Well, it has finally arrived, the book that carte de visite collectors have been expecting all their lives.
CARTOMANIA by Paul Frecker (September Publishing, 2024) is a thumping good read – 474 pages and over 500 wonderful illustrations. Frecker calls it a labour of love, but it is so much more. The text is written with dry humour and evident expertise, amply quoting the sort of documentation you would find, perhaps, in the British Library after many months, or even years of arduous searching. Indeed, this marvellous tome brings to light a world of evidence from period journals and newspapers to chart the spectacular rise and the eventual fall of the gleaming star which brought photography to the general public, altering and moulding tastes and habits as no earlier photographic process had done. I was particularly impressed by the chapters and illustrations relating to Death and Mourning, Copyright and Piracy, and Origins, but there are chapters for all, paying careful attention to Photographers, The Sitting, Royalty, Courtesans, Armchair Travellers, and so on. The illustrations are taken from the extensive and extraordinary collection of the author, which ought to be preserved for the nation.
While waiting for the nation to wake up, buy the book!
