? In which sector? If he had anything to do with the Vitale Barberis Canonico wool mill, it would have been in the textile sector, wouldn’t it? In reality, it was almost textiles. As were his colleagues Degermann, Louterbach and Mertz, Edouard Czeizorzinski was a stationer, bookseller and bookbinder. In the wool mill’s archives, there are 15 tomes with the label of “Imprimerie- Lithographie et Fabrique de registres” of the skilled Czeizorzinski.

The first is dated 1899, the last 1930, the period of his French naturalisation (since the 1700s, Polish citizens had been migrating to various parts of Europe following the division of Poland, and France took in many of these during the great exodus of the 1800s). The oldest sample book refers to more than one year, from summer 1899 to winter 1908. The company which produced these beautiful textiles was, at that time, only an acronym: “H W & C.”, but it is very likely that it was a company from the Vosges, or rather, Alsace. The following book, stamped “E K” (initials which do not reveal the company name, but could be those of “Edouard Koechlin” from Lörrach in Germany, just across the River Rhine), covers the period of winter 1904 – summer 1909.
In 1883, Edouard Czeizorzinski had taken over the historical bookshop-stationers belonging to Eugène Jung and 20 years later, he had more than 20 employees who carried out the printing and papermaking, producing all types of registers. After the First World War, there were two establishments, and more than 80 employees. It is therefore no surprise that other important businesses turned to him, such as “Koechlin & C.”. It is difficult to establish which specifically was the Koechlin & C. amongst the galaxy of textile companies within one of the most important industrial dynasties of Europe, if not of the world. The Koechlins, over the past two hundred years, had invented machines and hydraulic systems; they had designed the Eiffel Tower (Maurice Koechlin, a naturalised Swiss, was the true technical father of the Tower, Gustave Eiffel was “only” his boss, and it was exactly this Maurice Koechlin who, in 1893 became one of the directors of the “Compagnie des établissements Eiffel”); they had composed great music (Charles Koechlin was the director of the Paris Conservatory, and collaborated with Ravel and Debussy); and they had created a printed-textile giant such as “KBC Manufaktur Koechlin, Baumgartner & Cie. GmbH”, also with its headquarters in Lörrach.
As the winner of the award “Atelier de reliures” Czeizorzinski offered “régistres, carte d’échantillons, encadrement et cartonnage, fournitures de bureaux et articles de dessins et d’écoles”. The bindings could also be “de luxe” and, as with all self-respecting companies, it kept reference models for its paper products: customers only had to give the article code to be provided with the same supplies without any interruption. Optimal service for textile companies which, in order to archive their samples, had to be able to rely on visual homogeneity over long periods.

The house of Czeizorzinski remained in business for a long time and in 1953 was still employing approximately 15 people. One of the main values of the collection of sample books in Pratrivero is not only witnessing the history of the Vitale Barberis Canonico wool mill, but also of other companies connected with it, often with very wide chronological and geographical horizons.

This is certainly a different point of view from which to study the tomes full of pieces of fabric. It is like understanding the spirit of the painting by studying its frame, but one should never underestimate the frame. If the wonderful fabrics by “Koechlin & C” had been preserved in ugly sample books, perhaps we would appreciate them less now. Edouard Czeizorzinski was aware of his contribution towards the creation of the (good) impression of these prestigious factories, from which he received significant commissions. In reality, at the distance of more than a century, his creations in paper are still in excellent condition, as are the fabrics they protect.