[CARTE DE VISITE ALBUM “OPENER”] The Victorian Album Almanack 1866.

[Title from caption at centre of image]. Albumen print of calendar for 1866 with two illustrations, one of shipping in Hobson’s Bay, the other a view of the city of Melbourne from the Yarra; carte de visite format, 101 x 63 mm (mount); recto of mount imprinted at bottom margin ‘Pt. No. 5 / Copyright Secured’; verso blank; print and mount are both in fine condition.

Cartes de visite of this type – usually featuring a short rhyming verse and with a pictorial theme – were printed as novelty items, to be placed as a frontispiece in the family’s or collector’s photograph album. However, this Melbourne-themed example, which comprises a miniature calendar for 1866 with tiny illustrations, is one that we have never sighted before. (Nor have we seen an example from any other year). The publisher, too, remains a mystery, as we can trace no mention of ‘The Victorian Album Almanack’ in Melbourne newspaper advertisements or notices of the period. A bona fide Melbourne carte de visite curio.