Extremely Rare Signed Emperor Norton Carte de Visite at Auction Now Through July 8th
In Emperor Norton’s day, studio portrait photographs were made available in a variety of mounted formats.
Among the most popular were the cabinet card and the carte de visite.
The cabinet card was a souvenir size — around 4” x 6”, like a postcard. Cabinet cards of celebrities and public figures — like Emperor Norton — were sold commercially in shops.
The carte de visite was much smaller — closer to 2” x 4” — and was used like a business card.
An extremely rare Emperor Norton carte de visite has just come on the market.
The photograph, taken by the Bradley and Rulofson studio c.1864 — towards the beginning of Emperor Norton's reign — is one of the less than 20 known photos of him (including a couple of unpublished photos in private hands). There is an example of the associated carte de visite at the California State Library.
Carte de visite of Emperor Norton by Bradley and Rulofson studio, c.1864, front. Image © 2020 Bonhams & Butterfields Auctioneers Corp.
What makes this example very special is that, on the reverse, it is signed by the Emperor and addressed by him to a specific person. There are exceedingly few examples of the Emperor's signature that are not on one of his promissory notes.
Carte de visite of Emperor Norton by Bradley and Rulofson studio, c.1864, verso. Image © 2020 Bonhams & Butterfields Auctioneers Corp.
The top of the inscription is a little hard to make out. But, the full inscription appears to read:
J. Henry Meyer.
Faithfully
Norton I
If the guess about the addressee is correct, that could add significance, as a J. Henry Meyer (1855–1921) who was a young man in San Francisco during the Emperor's time went on to become one of the most prominent financiers and clubmen in the city.
Emperor Norton had a new carte de visite made in 1871–72. This suggests that a handful of cards like the one being auctioned here is what Emperor Norton carried in his pocket between 1864 and 1871, when Meyer was between 9 and 16 years old.
Meyer was born and grew up in Sacramento. But, he likely would have visited San Francisco with his family during this period. Did he encounter the Emperor in the street on one of these visits and get a signed souvenir?
Or did he come by one of the cards later in the 1870s and get the Emp to sign it for him then?
Meyer's obituary is here.
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The auction, by Bonhams, is being conducted online from now until July 8th at 2:49 p.m. Eastern.
The full listing, with historical note — including a nice mention of The Emperor Norton Trust — and auction details is on the Bonhams site at
https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/26075/lot/110/
The projected sale price is $4,000–$6,000.
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