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Carte de Visites (CDVs) are albumen prints, usually with dimensions were 2 1/2 by 4 inches, but there were ome variations. They were mounted on a cardboard mount. The front of the card had the photograph mounted. The back of the card had the name and usually the address of the phographer, normally in an elaborate design. As the name suggests, the origins are French. One source indicates that the CDV was first introdued in 1851. I have been unable to confirm that. Another source indicates that a French photographer, André-Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri, introduce the CDV about 1854. Within a few years the CDV appeared in England. I am precicely sure when. One English collector reports tht the earliet English CDV he has dates to 1859. We do not believe that large numbers of CDVs appeared until about 1860. This appears to be about the same time that CDVs began to appear in America. We tend to note substantial numbers of CDVs appeaing in America about 1861. The CDV was dominant from about 1860-66, but with the introduction of te cabinent car in 1866 began to decline. Many preferred the large images on the cabinent card. They were also common in the 1870s, but by that time cabinent carfds had begun to replace them. CDVs did not entirely disappear until the 1910s. The CDV was a very important advance in commercial photography. Disdéri's rotating camera back allowed the photographer to make eight individually exposed images on a single negative. The images were printed on albumen paper, then cut apart and glued onto mounts about the size of calling cards. The new camera and procedure permitted multiple images to be taken very quickly. Even more important, negatives were produced in the process, unlike daguereotypes. Negatives could be used to produce any number of prints desired. The studios usually kept the negatives on file so customers could order more photos for friends and family when ever they wanted. Some of these studio archives have been preserved and are wonderful historical records. These multiple printings also meant that photographers could sell images of celeberties to the public and collecting these images became a popular hobby. The CDVs were reasonably priced and families could collect large numbers of images over time. Soon enterprising shops were offering albums specifically designed to hold small CDV cards. Different families had various approaches. The albums wre usually kept by the mother. Some were just the immediate fmily. Others included the extended family. Still others might add celeberity CDVs such as President Lincoln, Queen Victoria, or the Emperor Napolon. Other families might be more likely to add theater actresses or opera singers.
Carte de visite is French for visiting card. In the 19th century in was popular for well-to-do people to call on friends and neigbors during the day. If the person they were visiting was not in, they would leave a card--something like a modern business card. Some individuals might leave a CDV portrait giving rise to the use of the term for this style of prints.
As the name suggests, the origins are French. The French a major role in the early history of photography. The CDV first appeared in France, although the precise date is not entirely clear. One source indicates that the carte-de-viste or CDV was first introduced in 1851. I have been unable to confirm that. Another source indicates that a French photographer, André-Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri, introduce the CDV about 1854. [Mace] He did receive a patent at this time. His patent was for a camera which could expose 8 negatives on an 8 x 10 inch plate. The CDV may have been first introduced in the United States in 1859. We do not yet have details as to just who did this. Existing studios had to but new equipment and train staff. The advantages of the albumen process and CDV caused this to happen rather quickly. We do not notice large numbers of American CDVs until about 1862. This of course was the Civil War Era (1861-65). Few introductions were so timely. The soldiers going off to war wanted photographs of their loved ones and the family wanted a portrait of their father, sons, and brothers. This no doubt stimulated the photographic industry. And CDVs as it was based on a negative, unlike Dags and Ambro, could be reproduced in multiple copies. they could also easily and safely be sent through the mail. The low cost of a CDV was another stimulus. The result was a vast expansion in the number of photographic images during the 1860s.
CDVs were made in the millions. Many have survived to the modern day. Some have survived in albums or other famoly collections. Other have names and or dates on the back. Many today have no inscriptions an=d survive without any provinance, only the name anf lovation of the photographer.
A CDV was an albumen print. This was a negative-based process also used for cabinent cards. The thin paper was sensitized with a silver nitrate solution. This involved egg whites which explains the term "albumen". The sentitized paper is then exposed to a negative through a "printed-out"process. The image is produced by the light exposure without any chemical bath to develop abd desinthesize the nitrate salts. This made it highly suspectible to fadeing. Old photograph collectors are very familiar with badly faded albumen CDVs and cabinent cards. As it was produced from a negative, multiple copies could be ordered. This was a major advantage over Daguerreotypes amd ambrotypes and as the image was printed on paper, it was not only less expensive, but much easier to store collections in albums.
The CDV usually had a standard size of 2½ x 3½-4 inches, but there were some variations. The standardization was common, in part so that the portraits readilly fit into the albums made for them.
CDVs like cabinent cards were thin-paper prints mounted on a thick cardstock mount. The front of the card had the photograph paisted on the mounted. The actual print was on much less substantuial photogaphic paper than is the case with modern print. Thus the mount was necessary to protect it. Many CDVs, unlike cabinent cards, had no printing on the front and were completely devoted to the image. The back of the card had the name and usually the address of the phographer, normally in an elaborate design. CDVs seem, however, much more varied than cabinent cards. We note some photographers who put there name on the front, but much more plainly than was common with cabinent cards. This may have varied chronologically. We have also noted some CDVs in the 1880s with fronts much like cabinnt cards. We also notice some CDVs with elaborately styled fronts. These are almos all 20th century CDVs. Some German CDVs printed in the early 20th century before World War I, for example, had Art-deco styling. Some collectors consider these to be really attractive little objects.
The chronological time-line for CDVs varies somewhat from country to country. THe precise date the first CDV was created is unceratin. I am not sure where the CDV was first developed. It appears to have been France in the 1850s. One English collector reports that the earliet English CDV he has dates to 1859. The CDV was dominant from about 1859-66 [Mace]. After 1866 it had to compete with the larger csabinent card format. We do not believe that large numbers of CDVs appeared until about 1860, at least in England. This appears to be about the same time that CDVs began to appear in America. We tend to note substantial numbers of CDVs appeaing in America about 1861. The earliest American CDVs we have archived on HBCs is matching cards of two Philadelphis brothers in 1862. With the introduction of the cabinent card in 1866 the importance of the CDV slowly began to decline. Many clients preferred the larger image on the cabinent card. CDVs were also common in America during the 1870s, but by the 1880s cabinent cards had begun to replace them. CDVs appaer to have remained popular longer in Europe. A German reader reports, "I do not really think that there was a time of more Cabinet Cards than CDVs. CDV-format is neat and handy and not so expensive, perfect for swapping
(very popular). And I have never seen an photo album just for Cabinet Cards. What I see are CDV albums or albums for with lots of places for CDVs and less places for
Cabinet Cards." CDVs did not entirely disappear until the 1910s. CDVs were still being made in Germany right up to the start of the World War I in 1914. You rarely find them in the United Kingdom. however, much after 1905.
The CDV was a very important advance in commercial photography. Disdéri's rotating camera back allowed the photographer to make eight individually exposed images on a single negative. The images were printed on albumen paper, then cut apart and glued onto mounts about the size of calling cards. The new camera and procedure permitted multiple images to be taken very quickly. Even more important, negatives were produced in the process, unlike daguereotypes and similar processes. Negatives could be used to produce any number of prints desired. A photographer could take multiple images and the client pick the ones she or he liked best. The major advantage of a negative was, however, that the negative could be used to inexpensively print multiple copies of the same inage. This permitted the client to order multiple copies to send to friends and family.
The CDV first developed in France rapidly spread throughout Europe, rapidly replacing Daguerreotypes and ambrotypes. It was the dominany portrait type througout Europe through the the later part of the 19th century (1860-1900). It was introduced to the Unites States about 1859 and also rapidly replaced dags and ambros. The cabinent larger cabinent card appeared in 1866 and rapidly replaced the CDV. We are not sure why the CDV persisted so long in Europe, but was largely replaced so quickly in America. CDVs are relatively rare in America by the 1880s, but were still common in Europe. There were still made in Europe after the turn-of-the 20th century, but were rapidly being replaced by other formats.
It should be stressed that the CDV was a print produced by a negative. That negative could be used to produce prints in different formats, including both CDVs and cabinent cards. We assume that photographers generally stopped offering daguereotypes once they began producing CDVs. Newer photographers probably did bot even bother with daguereotype equipment. Many photographers, after cabinent cards appeared, seem to have offered their customers either CDVs or cabindnt cards. Presumably thre cabinent cards because they were larger were a little more expensive. We know of some photographers who offered all formats. A photographer had to have the mounts the images were pasted on printed with his name, address, and any publicity he wished to add. So photographers would continue to offer these formats only so long as they remained popular with the public and jutified having the stock mounts printed. We would assume that most people would want the larger sized cards. This was not, however, always the case. One reader speculates, "It might be a question of price, perhaps Cdvs were all that the 'working
class' people could afford." We are not sure about that. We have noted plenty of cabinent cards with images of working-class families, although not to be sure of the desperately poor. Conversely we have also noted many CDVs portraits of wealthy people.
The studios usually kept the negatives on file so customers could order more photos for friends and family when ever they wanted. Some of these studio archives have been preserved and are wonderful historical records. This was not possible with Daguerotypes. They were one shot portraits. The results went to the client and there are thus no entact collections left by early Daguereotype photographers.
Photographers played a major role in extending the popularity of celeberity. The multiple printings possible with the negatives used to make CDVs meant that photographers could sell images of celeberties to the public and collecting these images became a popular hobby. It is unclear to what extent celeberties themselves benfitted or even approved of the early sles of tgese cards. Theater and music stars eventually had cards made for sale or publicity distribution to fans. These cards were made in both the CDV and cabinet cards. Some studios even copied cards made by other studios and sold them.
We note some CDVs that have been painted over. We are not yet sure what the proper term for these portraits were. Often the background looks more like a cartoon than a photographic portrait. We first see these painted over portraits in the 1860s with CDVs, They were not very common, but we note a few. We are not entirely sure what this was done. We think there was a certain prestige associated with apainted portrait. Perhaps this is why these painted over portraits were done. I am not sure about the pricing.
The CDVs were reasonably priced, much less expensive than a Daguerotype. In addition a photographer could take multiple images which could be inexensively printed. Once cabinent cards were developed, many photographers continued offering CDVs. Presumably the smaller CDVs were less exoensive as they requited less photogarohic paper and chemicals. but we have few details on the prive differeence. We note that some clients ordered both CDVs and cabinent cards of the sam image. We are not precisely sure why. One HBC reader writes, "Maybe people would have
cabinet cards for their own albums and distribute CDVs to relatives and
friends." Perhaps the family album sometimes purchased years eralier dictated the choice. We believe that were factors other than price that dictated the price. We know of wealthy families that had albums of CDV portraits. A good example here is the English Capper family albun.
Soon enterprising shops were offering albums specifically designed to hold small CDV cards. Different families had various approaches. The albums wre usually kept by the mother. Some were just the immediate fmily. Others included the extended family. Still others might add celeberity CDVs such as President Lincoln, Queen Victoria, or the Emperor Napolon. Other families might be more likely to add theater actresses or opera singers. A good example of CDVs during the 1860s and 70s is an album kept by an English family in Cambridge--the Stanley.
We are constantly looking for any indicators from specific countries which may help provide clues on dates. So far we have only found one such indicator. There is one useful American indicator, albeit for only a short period. The U.S. Federal Government to help finance the Civil War approved a 3 cents tax on all photographs sold in the United States from September 1, 1864 to August 1, 1866. This is a period at the end of the War and a little over a year after the War. Because money was involved, the presence of these stamps is definitive confirmation that the stamp was used during this 2-year period. Photographers had to charge for the revenue stamp. This was only a short period, but it does help date the portraits with these stamps. The one thing we do not know is how extensively photographrs complied. Once the stamp was on there we assume that it would stay well afixed or leave a mark where it was removed. So we have a very good indicator for about a 2-year period in the mid-1860s in the northern states and areas controlled by Federal forces. The photographer was susposed to cancel the stamp by initialing it. Some may even have dates.
This site privides a lor of useful information that can be used to help dates CDVs.
We intend to develop some guidelines for dating CDVs. Here we are somewhat limited because many of the CDVs we have archived are undated. We intend to begin assessing those CDVs that are dated. One guideline is that many of the early CDVs did not have printed lettering identifying the studio. Our general assessment is that the CDVs without printing are provably from the 1860s or 70s. An example here is an undated CDV of an American boy, Dan Brown. We would guess it was taken in the 1870s. We note many different colors of mounts, lettering, and border styles. We also note square and rounded corners. We do not yet know the chronological range for these different factos, but will begin to archive the full cards in this section in an effort to devlop some chronological indicators. This is quite a complicated undertaking, in part because the trends may have varied from country to country. While we have found many different CDV mounts, the problem is tht most are not dated and we can only use dated mounts to build a reliable list of chronological indicators.
Mace, O. Henry. Collector's Guide to Early Photographs (Krause)
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