HERCULE Poirot once posed the question: “Why do people keep photographs?” He concluded that it was vanity, sentiment and to help solve a murder. We also now collect them avidly.
The introduction of the carte-de-visite in 1854 brought affordable portrait photography into people’s homes, with the mysteries of the world being systematically photographed and made available in a way previously unknown.
The public seized on the carte-de-visite with great enthusiasm and at the height of its popularity, known as cartomania, between 300 million and 400 million cartes were sold, leaving a wonderful legacy of Victorian society, although sadly many of these enchanting photographs were destroyed as worthless.
The book explains how to date the images and how to go about beginning a collection at relatively little cost – the authors have been collecting cartes for over 15 years and have a 5000-strong collection.
Victorians in the picture
Victorian Cartes-de-Visite by Robin and Carol Wichard, published by Shire Publications. ISBN 0747804338. £7.99
