This satirical cartoon, originally published in 1861 for the French journal L’Illustration, perfectly captures the hysteria of collecting carte de visite photographs, a trend which began in the early 1860s and which later became known as Cartomania. Drawn by the artist Bertall, (Albert d’Arnoux) the aristocratic gentleman at center (the fictitious Arthur De Gandinenville) hands out carte de visite portraits of himself to an eclectic and adoring crowd holding out their cdv albums in anticipation. Although not directly identified, the mustachioed subject at the center of the composition bears a striking likeness to the French Emperor himself, Napoleon III, (1808-1873) with even a dog at his feet getting in on the action.

As it turned out, Napoleon III was directly responsible for this first mass “craze” in boosting photography’s reach to a larger audience. It was none other than the Emperor’s own court photographer, André Eugène Adolphe Disdéri (1819-1890) who received official credit, in 1854, for the cdv, when he took out a patent for the process. Later, in May of 1859, before he went off into battle, the French Emperor visited Disdéri’s studio and the resulting portraits would be a critical reason  “Cartomania” became that craze, with many thousands of cdv’s sold of his likeness. (1.)

Under Bertall’s pen, L’Illustration published a full page of what were titled: Portraits- Cartes De M. Arthur De Gandinenville, photographiés par Bertall. Translated: Portraits- Cards of Mr. Arthur De Gandinenville, photographed by Bertall. These included the main drawing (our albumen cdv shown) and eight additional cartoon views of “Mr. Gandinenville” by the artist, giving an eclectic collecting opportunity reflecting a wide range of poses to be had for the many social situations he might have found himself in. Below is a screen grab of the original 1861 page from L’Illustration. Thanks to Cartomania, Bertall gave the public a sly commentary and handy guide to the many solutions cdv’s could offer the refined gentleman for every occasion!

Albert d’Arnoux, aka Bertall, photographer and cartoonist. L’Illustration, 6 April 1861, p. 221. From: The University of California

Top cartoon:

1. N’oubliez pas mon Album, s’il vous plait! | Please don’t forget my Album!

Below: left to right:

2. Pose élégante mêlée de déférence et d’un certain enjouement respectueux. – Pour T’Album de Mme de C*** qui donne des diners, des bals, et tient un assortiment de jolies dots à marier. translated: An elegant pose mixed with deference and a certain respectful playfulness. – For The Album of Madame de C***, who hosts dinners and balls, and carries an assortment of pretty dowries for marriage.

3. Pose de jeune homme ‘piocheur et d’a-venir.-Pour l’Album de son chef d’admimistration.  translated: Pose of a young man, ‘digger and future’. -For the album of his head of administration.

4.  Pose empreinte ‘d’une gaieté sans pruderie et d’un aimable abandon. ~ Pour l’Album de Mme de Saint-Phar ou pour celui de Mlle B***, des Délassements.  translated: Pose marked by ‘a gaiety without prudishness and a kind abandonment. ~ For the Album of Mme de Saint-Phar or for that of Mlle B***, of Délassements.

5. Pose rêveuse’|et mélancolique. – Pour l’Album d’une jeune veuve.  translated: Dreamy and melancholic pose. – For the Album of a young widow.

Bottom row: left to right:

6. Pose victorieuse. ‘Pour l’Album de Mme X*** dont le mari fait partie de l’expédition de Chine.  translated: Victorious pose. ‘For the Album of Mrs. X***, whose husband is part of the China expedition.

7. Pose de jeune homme blessé… de ne pouvoir remplir tous ses devoirs envers la patrie et la garde nationale.    translated: Pose of a young man wounded… of not being able to fulfill all his duties towards the fatherland and the national guard.

8. Pose indiquant une indifférence marquée et un sans-gène de bon goût. – Pour l’Album de messieurs les fournisseurs.  translated: A pose indicating marked indifference and a lack of good taste. – For the Album of Gentlemen Suppliers.

9. Pose remplie de bonhomie, d’enjouement gracieux el de sérieuses promesses. – Pour l’Album de son portier.  translated: A pose filled with bonhomie, graceful playfulness, and serious promises. – For his porter’s album.

Charles Albert d’Arnoux, aka: Bertall: 1820-1882

The following biography courtesy of Paul Frecker’s The Library of Nineteenth-Century Photography

‘Bertall’ was the pseudonym of the draughtsman, wood engraver, lithographer and illustrator Vicomte Albert d’Arnoux, Comte de Limoges-Saint-Saëns. He took the name – an approximate anagram of his forename – at the suggestion of Honoré de Balzac. He studied painting under Drolling but soon began working as an illustrator and caricaturist, probably at the suggestion of Balzac, later emerging as one of the most prolific graphic artists of the second half of the nineteenth century. He was chosen by the publishing house Barba to illustrate popular editions of the works of Fenimore Cooper, Paul de Kock, Alphonse Karr and others, and is reputed to have engraved some 3600 plates for Barba alone. He also contributed to many journals and drew a certain number of posters. From 1842 to 1855 he collaborated on illustrating the complete works of Balzac. From 1855 until the mid-1860’s he collaborated with the photographer Hippolyte Bayard in a photographic studio, the primary business of which was carte-de-visite portraiture. From 1869 to 1870 he edited the review Le Soir and in April 1871, during the Commune, he founded the satirical journal Le Grelot, which attacked the Communards. His reactionary views were further expressed in the illustrated Types de la Commune (Paris, 1871). In 1875 he received the Croix de la Légion d’Honneur.

Background: Cartes-de-visites & Cartomania

The following courtesy of the Anne S. K. Brown Military Collection at Brown University Library Center for Digital Scholarship–Prints, Drawings and Watercolors:

Photography was invented in 1839, but only in the 1850s did an overwhelming demand for photographic portraits spur the invention of the carte-de-visite. This small (approximately 4 x 2½ in.) photograph takes its name from the French term for calling card. Many have claimed to have invented the carte-de-visite photograph, but it was Napoleon III’s court photographer, Andre A. E. Disderi (1819-1890), who took out a patent in November of 1854 and was subsequently credited with its invention. The carte-de-visite was introduced in England in 1857 by the London branch of the French photography studio A. Marion and Company. Its popularity was almost instantaneous. Technical advances in photography and its increasing availability made it a novelty almost anyone could afford. The carte-de-visite appealed to aristocrats as well as the middle and lower classes. In the 1860s the fad, dubbed “cartomania,” was at its peak: everyone collected the cartes of royalty, celebrities, war heroes, friends and families members, the result being the carte-de-visite album.

Photographic historian Paul Frecker’s 2024 volume Cartomania: Photography and Celebrity in the Nineteenth Century gives a nice summation of this photographic craze:

Cartomania was a photographic phenomenon that seized the public imagination at the beginning of the 1860s. Small portraits, dubbed cartes de visite, were avidly exchanged with friends and family, quickly earning a reputation as ‘the paper currency of social intercourse’. Compiled into albums and prominently displayed in the home to peruse, assess and discuss, this first explosion of commercial portraiture proved a wildly popular craze, particularly once celebrities embraced the new format.

See also for background: Cartomania: Collecting Cartes de Visites and Cabinet Cards by author and collector Ron Cosens, the founder member of the Photographic Collectors Club of Great Britain in 1977. Article first published in 2003/2 in Photographica World: download link(s)

1. Excerpt: Denis Pellerin: NAPOLEON III: HIS USE OF PHOTOGRAPHY AND STEREOSCOPY FOR POLITICAL PURPOSES, Brian May Archive of Stereoscopy, photography Historian: 2023: INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL ON STEREO & IMMERSIVE MEDIA, Vol. 7 No. 1 18 pp. 16-43: “Napoleon III did have several photographic portraits taken just before leaving for the battlefield, but the actual sitting took place the day prior to his departure, on 9 May 1859. His visit to Disdéri’s studio, in the company of the Empress and of his son and heir was not some whimsical decision but a calculated publicity stunt that would ensure that he would still be “present” in the minds of the French people while being physically hundreds of miles away from France. It was a kind of “Now you see me, now you don’t” but with a twist: “you can actually still see me, in photographs”. p. 25