The Disderi CDV of Napoleon III 1859
The Carte de Visite
or CDV as collectors know them

This photographic format dates from the 1850s

and lasted even into the time of postcards

Preface

This picture shows an enlarged view of the CDV which launched a collecting craze. It is the French ruler, Napoleon III, portrayed by Andre Disderi in 1859. Disderi had been producing such cards since 1854, but his portraits of royalty gave him his great successes.

Origins of the CDV

Various early photographers have claimed to invent the CDV. Its concept was based upon the earlier format of visiting cards which were printed and left at the homes of acquaintances to indicate that the caller had visited when the householder was not at home.

The website of the Bury St Edmunds Past and Present Society is in no doubt about the origin of the CDV, and states,

"The carte-de-visite is a type of photograph patented in Paris by the French photographer, Andre Adolphe Eugene Disderi in 1854. It was made of an albumen print, a thin paper photograph, mounted on thicker paper card measuring 64mmx100mm. Disderi had developed a method of producing multiple images on a single glass plate, and a format for mounting the images on small cards, making them relatively inexpensive to produce. He called them "cartes-de-visite", as they were small enough to be used as visiting cards. "

Cartes de visite consist of a print stuck to a card mount of about 4 ⅛" x 2 ½" in size. The prints were mostly albumen and, later, emulsion based printing-out-paper. Other processes, including carbon and Woodburytype, were also used.


A CDV viewer or enlarger
 		A craze is born!

Bury Past and Present website again:-
"The new technology gained widespread publicity when, in 1859, Disderi published a photograph of Emperor Napoleon III in this format, and thousands flocked to buy copies of the image. Overnight a new craze was born, as people began to collect photographs of the celebrities of the day, and to share images of their friends and relatives. "

Cartes de visite considerably reduced the cost of having a portrait taken and made it within reach of most people, as a result there was a dramatic increase in the number of studio photographers. They also started a collecting craze, which was facilitated by the fact that all CDVs had a standardised format. Cartes were collected of as many of one's extended family as possible. Cartes were also widely produced featuring the royal family, stage personalities and the famous.

Another lesser branch of collecting arose when topographical views of famous locations were produced.


CDV forceps
 		Many cartes were kept in albums and special forceps were sold to remove the cartes through slots in the page. Optical viewers and other viewing devices were produced.

Early cartes were usually on plain mounts either white, cream or similar, with square corners. The photographer's name, if on the front of the card, was in small lettering, the reverse at this time had a restrained look to it.

Later mounts were in different colours - yellow, green, pink and black were popular, the mounts were thicker than before and had rounded corners, the mounts often had gold edges and sometimes a border around the print. The photographer's name became more prominent and the reverse of the card carried an elaborate design. A tissue guard was often attached to the mount.


St John's Church c 1866 W Spanton
 		Even in Bury St Edmunds!

"The idea was soon taken up by local photographers, notably William Spanton and J W Clarke. Both men, born in 1823 had established themselves as commercial photographers in Bury St Edmunds in 1860’s and were keen to broaden the range of their work. "

In fact, it may have been the existence of the cheap CDV process that encouraged them to think that there was a ready mass market which could be more profitable than the occasional portrait of the better off.

William Spanton took topographic views as well as portraits. This CDV from about 1866 shows St John's Church, consecrated in 1842, in Bury. Note the absence of Orchard Street houses as well as the houses and shops called St John's Angle dated to 1880, and the Lathbury Institute of 1896.

Lifespan of the CDV

Thousands of cartes-de-visite were produced up to the 1880’s and were later supplanted by slightly larger versions, called ‘Cabinet Cards’. The craze for collecting picture postcards would reduce the demand for the CDV slightly after 1894, and more greatly after 1902, until by 1906 postcard collecting became a national obsession.


Holmes stereo viewer
 		Stereo Scopes - a forgotten fad

Steroscopic viewers had been around since at least Sir Charles Wheatstone's invention of 1838. David Brewster added lenses to the idea in 1849, but the most popular viewer came from Oliver Wendell Holmes in 1861. Holmes refused to patent his device and so it became cheaply and widely available.


W Spanton's stereo view of Hardwick House
 		A few examples of stereoscopic pictures survive, but these are today mainly a curiosity. William Spanton himself produced topographic views in this format. The requirement for a special viewer to produce the 3D effect has meant that there are very few collectors of this format today.

Common stereoscopic sizes were as follows:

  • 7 ¼" x 4 ½"
  • 6 ¾" x 3 ¼", Adopted as a standard at the 1891 Photographic Congress
  • 6 ½" x 4 ¼", Double quarter-plate
  • 8" x 5"
  • 7 ½" x 5"

This article was written by David Addy to illustrate how the collector of CDVs pre-dated the collector of postcards.
Go to Photography Homepage Created 27th April 2019
Last updated 3rd May 2019		 Go to Main Home Page