Carte de visite

## Overview

A carte de visite (visiting card or calling card) was a small printed card bearing a person's name, and sometimes their address and title, used as an essential instrument of 19th-century social interaction. The term also referred to a popular small-format photograph (approximately 6x9 cm) mounted on card stock, invented by André Adolphe Eugène Disdéri in 1854.

## Social Protocol

Visiting cards governed the elaborate ritual of social calls: - *Leaving a card: When calling on someone who was not at home, one left a card with the servant, signaling the visit - Turning down a corner: Different corners folded indicated different purposes (condolence, congratulation, departure from the city, etc.) - Reciprocity: Receiving a card obligated a return visit or card - Introduction: Cards were exchanged when being formally introduced - "p.p.c."* (pour prendre congé): Written on a card left when departing a town, excusing one from formal farewell visits

## Relevance to Marie

Marie orders visiting cards for her mother (1873-09-11, "cent cartes de visite pour maman") as part of routine social maintenance. The visiting card system was central to the social world Marie navigated — it determined who could call on whom, tracked social obligations, and maintained the hierarchy of acquaintance. For a family like the Bashkirtseffs, who were wealthy but lacked established position in French society, the correct use of cartes de visite was essential for social integration.

## Photographic Cartes de Visite

The photographic carte de visite — a small portrait photograph on card stock — was a craze of the 1860s-1870s. People collected albums of these photographs of friends, family, celebrities, and royalty. Marie references photographic portraits in this format, and the Bashkirtseffs had their photographs taken at studios like Nadar's.

## References in Diary

- 1873-09-11 (carnet 009): Ordering 100 visiting cards for Maman - Referenced throughout as part of social protocol