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| 1. |  | André Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri 1858-1862 Disdéri self-portrait Carte de visite Paul Frecker The probable inventor of the carte-de-visite, Disdéri received a patent for the process from the French government on 27 November 1854, and was certainly responsible for popularising the craze. Remembered for having been the first to establish photography as a business as well as an artistic craft, his contemporaries considered him the outstanding portrait photographer in France. Although at the height of his career he was reputed to be earning a phenomenal 48,000 a year, in January 1872 he filed for bankruptcy. He subsequently found new backers and re-established a studio, at first in Paris and then at various addresses in Nice during the 1880's. For some reason, around 1888 or 1889, he left the agreeable climate of Nice and returned to Paris. He died on 4 October 1889 at the age of seventy, in the Hôpital l Sainte-Anne, an institution for indigents, alcoholics and the mentally ill. |
| 2. |  | André Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri 1858-1862 Disdéri self-portrait Carte de visite Paul Frecker |
| 3. |  | André Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri 1858-1859 Napoléon III Carte de visite Paul Frecker Legend has it that photography is indebted to Napoléon III for the success of the carte-de-visite. Although the carte camera was patented by Disdéri in 1854, the craze supposedly didn't take off until the Emperor, while leading his army to war in Italy, stopped off to have his portrait taken in the new format at Disdéri's studio on the Boulevard des Italiens. Unfortunately, the story is apocryphal. Research has shown not only that the departing French army did not pass down the Boulevard des Italiens, but also that it left Paris late in the evening when there was not enough natural light for any photographer to operate. |
| 4. |  | André Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri 1858-1859 Empress Eugénie Carte de visite Paul Frecker While Winterhalter painted her in the low-cut evening dresses concocted for her by Worth, photographs of Eugénie depicted her as a demure, well-dressed woman. As the wife of the head of state, she was expected to embody the virtues of Second Empire womanhood, while promoting French fashions and fabrics. The modest, introverted poses she invariably adopted for her official photographs were inspired by the fashion plates of the day. |
| 5. |  | André Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri 1858-1859 The Imperial family Carte de visite Paul Frecker Napoléon III grasped the power of manipulating his public image through visual propaganda, and firmly embraced the medium of photography. Despite his string of mistresses, he presents himself here as the apogee of bourgeois respectability and moral probity, the archetypal family man. |
| 6. |  | André Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri 1858-1859 The Prince Imperial Carte de visite Paul Frecker Born on 16 March 1856, the Prince Imperial appears to be about two or three years old in this photograph. The military uniform that he wears symbolizes the commitment of his father's regime to military strength. The costume is therefore not only 'cute' and amusing, but also part of a campaign of political propaganda. |
| 7. |  | André Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri 1858-1859 The Prince Imperial Carte de visite Paul Frecker |
| 8. |  | André Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri 1858-1859 The Empress Eugénie and the Prince Imperial Carte de visite Paul Frecker |
| 9. |  | André Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri 1859-1861 Prince Jérôme Carte de visite Paul Frecker In 1807 Prince Jér¶me Bonaparte was created King of Westphalia by his brother, Napoléon I. After the fall of the First Empire he began a long exile in Germany, Austria and Italy. When the Empire was restored, his nephew Napoléon III recognized him as a Prince of the Blood, granted him an enormous allowance and showered honours on him and his children. Overwhelmed with marks of favour and raised to a state of fortune beyond their wildest dreams, the ex-king and his family proved far from grateful to the Emperor and were always all too ready to denounce him as a usurper occupying the place that should, they thought, have been theirs. The ex-king died 24 June 1860 and was buried in Les Invalides. |
| 10. |  | André Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri 1859-1861 Princess Mathilde Carte de visite Paul Frecker Born at Trieste in Italy and raised in Florence and Rome, Princess Mathilde was at one time engaged to her cousin, the future Napoléon III. However, in 1840 she married the wealthy Russian Prince Demidov, who treated her so badly, insulting her and striking her in public, that Tsar Nicholas I eventually ordered him to live apart from his wife and pay her a handsome allowance. Under the Second Empire, she held a well-reputed literary and artistic salon, while maintaining ties with the Imperial court in St. Petersburg. After the death of her first husband in 1870, she married Claudius Marcel Popelin, an erudite artist, enameller, bibliophile and poet. At the beginning of the 20th century, the Princess, holding semi-royal court in her Paris mansion, remarked of her uncle Napoléon I to Marcel Proust 'If it weren't for him, I'd be selling oranges in the streets of Ajaccio.' |
| 11. |  | André Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri 1859-1861 Prince Napoléon and Princess Clothilde Carte de visite Paul Frecker Prince Napoleon Joseph Charles Paul Bonaparte was the troublesome cousin of Napoleon III and the implacable enemy of the Empress Eugenie. Known in the family by the pet name of 'Plom-Plom' because he had been a round, fat baby, the name passed into general use by journalists and the public, who spelt it 'Plon-Plon'. In 1858, he married the daughter of Victor Emmanuel II, King of Sardinia and later of a unified Italy. The marriage was a political alliance, designed to strengthen French ties with Italy, but the match profoundly shocked Europe. Clothilde was sixteen, described variously by her contemporaries as 'dull', 'simple', and most often, 'pious'. Her intended husband was a physically repellent, amoral atheist, a good twenty years older than his bride. Lord Cowley remarked that 'It is positively horrible to see that poor little frail creature by the side of that brute - I can call him nothing else - to whom she has been immolated'. His pity was wasted. Utterly self-contained and endowed with a sullen superiority, she remained emotionally detached, secluded behind the armour of her piety. She appeared more and more rarely at the splendid entertainments at the Tuileries, which was just as well, since her humourless and priggish nature cast a damper over any festivity. |
| 12. |  | André Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri 1859-1861 Princess Clothilde Carte de visite Paul Frecker When the Imperial family fled France in 1871, Clothilde was the last to leave the Tuileries, a departure she achieved not without a certain panache. Despising all commoners, especially mobs, she spurned the thought of any danger and left in an open carriage, one bearing her own arms and escorted by outriders, heading without a second thought towards the most crowded boulevards leading to the Porte d'Italie. The mob was so taken aback by this display of sublime courage, not to mention such a show of total indifference to surroundings and circumstance, that passage was made for her carriage, and frequent cries of 'There goes a brave woman!' could be heard. |
| 13. |  | André Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri 1863-1864 Prince Victor and nurse Carte de visite Paul Frecker Plon-Plon's elder son, Prince Victor Napoléon, was born Napoléon Victor Jér¶me Frédéric at Meudon on 18 July 1862. Prince Victor was eight when the Second Empire fell and he went into temporary exile with the rest of his family. However, he was allowed to return to France in 1874, and in 1881 completed his studies at the lycée Charlemagne. In 1884, the support of an important group of young Bonapartists, who favoured Prince Victor over his father as Imperial pretender to the throne after the death of the Prince Imperial (whose will had specifically by-passed the father in favour of Prince Victor), caused a schism in the Bonapartist camp between "Jeromists" and "Victorians". After the death of his father in 1891, Prince Victor became the sole head of the Bonapartist party. |
| 14. |  | André Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri 1859-1861 Comtesse de Montijo Carte de visite Paul Frecker Born Dona Manuela Kirkpatrick, her mother was French and her father a rich Scottish merchant who had moved to Spain and settled in Malaga. She married Don Cipriano de Montijo on 15 December 1817 at the age of twenty-three. The couple's first child was not born until seven years later; christened Francesca, she was always known as 'Paca.' The future Empress of the French was born the following year. |
| 15. |  | André Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri 1859-1860 Duchess of Alba Carte de visite Paul Frecker The Empress Eugenie's sister, Maria Francesca Palafox y Kirkpatrick, was known as 'Paca' within the family. In 1844 she became the wife of the Duke of Alba, the highest-ranking noble in Spain. She died in Paris on 16 September 1860. |
| 16. |  | André Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri 1859-1860 Duke of Alba Carte de visite Paul Frecker Don Jacobo Luis Francisco Pablo Rafael FitzJames Stuart y de Ventimiglia , 15th duque de Alba de Tormes and Duke of Berwick, was the highest ranking noble in Spain. He married Eugenie's older sister, Paca, on 14 February 1844. |
| 17. |  | André Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri 1859-1860 Don Carlos Stuart-FitzJames Carte de visite Paul Frecker Don Carlos Stuart-FitzJames was the nephew of the Empress Eugénie. Born in Madrid on 4 December 1849, at the death of his father in 1881 he became the 16th Duke of Alba. He died in New York on 15 October 1901. |
| 18. |  | André Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri 1859-1861 Prince Joséph Bonaparte Carte de visite Paul Frecker Identified as Prince Joseph Bonaparte recto on the mount, and in Disdéri's catalogue of 1861, this is probably Prince Joseph-Lucien Bonaparte, the son of Prince Charles-Lucien Bonaparte and grandson of Prince Lucien Bonaparte. He was born at Philadelphia on 12 February 1824 and died at Rome on 2 September 1865. |
| 19. |  | André Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri 1859-1861 Princess Anne Murat Carte de visite Paul Frecker Princess Anne Murat, sister of Prince Joachim Murat, was a favourite lady-in-waiting of the Empress. On 19 December 1865 she married Antoine de Noailles, Duc de Mouchy. |
| 20. |  | André Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri 1859-1861 Duchess of Hamilton Carte de visite Paul Frecker Princess Marie Amelie Elisabeth Karoline of Baden was the daughter of the Emperor's cousin, Stéphanie de Beauharnais, Grand Duchess of Baden, and was therefore a member of the Imperial family. In 1843 she married William Alexander Anthony Archibald Hamilton, who succeeded his father and became the 11th Duke of Hamilton in 1852. In 1855 she became a Roman Catholic. The Duchess of Hamilton died on 18 October 1888 at the age of seventy. |
| 21. |  | André Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri 1859-1861 Duke of Hamilton Carte de visite Paul Frecker William Alexander Anthony Archibald Hamilton was born on 19 February 1811 in Grosvenor Place, London. In 1843 he married Princess Marie Amelie Elisabeth Karoline, daughter of the Grand-Duke of Baden. In 1852 he succeeded his father and became the 11th Duke of Hamilton. According to The Complete Peerage, "he lived chiefly in Paris or Baden, taking little interest in English politics." According to the The Days of the Dandies, he, "inherited in some measure his father's grandeeship of manner," and was the Duke whom Lord Brougham described as '"very Duke of Very Duke." On 15 July 1863, at the age of fifty-two, the Duke of Hamilton died after falling down the stairs after supper at the Maison Dorée on the Boulevard des Italiens in Paris. Queen Victoria wrote to her eldest daughter '"how shocking too is the Duke of Hamilton's death! He had I fear been drinking too much in a café at Paris! Poor thing, I feel so much for her!" |
| 22. |  | André Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri 1861-1862 Marquis of Douglas Carte de visite Paul Frecker William Alexander Louis Stephen Douglas-Hamilton, Marquis of Douglas, succeeded his father in 1863 and became the 12th Duke of Hamilton at the age of eighteen. When his cartoon appeared in Spy in 1873, the accompanying commentary informed the magazine's readers that "it is the curse of his life that he has never learnt to find pleasure in aught but idleness, [while] public affairsàappear to be the special object of his aversion." However, the same piece went on to say that in spite of these failings, "he has in him the making of a gentleman whose life should be a service to his country. All that has ever been objected to him was such follies as few untamed youths in his position would have avoidedà.in the graver matters he is a generous-minded and perfectly honourable man." According to another contemporary source, quoted in the Complete Peerage, "[h]ad he not been unweighted by any sense of responsibility and beset by all the deadly sins in a far greater degree than perhaps any other young nobleman of his standing, he might have been a strong plain man, and successful in many ways… at Christchurch he went in for boxing, as he went in later for horse-racing, yachting and other amusements… He was full bodied, of a rudely ruddy complexion, had a powerful neck, and seemed strong enough to fell an ox with his fist… He had a frankness of speech bordering on rudeness." In 1873 he married a daughter of the 7th Duke of Manchester. A daughter was born in 1884. The Duke of Hamilton died in Algiers on 16 May 1895 at the age of fifty. Since he left no male heir, the title passed to a descendant of the 4th Duke. His ten-year-old daughter, Lady Mary Louise Hamilton, inherited Brodick Castle on the Isle of Arran and later married the 6th Duke of Montrose. |
| 23. |  | André Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri 1859-1861 Monsignor Larangeria Carte de visite Paul Frecker |
| 24. |  | André Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri 1859-1861 Cardinal de Bonald, Archbishop of Lyon Carte de visite Paul Frecker Born at Millau in 1787, Louis-Jacques-Maurice de Bonald was the fourth son of celebrated statesman and philosopher the Vicomte de Bonald. Destined for the Church, he studied at Saint-Sulpice and was ordained a priest in 1811. He was first attached to the Imperial chapel and after the Restoration went to Rome as secretary to Archbishop de Presigny, who was entrusted by Louis XVIII with the task of arranging for a new Concordat. When the diocese of Puy was re-established in 1823, Bonald became its first bishop and remained there for sixteen years, until his promotion to the See of Lyons in 1839. In 1841, Pope Gregory XVI made him a cardinal. The Catholic Encyclopedia describes Cardinal de Bonald as "one of the glories of the French episcopate." His pastoral letters show him to have been pious, sympathetic, eloquent and full of zeal. Doctrinally, he contributed a large share to the final eradication of Gallicanism and Jansenism. He always took a great interest in social questions, and was never more eloquent than when appealing for help on behalf of misery, as for instance during the floods of 1840 and 1846 and the destitution of the Spanish refugees of 1842. When silk factories in Lyons were closed, he showed not only his generosity towards the needy, but also his broad sympathy for the working class in general. The mainspring of Cardinal de Bonald's life, however, was his love of the Church, which he desired first and foremost to have respected. At a national level, he was a staunch supporter of the Church's involvement in the education system, while internationally he threw the whole weight of his influence behind the Roman pontiff and the independence of the Holy See. Cardinal de Bonald died at Lyons on 25 February 1870. |
| 25. |  | André Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri 1859-1861 Monsignor de Ségur Carte de visite Paul Frecker Monsignor Gaston de Ségur began his career as a diplomat and was attached to the Embassy at Rome when, in 1842, he left his post and entered the Seminary of Saint-Sulpice to prepare himself for the priesthood. He was ordained in 1847, after which he dedicated himself to the evangelization of the people of Paris; the children, the poor, the imprisoned soldiers to whom he was a volunteer chaplain, occupied his ministry until he was appointed to be the auditor of the Rota for France at Rome. While carrying out his judicial functions there, he also conducted some political negations on behalf of Napoléon III, and earned the affection and esteem of Pope Pius IX. However, he lost his sight in 1853, and although he tried to continue to perform his duties, he resigned in 1856 and returned to Paris, where he took an apartment, with Abbé Diringer as his secretary and an ex-solider as his personal servant. He rose each day at five, heard confessions, said Mass, preached, and wrote books. The majority of his time, however, he devoted to religious works, the chief of which were the patronage of young apprentices, workingmen's societies, and military chaplaincies, and the evangelization of the suburbs of Paris. He also founded the St. Francis de Sales Association for the defence and preservation of the Faith. |
| 26. |  | André Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri 1859-1861 Monsignor Dupanloup. Bishop of Orléans Carte de visite Paul Frecker Monsignor Félix Antoine Philibert Dupanloup, was Bishop of Orléans from 1849 and one of the foremost educationalists in France. He exerted strong pressure on public policy, especially in education, and was active in securing for the Church the right to conduct voluntary schools. Later he was a strong advocate of the Pope's claims against the House of Savoy. At the First Vatican Council (1870) he strongly advised the minority, of whom he was one, to abstain from voting and to withdraw, but he loyally accepted the decisions of the Council when promulgated. |
| 27. |  | André Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri 1859-1861 Maria Cristina, Queen Regent of Spain Carte de visite Paul Frecker Maria Cristina Fernanda, Princess of Naples and Sicily, became the second wife of the childless Ferdinand VII of Spain in 1829. When he died in 1833, she acted as Queen-Regent until their three-year-old daughter, Isabel II, reached her majority. Queen Maria Cristina died at Le Havre on 22 August 1878. |
| 28. |  | André Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri 1864-1865 Empress Carlotta of Mexico Carte de visite Paul Frecker Grand Duke Ferdinand Maximilian of Austria, brother of Emperor Franz Joseph, ruled as Emperor Maximilian of Mexico from 1864 to 1867. When Napoléon III's army occupied the country, Maximilian, under the impression that he would be welcome in Mexico, accepted the position of Emperor. However, he encountered strong resistance from the deposed president Juarez. When the USA insisted on the withdrawal of the French troops, Maximilian was abandoned by his Imperial ally. Forced to assume personal command of the army, he was captured by Mexican republicans after the siege of Queretaro and executed by a firing squad. His wife Carlotta was born Marie Christine Amélie, the daughter of Leopold I, King of the Belgians. She married Maximilian in 1857 and accompanied him as Empress when he went to Mexico. After the withdrawal of French troops, she went to Europe to implore Napoléon III to restore military aid, and to beseech the Pope for help, but her mental health broke down under the strain of her failure. She never returned to Mexico, but lived on after her husband's execution for sixty unhappy years. She spent many of these in an asylum, finally dying in Belgium in 1927. |
| 29. |  | André Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri 1859-1861 Princess Josepha Fernanda de Bourbon Carte de visite Paul Frecker Born Do±a Josepha Fernanda de Borbón at Aranjuez on 25 May 1827, her older brother was Don Francisco de Asis, who married Queen Isabel II of Spain in 1846. An Infanta de gracia by dint of the fact that she was the granddaughter of a king (her father was the fourteenth and last child of King Carlos IV), she was stripped of her rank by royal edict for marrying a commoner, Don José Guell y Rente, at Valladolid on 28 June 1848. She died at Paris on 10 June 1910. |
| 30. |  | André Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri 1859-1861 Prince of Capua and family Carte de visite Paul Frecker Prince Carlo of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Prince of Capua (known as le Prince de Capoue in French), is seen here with his wife, Penelope Smyth, Contessa di Mascali. The second woman is their daughter, Princess Vittoria. Born at Palermo on 10 November 1811, Prince Carlo was the second (surviving) son of Francesco I of Bourbon-Two Sicilies and a younger brother of King Ferdinando II. On 5 April 1836 at Gretna Green in Scotland, he married morganatically Penelope Caroline Smyth, daughter of Grice Smyth of Ballynatray, Co. Waterford, Ireland. [Gretna Green was the first stagecoach stop in Scotland after the border city of Carlisle. It became popular with young lovers when the Marriage Act of 1754 made marriage under the age of 21 without parental consent illegal in England.] The couple went on to marry a further three times - in Madrid, in Rome and in England - but their union was never recognized under Sicilian law because the King of Naples, Prince Carlo's brother, withheld his consent. |
| 31. |  | André Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri 1859-1861 Prince Hohenlohe Carte de visite Paul Frecker Prince Chlodwig Hohenlohe-Schillingsfurst was German chancellor and Prussian minister-president from 1894 to 1900. As Bavarian minister-president and foreign minister, he had favoured closer union with Prussia, and after 1870 carried out the economic union of the South German states with Prussia, reorganizing their troops on the Prussian pattern. From 1885 to 1894, he was governor of Alsace-Lorraine, but was no more successful than his predecessor, Manteuffel. On Caprivi's resignation, he became German chancellor but despite his ability, he had little influence, as the Emperor preferred to act as his own chancellor and foreign minister. After his death, his son published his Denkwurdigkeiten (1907), to the fury of the Emperor. They remain an important source for German history of the period. |
| 32. |  | André Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri 1859-1861 Grand Duchess Marie of Russia Carte de visite Paul Frecker Grand Duchess Maria Nikolayevna was born at Pavlovsk on 18 August 1819, the daughter of Emperor Nicholas I of Russia and Empress Alexandra Feodorovna. She married, firstly, Maximilian de Beauharnais, 3rd Duke of Leuchtenberg, by whom she had seven children. After the death of her first husband in 1852, she married Grigori Alexandrovich, Count Stroganov (1824-1879) at St. Petersberg on 16 November 1853. By her second husband she had two more children. She died at St. Petersburg on 21 February 1876. |
| 33. |  | André Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri 1859-1861 Prince Mikhail Gortchakov Carte de visite Paul Frecker Prince Mikhail Dmitriyevich Gorchakov was a Russian military officer and statesman who played a major role in the Crimean War (1853-56) and served as the Russian viceroy in Poland (1856-61). |
| 34. |  | André Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri 1862 Princess Pauline de Metternich Carte de visite Paul Frecker Princess Pauline Metternich was the life and soul of high society during the Second Empire. A close personal friend of the Empress Eugénie, she was a constant attendant at all the balls at the Tuileries and a regular houseguest at CompiÞgne. Her memoires, published in two volumes, offer a fascinating behind-the-scenes glimpse of life at court. Possessed of exquisite taste, although unfortunately not the most beautiful of women, she was known as 'the best dressed monkey in Paris', a soubriquet she coined herself. |
| 35. |  | André Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri 1862 Prince Richard Metternich and Princess Pauline Metternich Carte de visite Paul Frecker This portrait shows Princess Pauline with her husband, Prince Richard Metternich, the Austrian ambassador to the court of Napoléon III. The carte-de-visite was copied by Degas for his portrait of the Princess (cropped at the waist, and with her husband omitted altogether) which now hangs in the National Gallery, London, one of the earliest known examples of an artist basing a painting entirely on a photograph. |
| 36. |  | André Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri 1862 Princess Pauline Metternich Carte de visite Paul Frecker Whatever Pauline Metternich did or proposed to do, her friend the Empress acceded to her every whim. 'I leave it to you, Pauline' was her usual reply to any plan for some new divertissement that Pauline suggested to alleviate the boredom of life at court. She and the Princess supposedly once set off together to see what Paris looked like from the top of an omnibus, the pair of them disguised as men, the better to climb the ladder which was at that time the only means of reaching the upper-deck. |
| 37. |  | André Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri 1862 Comte de Morny Carte de visite Paul Frecker Auguste de Morny was the son of Queen Hortense by the Comte de Flahaut, and therefore the illegitimate half-brother of Napoléon III. An important figure of the Second Empire, he gave unfailingly sound advice to the Emperor, who made him first a count and then a duke. A speculator and a man of pleasure, his salon was usually full of financial sharks and 'actresses.' However, he ran the Corps Législatif brilliantly, preparing the way for a constitutional régime. Both patronising and affectionate, he at times all but dominated his half-brother, who was a little frightened of him. Always sensitive about their relationship, the Emperor was horrified to learn that de Morny had hung a portrait of their mother in his drawing room. Early in 1853 he sent Eugénie to ask him to remove it. 'The less you boast about your parentage, the more you'll be treated as a brother,' she advised him, and they remained friends for the rest of his life. The one statesman who might have ensured the long-term survival of the Second Empire, his death (from an overdose of aphrodisiac pills, it was unkindly rumoured) was a great loss to the Emperor. 'He had it in him, if he had been honest, to have become a very great man', was the verdict of Lord Cowley, the British ambassador. |
| 38. |  | André Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri 1859-1861 Comte Walewski Carte de visite Paul Frecker Comte Alexandre-Florian-Joseph Colonna Walewski, the illegitimate son of Napoléon I and Maria, Countess Walewska, was a statesman and diplomat during the Second Empire. Born near Warsaw on 4 May 1810, at fourteen Walewski refused to enter the Russian army and escaped to London; from there he proceeded to Paris, where the French government rejected the application by the Russian authorities for his extradition. After the fall of Warsaw, he took out letters of naturalization in France and joined the French army, seeing some service in Algeria. In 1837 he resigned his commission and began to write for the stage and for the press. In 1840 he was sent by Thiers on a mission to Egypt, and under the Guizot ministry he was sent to Buenos Aires to co-operate with the British minister, Lord Howden. The accession of Louis-Napoleon to supreme power in France guaranteed his career. He was sent as envoy extraordinary to Florence, to Naples and then to London, where he announced the coup d'état to Palmerston. In 1855 Walewski became minister of foreign affairs, and he acted as French plenipotentiary at the Congress of Paris the following year. When he left the Foreign Office in 1860 it was to become minister of state, an office he held until 1863. In 1866 he was created a duke. He died at Strasbourg on 27 October 1868. |
| 39. |  | André Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri 1859-1861 Comte de Persigny Carte de visite Paul Frecker In 1832, Persigny was cashiered from the army on account of his republicanism. However, he was later converted to Bonapartism and became one of its most earnest exponents. He participated in both of Louis-Napoléon's abortive coups, the first in 1836 and the second in 1840. After Louis-Napoléon finally came to power, Persigny served twice as minister of the interior (1852-54 and 1860-63) and twice as ambassador to Britain (1855-58 and 1859-60). He was eventually dismissed for his maladroitness, but was made a duke in compensation (1863). |
| 40. |  | André Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri 1859-1861 Marshal Castellane Carte de visite Paul Frecker Born in Paris on 21 March 1788, Esprit Victor Elisabeth Boniface de Castellane enlisted in the army on the day that Napoleon I was crowned, 2 December 1804. Exactly 48 years later, on 2 December 1852, he was appointed a Marshal of France. He died at Lyon on 16 September 1862. |
| 41. |  | André Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri 1859-1861 Marshal Forey Carte de visite Paul Frecker Marshal Elie Frédéric Forey was commander of the French army in Mexico that placed the ill-fated Emperor Maximilian on the throne. Born in Paris in 1804, Forey entered the army in 1824. He took part in the earlier Algerian campaigns. He became a captain in 1835, and a colonel in 1844. During the French revolution of 1848, which deposed Louis-Philippe, he attained the rank of a general of brigade. He took an active part in the coup of 1851, which brought Napoléon III to power, and he was made a general of division shortly afterwards. He held a superior command in the Crimea War, and in the Italian campaign of 1859 distinguished himself in action at Montebello. In 1862 Forey was placed in command of the French expeditionary force in Mexico, with the fullest civil and military powers, and he crowned a successful campaign by the capture of Mexico City in May 1863, receiving as his reward a marshal's baton. From 1863 to 1867 he held high commands in France, but in later years was struck with paralysis and had to retire. Marshal Forey died in Paris on 20 June 1872. |
| 42. |  | André Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri 1859-1861 Marshal Magnan Carte de visite Paul Frecker Born in Paris on 7 December 1791 and educated at the lycée Napoléon, Bernard Pierre Magnan enlisted in the army on 25 December 1809 and rose through the ranks. In 1851 he was named commander of the army of Paris, a position he held until his death. He was promoted to the maréchalat on 2 December 1852. In 1862, by imperial decree, he replaced Prince Lucien Bonaparte as grand master of the Masonic order of France. It was the first time that the government had interfered in the nomination of grand master, and Magnan was not even a mason. He had to be initiated and passed through all the ranks in a single day, a violation of the Masonic customs and rules. This act of authority met with some resistance, but this was directed at the new principal established by the government rather than at the person of Magnan. When, in 1864, Magan obtained from Napoléon III the order's right to elect its own grand master, it was he that the order elected, by 148 votes out of 152. Maréchal Magnan died the following year, in Paris, on 29 May 1865 |
| 43. |  | André Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri 1859-1861 Marshal Canrobert Carte de visite Paul Frecker Franþois Certain Canrobert was born at St Cyr in 1809. He received his commission as a sub-lieutenant in 1828, becoming a lieutenant in 1833. After an illustrious military career serving in North Africa and a corresponding rise through the ranks, he was summoned to Paris and made aide-de-camp to the president, Louis-Napoléon, taking part in the coup d'état of 2 December 1851. He commanded a division during the Crimean War, and was twice wounded. On the death of St Arnaud, he succeeded to chief command of the French army. His horse was killed underneath him at Inkerman. Disagreements with the English commander-in-chief and disappointment over the prolonged siege of Sebastopol led to his resignation of the command. After his return to France he was sent on diplomatic missions to Denmark and Sweden, and made a marshal and senator of France (Grand Cross Legion of Honour). He saw further service in Lombardy in 1859, distinguishing himself at Magenta and Solferino. In the Franco-Prussian War he saw action at the battle of Gravelotte. After the war, Canrobert was appointed a member of the superior council of war, and was also active in political life. He died at Paris on 28 January 1895 and his remains were accorded the honour of a public funeral. His Souvenirs were published in 1898. |
| 44. |  | André Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri 1859-1861 Marshal Pélissier Carte de visite Paul Frecker Aimable Jean Jacques Pélissier was created a marshal of France in 1855 and Duc de Malakoff in 1856. He entered the army in 1815, and served in the Crimean War and in Algeria, where he dealt so severely with the Arab population, on one occasion suffocating an entire tribe in a cave where they had taken refuge, that there was a public outcry in Europe. From March 1858 to May 1859 he was French ambassador in London. In 1860 he was appointed governor-general of Algeria, and he died there on the 22nd of May 1864. Roger Fenton, who photographed Pélissier during the Crimean War, afterwards commented that "his face has an expression of brutal boldness, something like that of a wild boar." |
| 45. |  | André Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri 1859-1861 Marshal Randon Carte de visite Paul Frecker Marshal Randon was Governor-General of Algeria from 1851 to 1858, and Minister of War from 5 May 1859 to 20 January 1867. |
| 46. |  | André Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri 1859-1861 Marshal MacMahon Carte de visite Paul Frecker Marie Edmé Patrice de MacMahon, Duc de Magenta, marshal of France, became the second president of the Third Republic. He served with distinction in Algeria, the Crimea, and in 1859 in Italy, but was defeated in the war with Prussia and surrendered at Sedan (1870). He later commanded the Versailles forces against the Commune (1871), and replaced Thiers as president (1873). At first he supported the Ordre Morale, but later he tried to dissolve the National Assembly in order to halt the rise of Republicanism and bring about the restoration of the monarchy under the Comte de Chambord (1877). His failure led to his resignation in 1879. |
| 47. |  | André Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri 1859-1861 Admiral Hernoux Carte de visite Paul Frecker Claude-Charles-Etienne Hernoux was an Admiral in the French Navy. |
| 48. |  | André Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri 1859-1861 Félix Bacciochi Carte de visite Paul Frecker A relation of Prince Felice Bacciochi, the husband of the first Napoleon's eldest sister Elisa (Grand Duchess of Tuscany 1809-1814), Count Félix Bacciochi was a distant cousin of Napoléon III, and after the restoration became his social secretary and a Court chamberlain. After the fall of the Second Empire, the Tuileries papers were published in instalments, with the intention of exposing the extravagance, corruption and decay that had permeated the government and the Imperial household. Among many other revelations, which everyone had suspected anyway, these private papers showed that Count Bacciochi had acted as Napoléon III's personal pimp, facilitating his extra-marital affairs and procuring many of the Emperor's more fleeting amorous encounters. A story went round that King Victor Emanuel II of Italy when visiting Paris was once obliged to attend a performance at the Opéra. Indicating a young member of the corps de ballet he whispered in Napoléon III's ear, 'How much would that little girl cost?' 'I've no idea,' replied the Emperor, 'ask Bacciochi.' 'Sire' said Bacciochi promptly, 'for Your Majesty, five thousand francs.' 'That's damn dear,' said the King. 'Never mind,' said Napoléon turning to Bacciochi, 'put it down on my account.' |
| 49. |  | André Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri 1859-1861 Le Chevalier d'Azeglio Carte de visite Paul Frecker The Italian statesman and author Count Massimo d'Azeglio was prime minister of Sardinia-Piedmont and a leading figure in the Risorgimento. He achieved prominence in the 1830's through his historical novels, which contrasted the past glories of Italy with the existing foreign domination of the peninsula. He was a bitter opponent not only of the Austrian control of northern Italy but also of the papal secular state. Because of his essentially aristocratic outlook, he would have nothing to do with any of the revolutionary societies, believing instead that Italian governments had the best chance of achieving a united Italy. After Piedmont's defeat by Austria, the new king Victor Emmanuel II appointed Azeglio premier, with the task of rebuilding the state and the monarchy's prestige. In October 1853 he resigned and was replaced by Cavour as prime minister, after a year of mounting difficulties between them, caused by Cavour's wish to increase the tempo of reform in alliance with the liberals. Despite this, Azeglio gave generous support to Cavour's Italian policy, especially the decision to annex the papal states, although he was opposed to the annexation of Naples and Sicily, believing that they should form a kingdom separate from the rest of Italy. The Italian artist Francesco Hayez copied this photograph for his portrait of Massimo d'Azeglio, right down to the pattern of the damask on the chair upholstery. |
| 50. |  | André Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri 1859-1861 Lord Elgin and unidentified child Carte de visite Paul Frecker Born Park Lane, London on 20 July 1881, James Bruce Elgin was educated at Eton and Christ Church, Oxford. He succeeded his father as 8th Earl of Elgin on 17 November 1841, and the following year was appointed Governor-general of Jamaica. However, he found the islanders determined to disregard the rights of the recently emancipated slaves and was recalled at his own request. In 1846 he was appointed Governor-General of Canada. He left Canada in 1857 to serve in diplomatic posts in China and Japan, where he negotiated trade agreements with Great Britain. He served as Governor-General of India from 21 January 1862 until his death. He died at Dhurmsala, Kashmir on 20 November 1863. His son, the 9th Earl of Elgin, was later Viceroy of India. |
| 51. |  | André Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri 1859-1861 Duc de Gramont Carte de visite Paul Frecker The Duc de Gramont held no political office until Louis-Napoléon came to power, when he served as envoy in Kassel (1851), Stuttgart (1852), and Turin (1853). He served as ambassador to Rome (1857) and Vienna (1861), and in 1870 was suggested by the Empress Eugénie as a possible minister of foreign affairs. However, his appointment was a grave mistake, in that it was Gramont who was subsequently responsible, at least in part, for the Franco-Prussian War. It was he who required Wilhelm I to promise never to revive the Hohenzollern claim to the throne of Spain and he was one of the keenest advocates of war against Prussia after the Ems telegram. |
| 52. |  | André Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri 1859-1861 Duc de Noailles Carte de visite Paul Frecker Paul, 6th Duc de Noailles, was the great-nephew of the heirless Jean-Paul-Franþois, 5th Duc de Noailles, whom he succeeded on the latter's death in 1824. However, he did not take his seat among the peers of France until he reached his majority in 1827. A Knight of the Golden Fleece, he was also noted as an historian and a parliamentary orator. On 11 January 1849, with 25 out of 31 votes, the Duc de Noailles was elected to occupy the seat previously held by his friend and confidant Chateaubriand in the Académie Franþaise. As the seat was also contested by Balzac, who only obtained four of the votes, his election elicited an outburst of protest in the literary press. On 5 February 1823 he married Alicia Victurnienne de Rochechouart, a daughter of the 8th duc de Mortemart, who gave him two sons and a daughter. Paul de Noailles died in Paris on 29 May 1885. |
| 53. |  | André Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri 1859-1861 Duchesse de Malakoff Carte de visite Paul Frecker Marie Isabelle Sophie Andrée Franþoise de Paule Valera married Maréchal Pélissier, Duc de Malakoff, in 1858. |
| 54. |  | André Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri 1859-1861 Comtesse de Morny Carte de visite Paul Frecker The Emperor Alexander II helped to arrange the marriage of Princess Sophie Troubetskoi. a beautiful, but in court terms penniless, Demoiselle d'Honneur of the Empress, and in 1856 she married the French ambassador to Russia, the illegitimate half-brother of Napoleon III, the Comte (later Duc) de Morny, one of the most influential figures of the Second Empire. Although devoted to her husband, she disliked having to entertain on his behalf. It is said that her discovery after his death of his unburned love-letters was a shock. In 1867, she married again, this time to a cousin of the Empress, the Duke del Sesto. She died in Spain in 1896. |
| 55. |  | André Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri 1861-1862 Duchess of Sutherland Carte de visite Paul Frecker Born 21 April 1829 at Newall, Scotland, on 20 June 1849, Anne Hay Mackenzie married George Granville William Levenson-Gower, Lord Stafford, the eldest son of the second Duke of Sutherland. He succeeded as third Duke of Sutherland on 22 February 1861. The Duchess had succeeded to her father's lands in the year of her marriage, and on 21 October 1861 she was created Countess of Cromartie in her own right, with a special remainder which ensured that the title would never merge with her husband's. The Duchess was known for her liberal opinions; she opposed slavery, and in 1864 received Garibaldi, whom most of her class considered little more than a revolutionary. She served as Mistress of the Robes to Queen Victoria from 1870 to 1874. She died on 25 November 1888 at Sutherland Tower, Torquay, Devon. Her younger son, Lord Francis Levinson-Gower, succeeded her in the Earldom of Cromartie. |
| 56. |  | André Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri 1859-1861 Baron Charles de Talleyrand Carte de visite Paul Frecker Charles Angélique, baron de Talleyrand-Périgord, was a French diplomat. His most noticeable appointment was as Ambassador to St. Petersburg. On 11 June 1862 he married a Russian aristocrat, Véra Bernardaky. Disderi's catalogue published in March 1861 lists him under Sommités, describing him as ambassadeur a Turin. |
| 57. |  | André Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri 1859-1861 Franthois Guizot Carte de visite Paul Frecker The son of a Protestant family of Nimes, Franþois Guizot was educated at Geneva. He began a legal career in Paris in 1805, but soon took up literary work, later becoming a professor of modern history at the University of Paris. His lectures there formed a centre of political opposition to the Restoration. As an opposition deputy he was involved in the July Revolution of 1830 and became one of the leading exponents of the bourgeois July Monarchy of Louis-Philippe. Turning more and more to conservatism, he eventually became premier in 1847. His leadership provided a stable government, but his complacent acceptance of the established order led to his overthrow in the February Revolution of 1848, which forced the abdication of Louis-Philippe. Guizot devoted the rest of his life to writing. The best know of his works, Histoire de la Revolution d'Angleterre (6 volumes, 1826-1856), illustrates his critical approach and his devotion to original sources as well as his admiration for middle-of-the-road British revolutionism. |
| 58. |  | André Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri 1861-1862 Baron James de Rothschild Carte de visite Paul Frecker James Mayer de Rothschild was born on 15 May 1792 in Frankfurt-am-Main, Germany, the fifth son and youngest child of Mayer Amschel Rothschild. In 1811 he moved to Paris and in 1817 he expanded the family banking empire to the city, opening Rothschild FrÞres. An advisor to two Kings of France, he became the most powerful banker in the country. In addition to funding loans to European governments, Rothschild played a major role in financing the construction of the railroads and the mining business, thus contributing to the transformation of France into an industrial power. In the process, he amassed a vast personal fortune, becoming one of the richest men in the world. In 1822, he and his four brothers were created barons by Austria's Francis II, the Holy Roman Emperor. In 1868, just three months before his death, James de Rothschild purchased château Lafite, one of France's most outstanding vineyards. Located in the Bordeaux region, it is a business that remains in the family to this day. Baron James de Rothschild died on 15 November 1868. His sons Alphonse and Gustave took control of the French arm of his business empire. |
| 59. |  | André Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri 1859-1861 Baron Ferdinand de Lesseps Carte de visite Paul Frecker Vicomte Ferdinand de Lesseps was a French diplomat and friend of Sa'id Pasha, from whom he obtained a concession (20 November 1854) for the construction of the Suez Canal. Work on the monumental project began in 1859 and was finally completed in 1869. The success of venture owed a great deal to Lesseps's skill and tenacity. In 1879 he attempted to repeat his success by building a Panama Canal between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, but the project ended in disaster when he tried to construct it without locks. |
| 60. |  | André Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri 1859-1861 Thiers Carte de visite Paul Frecker Louis Adolphe Thiers was a French politician and historian. He held cabinet posts under Louis-Philippe, led the parliamentary opposition to Napoléon III from 1863, and as head of the provisional government in 1871 negotiated the peace with Prussia and suppressed the briefly autonomous Paris Commune. From 1871 to 1873 he was the first president of the Third Republic. His books include Histoire de la Révolution Franþaise. |
| 61. |  | André Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri 1863 An Annamite ambassador Carte de visite Paul Frecker In 1863 Disdéri photographed several members of an Annamite legation to Paris. The state of Annam lay in what is now Central Vietnam, and had its capital at Hue. In 1858 France initiated a programme of military expansion in the area and by 1887 Annam had become a part of the Union of Indochine. |
| 62. |  | André Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri 1863 An Annamite ambassador Carte de visite Paul Frecker The First Treaty of Saigon, signed on 5 June 1862 between the French and the last pre-colonial emperor of Annam, Tu Duc, ceded Saigon, the island of Poulo Condor and three southern provinces of what was to become known as Cochinchina to the French. This first treaty was confirmed by a second treaty, signed at Hue on 14 April 1863, which also stipulated the opening of three Vietnamese ports to trade, freedom for missionary activity and French authority over Vietnam's foreign affairs. Also by this agreement, Saigon was declared capital of French Indochine. As part for the negotiations for the Treaty of Hue, which confirmed the Treaty of Saigon of the previous year, an Annamite legation travelled to Paris in 1863. The senior mandarin committed suicide on his return to Indochine, when the French failed to honour the terms of the treaty. |
| 63. |  | André Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri 1861-1865 Ibrahim Pasha or Hassan Bey Carte de visite Paul Frecker A pencilled inscription in a period hand on the back of the mount identifies the sitter as Hassan Bey. On the album page, however, he was identified as Abrahim Pasha, possibly a misspelling of 'Ibrahim Pasha,' who was a son of the Viceroy of Egypt. Neither of these names appears in Disdéri's catalogue of March 1861, although several other Arabic or Turkish names do, including Admed-ben-Randoura, Ali-ben-IsmaÙl, Hassen-Hassen-ben-Ka´ d, His Excellency Mussurus Bey and His Excellency Vefyk Effendi. |
| 64. |  | André Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri 1861-1865 Abd-el Kader Carte de visite Paul Frecker Abd-el Kader was the principal leader of Algerian resistance to French invasion and occupation. Of Rif origins, he spent his youth in Koranic study under the influence of a pious father, and made the pilgrimage to Mecca in 1828/9. Taking over military leadership from his father after the loss of Algiers (1830), he was proclaimed sultan by the Hashim of his native district of Mascara and then recognized as Amir al-Muminin (Commander of the Faithful) also by the French, who were still restricted to Algiers and the other ports they had seized. The young amir settled on the site of the ancient Ibadi city of Tahert, in central Algeria, and, after renewed fighting, was again able to secure a treaty with the French which kept wide areas under his control. As French intrusions continued, there were fresh outbreaks of resistance in areas now enclosed by France. These reached a climax in 1846. Only a major military effort by the French at last enabled them to shatter the amir's forces. He himself tried to find refuge in Morocco, but failing to find it, surrendered to the French in 1847. They interred him for five years in France, before they eventually honoured the terms of his surrender and allowed him to reside freely in the Middle East. He settled first in Brusa, Turkey, and then, in 1855, took up permanent residence in Damascus. Reconciled with his old enemies, in 1860 he saved the local French consul and several thousand Christians from being massacred, for which the French gave him a medal inscribed Amir of North Africa, Defender of Arab Nationality, Protector of Oppressed Christians. |
| 65. |  | André Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri 1859-1861 Pierre-Antoine Labouchthre Carte de visite Paul Frecker Pierre-Antoine LabouchÞre was a water-colourist and a painter of historical scenes and landscapes. His first career was in business, with a commercial house in Antwerp, for whom he travelled to the United States and to China. However, in 1836 he renounced commerce for art, and after a year in Italy, came to Paris and studied under Paul Delaroche. He subsequently left for Africa, returning with a substantial number of water-colours. He débuted at the Paris Salon around 1843, obtaining a third-class medal. He is known above all for his historical scenes of the sixteenth century and his illustrations of the life of Martin Luther. |
| 66. |  | André Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri 1859-1861 Bertall Carte de visite Paul Frecker 'Bertall' was the pseudonym of Vicomte Albert d'Arnoux, Comte de Limoges-Saint-SaÙns, who was a draughtsman, wood engraver, lithographer, printmaker and illustrator. He was one of the most prolific graphic artists of the second half of the nineteenth century. He took the name 'Bertall' - an approximate anagram of his forename - at the suggestion of Honoré de Balzac, who probably also influenced him to work as an illustrator and caricaturist after he had finished his training under Drolling. He was chosen by the publishing house of Barba to illustrate the works of Fenimore Cooper, Paul de Kock and Alphonse Karr and he is reputed to have engraved some 3,600 plates for Barba alone. He also contributed to many journals, designed several works for children, and drew a certain number of posters. From 1855 until the mid-1860's, he collaborated with the photographer Hippolyte Bayard in a photographic business, the primary output of which was portraiture in the carte-de-visite format. From 1869 to 1870 he edited the review Le Soir and in April 1971, 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). He received the Croix de la Légion d'Honneur in 1875. He died in Paris in 1882. |
| 67. |  | André Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri 1859-1861 Horace Vernet Carte de visite Paul Frecker The son of an eminent painter, Horace Vernet was ironically born in the Louvre, shortly before the eruption of the French Revolution. He is primarily known for his many large-scale panoramas depicting French battles, including a series of enormous canvases painted for Versailles, although he also painted scenes from the Bible, literary subjects, and views of Italy, North Africa and the Middle East. Louis-Philippe first bought one of his paintings in 1817, and subsequently favoured him with many commissions. However, he achieved a certain level of notoriety when some of his paintings were rejected by the jury of the 1822 Paris Salon, allegedly because of their anti-Bourbon character. Nevertheless, he still received a number of honours from the Bourbon monarchy, including in 1828 the Directorship of the French Academy in Rome, which he retained until 1834. His many foreign journeys included visits to Algeria (1833, 1837, 1839, 1845 and 1853), the Middle East (1839-40), Russia (1836 and 1842-3) and the Crimea (1854-5). He also accompanied the French army during the Crimean War. Napoléon III once asked Vernet to remove from one of is paintings a general who had fallen out of favour. to which request the artist replied 'I am a painter of history, Sire, and I will not violate the truth.' Horace Vernet died in Paris on 17 January 1863. |
| 68. |  | André Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri 1859-1861 Cham Carte de visite Paul Frecker 'Cham' was the pseudonym of Compte Amédée-Charles-Henri de Noé, who was a successful caricaturist, cartoonist and lithographer during the Second Empire. Although his family wished him to attend a polytechnic school, he instead attended painting workshops held by Nicolas Charlet and Paul Delaroche. When he began working as a cartoonist, he took the pseudonym 'Cham'. The name was a pun, a combination of the names Charles and Amédée, and the Jewish name for Ham, son of Noah (Noah in French is 'Noé.') In 1839 he publishd his first book, Monsieur Lajaunisse, which began a career that would span 40,000 drawings. In 1843 he began to be published in newspapers like Le Charivari, whose staff he was on for thirty years. Later works included Proudhon en voyage and L'Histoire comique de l'Assemblée nationale. He also wrote a number of comic plays towards the end of his life. Always a reclusive figure, 'Cham' preferred to live a quiet life due to a lifelong chest condition. Most of his life was spent in Paris, which is where he died on 6 September 1879. |
| 69. |  | André Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri 1861-1862 Rosa Bonheur Carte de visite Paul Frecker The painter Rosa Bonheur was noted for her realistic animal portraits, such as Horse Fair (1853), now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Her earliest training was received from her father, a minor landscape painter, who encouraged her interest in art and animals. He allowed her to keep a menagerie in their home, including a sheep that is reported to have lived on the balcony of their apartment in Paris. In 1865 she became the first female artist (and only the twelfth woman) to receive the Cross of the Légion d'Honneur. These days her fame as an artist is somewhat overshadowed by her notoriety as a cross-dresser. Her short hair, her trousers, and cigarette smoking are now legendary. Although many of her contemporaries found the elements of masculine dress that she adopted troubling - or at least, endless fascinating - it is worth noting that her intention was not to look like a man, and even less to pass for one. Her short hair was bobbed, and not styled like a man's (she had originally cut it short as a sign of bereavement after her mother's death), and no matter what clothing she donned, she was always proud of her dainty feet and wore stylish bootees to show them off. The artist's smocks that she adopted were invariably delicately embroidered, and therefore very different from an ordinary worker's garment. Although at her home she greeted President Carnot, Queen Isabel of Spain, and Queen Victoria's daughter clad in trousers - she knew that they expected to see her this way - she presented a 'proper' female appearance in other circumstances, and always donned a formal dress for social occasions away from home. She did, however, receive special permission to leave off the prescribed décolltage for lunch with the Imperial couple. |
| 70. |  | André Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri 1861-1862 Rosa Bonheur and family Carte de visite Paul Frecker This portrait shows Rosa Bonheur with her family, one of whom is almost certainly her brother Isadore, a gifted sculptor. The other sitters are possibly Rosa and Isadore's sister, Juliette, also a talented animal painter, and her husband, Hippolyte Peyrol, who had a bronze foundry and issued Rosa and Isadore's sculptures. |
| 71. |  | André Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri 1859-1861 Emile de Girardin Carte de visite Paul Frecker Emile de Girardin was a French journalist and economist, and the editor of the popular Conservative organ La Presse from 1836 to 1856, and again from 1862 to 1866. Although his paper originally supported the election of Prince Louis Napoléon, Girardin subsequently became one of the Emperor's most outspoken opponents. In 1856 he sold La Presse, only to resume it again in 1862. Its vogue was over, however, and he started another journal La Liberté, the sale of which was forbidden on the streets. He was a vehement supporter of war with Prussian and the policies of Thiers. After the crisis of May 1877 and the fall of Jules Simon, he resumed his pen yet again, this time to attack MacMahon. |
| 72. |  | André Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri 1859-1861 Giuseppe Verdi Carte de visite Paul Frecker Italian composer of the Romantic period, Giuseppe Verdi took his native operatic style to new heights of dramatic expression. In 1842 he wrote the opera Nabucco, followed by Ernani in 1844 and Rigoletto in 1851. Other works include Il Trovatore and La Traviata both in 1853, Aida in 1871, and the masterpieces of his old age, Otello in 1887 and Falstaff in 1893. His Requiem of 1874 commemorates the poet and novelist Alessandro Manzoni. (Kindly contributed by T. Max Hochstetler, June 2007) |
| 73. |  | André Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri 1859-1861 Charles Gounod Carte de visite Paul Frecker Charles Gounod's operas include Sapho (1851), Faust (1859), Philémon et Baucis (1860), and Roméo et Juliette (1867). He also wrote sacred songs, masses, and an oratorio, The Redemption (1882). With its great lyrical appeal and emotional power, his music inspired many French composers of the late nineteenth century. |
| 74. |  | André Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri 1859-1863 Louis-Henri Obin in Mo´se et Pharaon Carte de visite Paul Frecker Louis-Henri Obin dressed for the role of Moses in Rossini's Mo´se et Pharaon, ou Le Passage de la Mer Rouge. Born in 1820, lyric bass Louis-Henri Obin made his début on the stage on 6 December 1844 at the Grand Opéra in Paris, in the r¶le of Lord Seyton for the creation of the opera Marie Stuart by Niedermeyer (Some references place his début in September of the same year as Brabanio in Rossini's Otello). Although he took over as first bass from Levasseur in 1852, it is from 1855 that he began to leave his real mark on the history of opera, with the creation on 13 June of the first Grand Opéra a la Franþaise written by Verdi specifically for Paris, Les Vêspres Siciliennes, in which he took the r¶le of Procida. He followed this on 4 March 1859 with the Première of Felicien David's Herculanum and then on 9 March 1860 with Pierre de Medicis, composed by the Polish prince Josef Poniatowski, a work which enjoyed an enormous success in its time. On 28 April 1865 he took part in the Première of Meyerbeer's L'Africaine, which such other Parisian greats of the age as Marie Sasse, Marie Battu, Emilio Naudin et Jean-Baptiste Fauré. On 11 March 1867, he created the r¶le of Philippe II in Verdi's last great Parisian opera Don Carlos, with Marie Sasse as Elisabeth de Valois and Jean-Baptiste Fauré as Rodrigue. |
| 75. |  | André Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri 1859-1863 Unidentified performers in Mose et Pharaon Carte de visite Paul Frecker Unidentified performers dressed for roles in Rossini's Mo´se et Pharaon, ou Le Passage de la Mer Rouge. |
| 76. |  | André Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri 1865 Marie Sax in L'Africaine Carte de visite Paul Frecker Born Marie Constance Sasse on 26 January 1834, the Belgian soprano made her début at Venice as Gilda in 1852. At the onset of her career she changed her name to Sax, then to Saxe when the instrument maker Adolphe sued her; when he sued again, she reverted to Sasse and was later known as Sass. In 1859 she sang Eurydice at the ThéÔtre-Lyrique in the historic revival of Gluck's Orphée et Eurydice, in Berlioz's version, with Pauline Viardot-Garcia as Orpheus. Engaged at the Paris-Opéra from 1860 to 1877, she sang Elisabeth in the revised Tannhõuser (1861) and created Sélika in L'Africaine (1865) and Elisabeth de Valois in Don Carlos (1867). Wagner was pleased with her Elisabeth in Tannhõuser but Verdi, who disliked her attitude to colleagues at rehearsal, was less pleased with her heroine in Don Carlos. When she was recommended for Amneris in Aida, he refused. Married, briefly, to the bass Armand Castelmary, she retired in 1877. Her memoirs Souvenirs d'une artiste were published in Paris in 1902. She died on 8 November 1907. |
| 77. |  | André Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri 1860 Barbara and Carlotta Marchisio in Semiramis Carte de visite Paul Frecker Barbara Marchisio (1833-1919), Italian contralto Carlotta Marchisio (1835-1872), Italian soprano Sisters Carlotta and Barbara Marchisio often appeared together throughout their careers. According to one contemporary source, Rossini's Sémiramis, first performed by the sisters at the Opéra on 10 July 1860, was their Paris début. Carlotta is seen here dressed as the villainous Queen of Babylon, who at the start of the opera has already murdered her husband. Barbara is dressed as her son, Arsace, the commander of the Assyrian army. (Paul Frecker) Additional biographical material Barbara Marchisio (1833-1919), Italian contralto Along with her younger sister, Carlotta, they were considered the favorite singers of the composer, Rossini. Born 6 December 1833, probably in Turin, Italy, Barbara Marchisio made her debut as Adalgisa in Bellini's opera, "Norma" (1856 in Madrid?). She came from a musical family having a brother Antonio Marchisio who was singer, and her sister Carlotta with whom she often appeared on the stage. Her vocal teacher was Gioacchino Rossini. She is known to have appeared at major opera houses in Italy, Spain, Russia, Britain and France with her sister Carlotta. Barbara taught voice and among her students were Toti Dal Monte and Rosa Raisa, who became the primary singer for the Chicago Opera for twenty years beginning in 1913. The Paris Opéra revived Rossini's "Semiramide" in 1860 for a performance in French by the Marchisio sisters, and Rossini composed his 1863 Mass, "Petite Messe solennelle" for the sisters. The Mass debuted in Paris in 1864. Barbara Marchisio died 19 April 1919. Carlotta Marchisio (1835-1872), Italian soprano Italian soprano, Carlotta Marchisio, was born in Turin, Italy 6 December 1835 into a musical family. She was a student of Luigi Fabbrica in Turin and is thought to have made her debut as Norma. There is debate about in which city she made her debut, some argue it was Venice while others say it was Madrid in 1856. She often appeared with her older sister, Barbara, and they made "international career" on stages throughout Europe and in St. Petersburg, Russia. There is a story that she once sang her sisters part from back stage when Barbara voice was frail from illness without the audience being aware that it happened. Carlotta Marchisio died 28 June 1872. (Kindly controbuted by T. Max Hochstetler, June 2007) |
| 78. |  | André Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri 1859 Pauline Viardot-Garcia in Orphée Carte de visite Paul Frecker Pauline Viardot-Garcia (1821-1910), French soprano Mezzo-soprano Pauline Garcia was born in Paris on 18 July 1821, to a Spanish family of musicians. Originally trained as a pianist, her father, Manuel Garcia, also gave her singing lessons, although her elder sister Maria Malibran was the singer of the family until her untimely death in 1836. In 1837, at the age of sixteen, Pauline Garcia gave her first concert performance in Brussels. Her opera début was made at Her Majesty's Theatre, London in May 1839, as Desdemona in Rossini's Otello. In 1849 she created FidÞs in Le ProphÞte and later, the title role in Gounod's Sapho. In 1840, she married Louis Viardot, director of the Théatre Italien in Paris. Her husband later managed her career. Renowned for her wide range and her dramatic roles on stage, Garcia's performances inspired several composers, including Frederic Chopin, Hector Berlioz and Camille Saint-SaÙns. Extremely intelligent, she spoke fluent French, Italian, Spanish, English, German and Russian, and composed songs in a variety of national techniques. Her career took her to all the best musical venues of Europe, and from 1843 to 1846 she was permanently attached to the Opera in St. Petersburg. In 1863 Pauline Viardot-Garcia retired from the stage. Due to her husband's public opposition to Napoléon III, she and her family left France and settled in Baden-Baden. After the fall of the Second Empire, the family returned to France where Pauline taught at the Paris Conservatory. She died in Paris on 18 May 1910 and was buried in the cemetery at Montmartre. She is seen here as she appeared in 1859 when she sang Orpheus at the ThéÔtre-Lyrique in the historic revival of Gluck's Orphée et Eurydice, in Berlioz's version, with Marie Sax as Eurydice. (Paul Frecker) |
| 79. |  | André Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri 1859-1863 Caroline Vandenheuvel-Duprez Carte de visite Paul Frecker Caroline Vanderheuvel-Duprez (1832 - 1875), French soprano Madame Vandenheuvel was born Caroline Duprez in Florence on 10 April 1832. Her father was the famous tenor Gilbert Duprez, with whom she sometimes appeared.. A soprano, she made her Paris début in 1850 at the ThéÔtre Italien in La Somnambula. The following year she helped to produce the world Première of her father's opera Joanita in Brussels. In 1852 she created the r¶le of Angela in Marco Spada. She also appeared in Lyon (1856-1858), the Garnier Palace (1860), Bordeaux, London, St. Petersburg, and at the ThéÔtre-Lyrique in Paris. She died on 17 April 1875 (her father outlived her by twenty-one years.) (Paul Frecker) Additional biographical material The daughter of celebrated tenor Gilbert Louis Duprez (1806-1875), the principal tenor of Opera Paris from 1839-49. Caroline Duprez was born in Florence in 1832. She was a soprano who studied with her father who had founded his own school in Paris in 1853, after he had served as professor of voice at Paris Conservatoire from 1842-50. Her voice was described as "light with high range." Meyerbeer chose her to create the role of Catherine in his opera, "L' Etoile du Nord," which debuted in Paris in 1854. Caroline Duprez is shown at Theatre-Lyrique in Paris, in May 1858, as lead in Mozart's "Marriage of Figaro," which had been translated into French by Jules Barbier and Michael Carre. She was married to the musician, Vanderheuvel in 1856. Her early career was as a dramatic singer (1850), and then she was connected to comique opera (1852) and did not appear in large opera until after 1858. She died 17 April 1875 in Pau. (Kindly contributed by T. Max Hochstetler, June 2007) |
| 80. |  | André Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri 1859-1861 Adelaide Borghi-Mamo Carte de visite Paul Frecker Adelaide Borghi-Mamo was an Italian mezzo-soprano with a voice of great power. She made her début in December 1846 in her native city of Bologna, and later performed in all the leading cities of Europe to great acclaim. In Paris she sang with the ThéÔtre-Italien. (Paul Frecker) |
| 81. |  | André Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri 1859-1861 Marie Taglioni Carte de visite Paul Frecker Marie Taglioni was the first and most famous ballerina of the Romantic era of ballet. Born in Stockholm, she rose to fame as a dancer when her father (and teacher) Fillipo Taglioni created the ballet La Sylphide (1832) for her. Designed as a showcase for her talent, it was the first ballet where the ballerina danced en pointe for the full length of the work. Taglioni retired from performing in 1847. She later taught social dance and deportment to children and society ladies and also took a limited number of ballet pupils. Her only choreographic work was Le Papillon (1860) for her student Emma Livry (who famously died in 1863 when her stage costume caught fire.) Taglioni died in Marseilles in 1884. |
| 82. |  | André Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri 1859-1861 Emma Livry Carte de visite Paul Frecker Born in Paris on 14 September 1842, Emma Livry made her début on 20 September 1858 in La Sylphide. She quickly became one of the brightest rising stars of the Paris Opéra and the darling of Paris audiences. A glorious career seemed certain, particularly after she caught the eye of Marie Taglioni, who had originated the role. Taglioni worked with her daily, and created her only ballet for her, Le Papillion, with music by Offenbach. At that time, stages were lighted by gas jets, and since accidents were frequent, the long tutus worn by dancers were treated to make them flame resistant. However, the process made the muslin turn yellow and stiff, and like many other dancers, Livry refused to wear costumes that had been treated. During a rehearsal of The Dumb Girl of Portici, Emma's skirt caught fire. Two male dancers tried to extinguish the flames, but Emma suffered severe burns. She died of complications eight months later. She was twenty-one years old. |
| 83. |  | André Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri 1859-1861 The Walter Sisters Carte de visite Paul Frecker The Walter sisters were dancers with the Paris-Opéra. |
| 84. |  | André Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri 1859-1861 Louis Mérante and Mlle. Caroline Carte de visite Paul Frecker Louis Mérante was a dancer and choreographer with the Paris Opéra. |
| 85. |  | André Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri 1859-1861 Marie Petipa Carte de visite Paul Frecker Born Maria Surovshchikova, the illegitimate daughter of a St. Petersburg milliner, she studied at the Imperial Ballet academy in St. Petersburg. In 1854 she married Marius Petipa, one of the greatest choreographers of the nineteenth century, and joined the Bolshoi Theatre. She created many roles in her husband's ballets and was a great success in travestie parts. She made her Paris début at the Opéra on 29 May 1861 in Le Marche des Innocents. "She is truly Russian", wrote one contemporary critic. "She aspires neither to the fine classical effects of the French style, nor the warm and powerful fantasy of Italy, nor to a Spanish fury. She is a delightful caprice, ever floating between a heedless folly and a graceful melancholy, a strange mixture resulting from her Slav character." After her divorce from Petipa in 1869 her career went downhill. She died in 1882. |
| 86. |  | André Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri 1861-1863 Mlle Mercier Carte de visite Paul Frecker |
| 87. |  | André Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri 1859-1863 Mme. Mérante Carte de visite Paul Frecker This is either Irma Mérante, or possibly Zina Mérante (née Richard), who married fellow dancer Louis Mérante in July 1861. |
| 88. |  | André Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri 1859-1861 Louise Fiocre Carte de visite Paul Frecker The dancer Louise Fiocre of the Opéra was the sister of Eugénie Fiocre, also a dancer with the same company. She made her début at the Paris Opéra in 1856 at the age of thirteen and retired in 1869 at the age of twenty-five. Her well-rounded legs made her particularly popular with the members of the Jockey Club. |
| 89. |  | André Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri 1859-1861 Eugénie Fiocre Carte de visite Paul Frecker Two of ballets greatest stars during the Second Empire were the Fiocre sisters, Eugénie and Louise, whose beauty and grace were legendary. Eugénie often took male roles, not only because of the shortage of male dancers in the period, but also because the tights of the costumes she wore gave her the opportunity to show off her superb legs. Her most famous role was as Franz in the earliest production of Delibes's Coppélia, choreographed by Arthur Saint-Léon (1870). The prima ballerina was also celebrated for her particularly feminine portrayal of the lead role in Delibes's La Source, in which she was immortalized in oils by Edgar Degas, the painting now hanging in the Brooklyn Museum, New York. Disdéri photographed several other actresses en matador during the 1860's, including Henriette Schlosser, Blanche Montaubry, Mlle. Simono and Mlle. Mousselet. |
| 90. |  | André Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri 1860 Eugéne Coralli Carte de visite Paul Frecker The dancer, mime artist and stage-manager EugÞne Coralli was the son of the great dancer and choreographer Jean Coralli. He is seen here in Prince Joseph Poniatowski's Pierre de Médicis, first performed at the Académie Impériale de Musique on 9 March 1860, He danced the role of 'a faun' in the second act ballet Les Amours de Diane, choreographed by Petipa. |
| 91. |  | André Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri 1859 Adelaide Ristori in Médée Carte de visite Paul Frecker The Italian actress Adelaide Ristori paid her first professional visit to Paris in 1855. Her début in the part of Francesca was rather coldly received, but she took the city by storm in the title role of Alfieri's Myrrha. Furious partisanship was aroused by the appearance of a rival to the great Rachel, and the very different acting styles of the two actresses. The fiery, Latin gesticulations of the Italian contrasted strongly with the controlled, restrained, introverted technique that Rachel had popularized since her début as a seventeen-year-old in 1838. Paris was divided into two camps, with playgoers fighting at gallery doors over the merits of their respective favourites. The playwright Ernest Legouvé originally wrote Médée for Rachel, but when she broke her contract in order to nurse her dying sister, the part was offered to Ristori instead. When the play opened in Paris in 1856, it was a huge success, a triumph that was repeated when Ristori took the play to London. In 1857 she visited Madrid, playing in Spanish to enthusiastic audiences, and in 1866 she paid the first of four visits to the United States, where she proved equally popular, particularly in Giacometti's Elizabeth, an Italian study of the English sovereign. She finally retired from professional life in 1885, dying in Rome in 1906. She is seen her as the sorceress Medea, who killed her own children to avenge herself on their father, Jason. |
| 92. |  | André Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri 1859 Adelaide Ristori in Maria Stuarda Carte de visite Paul Frecker The Italian actress Adelaide Ristori is seen here as Mary, Queen of Scots, in André Maffei's translation of Schiller's Maria Stuarda, a role which she first played at the age of eighteen. |
| 93. |  | André Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri 1859-1861 Bénoit Coquelin Carte de visite Paul Frecker Though there were many star actors during the Second Empire, Constant-Benoit Coquelin is considered one of the most important. Born in Boulogne, the son of a baker (a hostile critic once called him un boulanger manqué), he began his career at the Comédie Franþaise in 1860, later creating a major scandal by breaking the unwritten rule that forbade actors who left the company from performing at other Paris theatres. Known for his technical proficiency, he was highly critical and analytical towards his art, believing in simulated rather than real emotions. He achieved fame in such classic roles as the valet in Figaro, but is best known for creating the role of Cyrano de Bergerac (1897), which was written especially for him. The greatest role in any of Rostand's plays, it was at the actor's request that the final death scene was added. |
| 94. |  | André Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri 1859-1861 Bocage Carte de visite Paul Frecker Pierre-Martinien Bocage was a successful actor, appearing in leading roles from the 1830's onwards. His nephew was the author, Paul Bocage. |
| 95. |  | André Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri 1859-1861 Les Frthres Lionnet Carte de visite Paul Frecker Hippolyte and Anatole Lionnet were twin singers, born in Paris on 16 April 1832. The brothers became extremely popular during the Second Empire, due not only to their talent but also to their extraordinary resemblance to one another. They introduced the public to Gounod's first melodies, and interpreted the works of, amongst others, Delsarte, Nadaud, Dartier and Dupont. In 1888 they published Souvenirs et Anecdotes in which they remembered their career. They both died in 1896. The brothers were among those who performed at the re-opening of Disdéri's studio at 8, boulevard des Italiens on 2 April 1860, after it had been remodelled. |
| 96. |  | André Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri 1859-1861 Mme Teresa Milanollo Carte de visite Paul Frecker The Italian violin player and composer Teresa Millanollo made her début on 17 April 1836 in the theatre of Mondovi, before moving with her family to France. In December 1836 she gave a benefit concert in Brussels, which marked the beginning of her lifelong concern for the poor. The high point of her career was her six-year period of concert tours from 1842 with her sister Maria (who died suddenly of tuberculosis in 1848.) A series of extended European tours took them to England, France, Belgium, Germany, Bohemia, Switzerland and northern Italy, rivalling Paganini in artistic and financial success. The day of her last public concert, on 16 April 1857, Teresa married Théodore Parmentier, an army engineer and amateur musician of some repute. The great Joachim described her as "one of the most delightful and sympathetic artists that he had ever met." |
| 97. |  | André Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri 1859-1861 Jules Leotard Carte de visite Paul Frecker The inventor of the trapeze act, Jules Léotard was born in Toulouse, the son of a gymnast father. Jules always claimed that as a baby his parents would hang him upside-down to stop him crying. Later the young Jules would practice his act over the pool of his father's gymnasium. He first performed publicly on 12 November 1859 at the Cirque Napoléon in Paris, where his act caused a sensation. His first London performance was at the Alhambra in May 1861, and he returned to London again in 1866 and 1868, appearing at music halls and pleasure gardens. At the Ashburnham Hall in Cremorne he performed on five trapezes simultaneously, turning somersaults between each one. He is still remembered today in the garment he gave his name to, originally an all-in-one knitted suit that allowed complete freedom of movement with nothing that could get entangled with the ropes. The tight fabric also showed off his physique to great advantage, and the spectacle of this, it was said, occasionally caused young ladies in the audience to faint. Jules Léotard died from an infectious disease (probably smallpox) in 1870, at the age of thirty-three. |
| 98. |  | André Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri 1861-1864 Henri de Lutteroth Carte de visite Paul Frecker "Monsieur de Lutteroth happened to be at the same ball. He was a dreadful fop and was - very rightly - disliked by everyone who knew him. He came attired as 'A Son of the Night'! The man who wore this costume was a fool, but the costume itself was magnificent. It consisted of voluminous sapphire-blue breeches, embroidered in silver and veiled with tulle of the same shade. The sapphire-blue jacket was also veiled with tulle and strewn with diamonds, and it was fastened with a superb crescent made of diamonds. People stood in rows to see him pass by, and incredible as it may seem, though they looked upon him as an object of ridicule - and made no secret of it - he thought they were not only admiring him, but envying him into the bargain!" [My Years in Paris, Princess Pauline Metternich, published 1922.] |
| 99. |  | André Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri 1861-1864 Henri de Lutteroth and unidentified friend Carte de visite Paul Frecker |
| 100. |  | André Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri 1860 Disdéri Carte de visite Paul Frecker A caricature of Disdéri by Van den Acker, a version of which appeared in the Journal amusant on 11 August 1860. Ridiculed by some for his prominent beard, his bald head and the exotic tunic he donned when operating, the flip side of his showmanship was a reputation among his critics as an egotist and a dandified poseur. The caption, Ne Bougeons plus !!!, a phrase coined by Disdéri, may be translated as "Hold it !!!" |