Collection of 3 historical Actors and artist cartes de-visite to include: J. L. Toole, Henry Irving, Gustave Dore. The carte de visite(visiting card), abbreviated CdV, was a type of smallphotograph which was patented in Paris by photographer André Adolphe Eugène Disdéri in 1854. Each photograph was the size of a visiting card, and such photograph cards were commonly traded among friends and visitorsin the 1860s. Albums for the collection and display of cards became a common fixture in Victorian parlors. The immense popularity of these card photographs led to the publication and collection of photographs of prominentpersons.