I have never actually seen/played a Gibson L-12 Premier (Premier being the original name used by Gibson for cutaway instruments) but not for a lack of trying. A Google search of the internet finds very few examples.
What I have learned of this rare and elusive Gibson archtop is that the L-12 was made from 1932-1955. The Premier version, with a rounded Venetian cutaway, was only produced for 2 years, between 1947 and 1949 (some shipped in 1950 but they were no longer being produced). Apparently Gibson released no production numbers for the Premier so exactly how many were built is unknown.
According to Gruhn's Guide the L-12's history begins around 1930 (though not catalogued until 1932) as a 16" wide, single bound instrument. By late 1934 it was enlarged to 17" (as was the case for most Gibson, Epiphone, D'Angelico, and Stromberg archtops, who's builders were trying for more acoustic volume to cut through the horn sections of the big bands these guitars were commonly used in).
The tailpiece changed in '37, a switch to parallel top bracing occurred in '39, and then a few more adjustments happened before the model was discontinued in 1955.
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Vintage Guitar Info has a photo of a 1948 L-12 P Here.
The best I can surmise is that the L-12 falls in between the L-7 and L-5 models. The bound pickguard makes it a bit more ornate than the L-7 but the L-5, with (among other details) it's bound f holes and multi-bound pickguard place remains a more decorative model. It's easy to guess why L-12 sales might have begun to suffer as the L-7 and L-5 gained popularity.
Another side note is that Gibson introduced the double pickup ES-350 in 1948 (produced in small numbers only until 1956) which was essentially an electric version of the L-12 P. Archtop.com has some details and pictures of this similar model here.
And there is some additional information here.
Sources: Gruhn's Guide to Vintage Guitars [book], Craig Hauser at Magoomus, and Vintage Guitar Info.
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