Frederick Hartmann was a London-based

postcard A postcard or post card is a piece of thick paper or thin cardboard, typically rectangular, intended for writing and mailing without an envelope. Non-rectangular shapes may also be used but are rare. There are novelty exceptions, such as wood ...

publisher, active in the UK from about 1902 to 1909. He was a leading proponent of the "divided back" style, key to its success in England, and may have produced the first divided back card in the world. Hartmann was based at 45

Farringdon Street Farringdon Road is a road in Clerkenwell, London. Route Farringdon Road is part of the A201 route connecting King's Cross to Elephant and Castle. It goes southeast from King's Cross, crossing Rosebery Avenue, then turns south, crossing C ...

, London, and had his cards printed in Saxony (now Germany), which was quite common at the time, due to there being a more advanced printing industry there. Hartmann imported glamour cards from continental Europe and was the distributor in the UK for Trenkler & Company postcards. In 1907, Hartmann was in partnership with Christian Linck of 13 Werter Road, Putney, and they were trading as "F. Hartmann", fine art publishers, at 45 Farringdon Street. Hartmann was living at 5

Bloomsbury Street Bloomsbury Street is a street in the Bloomsbury district of the London Borough of Camden that runs from Gower Street in the north to the junction of New Oxford Street and Shaftesbury Avenue in the south. Listed buildings Bloomsbury Street cont ...

. It appears that the business was bankrupt in 1907, and that Linck was also bankrupt on his own account, and that dividends were paid out until 1909. Christian Linck was born in Germany in 1858/59, was a naturalised British subject, and in 1901 was head clerk for an indigo merchant. Linck was naturalised in 1894, and lived at 13 Werter Road from at least 1892 to at least 1906. In Jennifer Speake's 2014 ''Literature of Travel and Exploration: An Encyclopedia'', Hartmann is given sole credit for the divided back. Up to 1902, the back of the postcard could only display the address, and a message had to be squeezed into any margin(s) around the image itself. In 1902, the British postal authorities were the first to allow the now-standard divided back. Other countries quickly followed, although the US quite late in 1907. F. Hartmann was no longer in business in 1909, and the remaining stock was being sold off by the postcard printer John Thridgould of 14-22 Sidney Street, off Commercial Road East.

References

Postcard publishers {{publish-stub