John T Croal

Cartes de Visite

Here are the fronts and backs of cartes de visite by John T Croal produced between 1863 and 1866 in his studio at 80 George Street. 

The first year that John T Croll appeared in the Edinburgh & Leith trade directories was 1864, but the note on the back of the first carte de visite below indicates that his business was already operating by September 1863.

Cartes de visite are small photographs mounted on card measuring about 3.5 ins x 2.25 ins.

©  Copyright: For permission to reproduce, please contact peter.stubbs@edinphoto.org.uk

©  Copyright:  Reproduced with acknowledgement to Ron Cosens

The second of the cartes de visite above is a scan of a photocopy, so is not a close match to the original, having lost its colour and most of the intermediate tones.

However it is interesting to see that the two cartes de visite have different backs, even though the photographer appears to have been in business for only a couple of years.

Here is an enlargement of detail on the first of these backs:

©  Copyright: For permission to reproduce,
 please contact peter.stubbs@edinphoto.org.uk