‘This eye-opening and frequently jaw-dropping history of the phenomenon […] opens up a set of fascinating peepholes on to a now vanished world.’
- The Spectator

‘This book will be the definitive text on the carte-de-visite for the foreseeable future […] It is a remarkable book, eminently readable, and long overdue.’
- The PhotoHistorian

‘A fascinating and exhaustive study’ 
- Wylde Magazine

‘... this densely written and researched book presents a multilayered investigation of the cartomania phenomenon, moving far beyond humdrum studio portraiture. The carefully curated illustrations are a delight’ 
- Studies in Photography

‘[T]he books implicit argument for the diverse oddness of 19th-century life, something many Victorians were happily aware of, and which prompted so much photography in the first place.’ 
- The London Review of Books