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562 M. MAITBE AND HIS WORKSHOPS.
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
" If You Stop At Dijon, Be Sure And See ...
question " for good or for evil , " because in this point of industrial organization are involved consequences of the most momentous
importance to our race , far exceeding the sphere of a single master , a single town , or even a single branch of trade or manufacture .
Passing through the ancient town of Dijon , from the railway station on one side , to the moat and ramparts beyond the
Porte Neuve on the other , the pedestrian ( for there are no fiacres in the streets even during the rainiest weather ) finds himself before a
large new building , standing back in a vast court . It is not very high , and is lighted by large handsome windows , and over the
large door , in shining gilt letters new clock , is inscribed , with , a " face Ateliers so clean d'Ant that oine it Maitre with looks . " as clear A if
• newly washed with soap and water , strikes the hours a metallic ring , which assures the ears that it , at least , never loses a minute
. I arrived at half-past three , at which hour all the _workpeojDle are absent at dinner , and I had to wait in the porter ' s lodge for half an
hour , whence I watched the workpeople slowly assembling : boys in blue blouses talking and playing in groups ; women in neat white
respectabl caps with y p clothed laited frills , some , c in oming coats , in some twos in and blouses threes . Presentl ; and men y a little very
carriage drove into the court , wherein sat a stout , good-tempered gentlemanand a much younger ladywith just the same type of
face , broad , , intelligent , and smiling , . These were the master , Monsieur Antoine Maitre , and his married daughter , Madame Leclerc .
Her husband and her little boy were also of the party . I presented letterand was cordially welcomedand shown over the whole
my establishment , , benefiting likewise by a , very long conversation with Madame Leclerc on the state of the working classes ; than whom no
woman is more competent to give an opinion , so far as relates to France .
Monsieur Antoine Maitre is a master binder ; a maker of portfoliosporte monnaiespocket-bookswriting-cases and albums , and the
proprietor , of large editions , of standard , religious works , _auch as the prayer-books used by hundreds of thousands in France _, which he
binds in various leathers , and with the most beautiful and elegant designs . He supplies Paris and the provincesand even sends largely
, to London . His works have been created entirely by himself ; he has developed the art of binding into a manufacture , according to
what he himself terms "le progres de rindustrie , " and he has lished his purpose with consummate success .
accomp Monsieur Maitre began life as a journeyman binder , working in a small way for a master employing a few hands , as is customary in
this trade . He married early , and presently obtained a workshop of his own . Madame Maitre was also engaged in the business , and
worked regularly with her husband . He took in "jobs" of all kinds ; re-binding a lady ' s prayer-book , making purses , mending
writingcases , and was in all respects one of the working classes .
562 M. Maitbe And His Workshops.
562 M . MAITBE AND HIS WORKSHOPS .
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Citation
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English Woman’s Journal (1858-1864), Aug. 1, 1861, page 362, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ewj/issues/ewj_01081861/page/2/
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