A visiting card or a calling card was a small, decorative card that was carried by individuals to present themselves to others. It was a common practice in the 18th and 19th century, particularly among the upper classes, to leave a visiting card when calling on someone.
Visiting card of Johann van Beethoven, brother of Ludwig van Beethoven
Visiting card of Kaiser Wilhelm
Visiting card of Louis Adrien Huart, caricaturist for Le Charivari
Visiting card of Antonín Langweil
The carte de visite was a format of small photograph which was patented in Paris by photographer André Adolphe Eugène Disdéri in 1854, although first used by Louis Dodero.
André-Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri (May–August 1863) Schneider. Uncut, unmounted carte-de-visite albumen silver print from glass negative 18.8 x 24.3 cm (7 3/8 × 9 9/16 in.). Gilman Collection, Gift of The Howard Gilman Foundation, Metropolitan Museum of Art
Cartes de visite camera with four lenses. Engraving from D. V. Monckhoven. Traité Général Photographie Comprenant tous les Procédés Connus jusqu'à ce Jour; La Théorie de la Photographie Application aux Sciences d’Observation. 1863
1859 carte de visite of Napoleon III by Disdéri, which popularized the carte-de-visite format
One of the first cartes de visite of Queen Victoria taken by photographer John Jabez Edwin Mayall
