Edmund Wheeler junior - cdv Gallery 3

Edmund Wheeler junior - Carte-de-visite Portraits (Gallery Three)

Click here to return to home page

The photographer Edmund Wheeler junior (1836-1930) produced carte-de-visite portraits at his studio at 43 Western Road, Brighton, between 1870 and 1906. Cartes-de-visite were small photographic paper prints on card mounts the same size as conventional visiting cards (roughly 21/2 inches by 41/4 inches or 6.3 cm by 10.5 cm). This photographic format originated in France and so a small portrait mounted on card came to be known as a 'carte-de-visite', the French term for visiting card, although, in England, these small photographic portraits were occasionally referred to as "album portraits".

Edmund Wheeler introduced a novel method of identifying the year a particular photograph was taken by adding a suffix to the negative number, which was customarily written in ink on the reverse of carte-de-visite portraits. Each letter of the alphabet represented a particular year of business. The  letter "A" matched the year 1873, the letter "B" corresponded to the year 1874, and so on, until the letter "Z" was reached.

During the 1890s and early 1900s, Edmund Wheeler added a double letter suffix to his negative reference numbers.

 

[ABOVE] The photographic negative reference number written on the reverse of a carte-de-visite portrait produced by Edmund Wheeler of 43 Western Road, Brighton during the late 1890s. In this example the negative reference number is given as "4463 FF". The card mount used for this particular carte-de-visite was manufactured by the firm of Trapp & Munch of Berlin.

A Carte-de-visite portrait produced by Edmund Wheeler of Brighton

[ABOVE] A carte-de-visite portrait of Florence Ethel Walls (1870-1954) taken at the studio of Edmund Wheeler at 43 Western Road, Brighton around 1901. Negative No. 2254 JJ. Florence Ethel Walls, who was born in Brompton, London, in 1870 was a "professional nurse".  At the time of the 1911 census Florence was residing in Southport, Lancashire. Florence Ethel Walls died in Bournemouth in 1954. [ABOVE] The reverse of the carte-de-visite portrait illustrated on the left, produced around 1900 by the photographer Edmund Wheeler of 43 Western Road, Brighton. The carte provides a negative reference number of 2254 JJ which indicates that the photograph was taken around 1901. A modern inscription in black ink identifies the sitter as Florence Ethel Walls 1870-1954).
 

The Photographic Negative Codes for Edmund Wheeler's Cartes-de-visite which use double letter suffixes (1893 -1907)

DATES

suffix

Negative Nos.

NOTES

DATES

suffix

Negative Nos.

NOTES

1893-1894

AA

000-3200

Edmund Wheeler (front)  Cream card. Decorative text (back). "ALL NEGATIVES PRESERVED". Printer: TRAPP & MUNCH 1900-1901

HH

000-2500

E. Wheeler (front)  Ivory coloured card. Embossed crazed design border frame. Plain Back.

1894-1895 BB

000-1500

Edmund Wheeler (front)  Cream card. Decorative text (back). "ALL NEGATIVES PRESERVED". Printer: TRAPP & MUNCH 1901-1902 JJ 000-2500

E. Wheeler (front)  Ivory coloured card. Embossed crazed design border frame. Plain Back.

1895-1896 CC

000-1100

Edmund Wheeler (front)  Cream card. Decorative text (back). "ALL NEGATIVES PRESERVED". Printer: TRAPP & MUNCH 1902-1903 KK 000-2500

E. Wheeler (front)  Ivory coloured card. Embossed crazed design border frame. Plain Back.

1896-1897 DD

000-500

Edmund Wheeler (front)  Cream card. Decorative text (back). "ALL NEGATIVES PRESERVED". Printer: TRAPP & MUNCH 1903-1904 LL 000-4000

E. Wheeler (front)  Ivory coloured card. Embossed crazed design framed border. Plain Back.

1897-1898

EE

000-2200

E. Wheeler (front)  Cream card. Decorative text (back). "ALL NEGATIVES PRESERVED". Printer: TRAPP & MUNCH 1904-1905 MM 000-4000

E. Wheeler (front)  Ivory coloured card. Embossed crazed design framed border. Plain Back.

1898-1899 FF

000-2500

E. Wheeler (front)  Cream card. Decorative text (back). "ALL NEGATIVES PRESERVED". Printer: TRAPP & MUNCH 1905-1906 NN 000-4000

E. Wheeler (front)  Ivory coloured card. Embossed crazed design framed border. Plain Back.

1899-1900 GG

000-2800

E. Wheeler (front)  Cream card. Plain Back. 1906-1907 PP 000-4000

E. Wheeler (front)  Ivory coloured card. Embossed crazed design framed border. Plain Back.

 

Carte-de-visite Portraits by Edmund Wheeler of 43 Western Road, Brighton (1896-1906)

[TOP] A carte-de-visite portrait by Edmund Wheeler of 43 Western Road, Brighton (1873) [ABOVE] Trade Plate and Negative Reference Number (3028A)

[ABOVE] The reverse of the carte-de-visite portrait illustrated on the right, produced in 1896 by the photographer Edmund Wheeler of 43 Western Road, Brighton. Negative No. 314DD. Printer: TRAPP & MUNCH. [ABOVE] A carte-de-visite portrait of a bearded man, photographed around 1896 at the studio of Edmund Wheeler at 43 Western Road, Brighton. Negative No. 314DD. [ABOVE] A carte-de-visite portrait of a mother and her children, photographed around 1898 at the studio of Edmund Wheeler at 43 Western Road, Brighton. Negative No. 1392 FF.

[ABOVE] A carte-de-visite portrait of "Auntie Mu", produced around 1898 at the studio of Edmund Wheeler at 43 Western Road, Brighton. Negative No. 4463FF. [ABOVE] The reverse of the carte-de-visite portrait illustrated on the left, produced around 1898 by the photographer Edmund Wheeler of 43 Western Road, Brighton. Negative No. 4463FF. Printer: TRAPP & MUNCH. [ABOVE] A carte-de-visite portrait of a bearded man, photographed around 1898 at the studio of Edmund Wheeler at 43 Western Road, Brighton. Negative No.2044FF. [ABOVE] The reverse of the carte-de-visite portrait illustrated on the left, produced around 1898 by the photographer Edmund Wheeler of 43 Western Road, Brighton. Negative No. 2044FF.

[ABOVE] A carte-de-visite portrait of an unknown woman, photographed around 1900 at the studio of Edmund Wheeler at 43 Western Road, Brighton. Negative No.2124HH.  [ABOVE] A carte-de-visite portrait of a man with a moustache, photographed around 1903 at the studio of Edmund Wheeler at 43 Western Road, Brighton. Negative No.3755LL. [ABOVE] A carte-de-visite portrait of a young woman, photographed around 1906 at the studio of Edmund Wheeler at 43 Western Road, Brighton. Negative No. 3643PP. [ABOVE] The reverse of the carte-de-visite portrait illustrated on the left, produced around 1906 by the photographer Edmund Wheeler of 43 Western Road, Brighton. Negative No. 3643PP.
 

The Photographic Negative Codes for Edmund Wheeler's Carte-de-visite Photographs with the corresponding dates for each letter of the alphabet (A-Z :1870-1897)

DATES

suffix

Negative Nos.

NOTES

DATES

suffix

Negative Nos.

NOTES

DATES

suffix

Negative Nos.

NOTES

1870-1873  

000-1000

EW monogram. Brown printing & line border. E. WHEELER

1880-1881

H

000-1800

Edmund Wheeler (front)  Cream card. Decorative text (back). Marion Imp 1889-1890 R

000-2000

Edmund Wheeler (front)  Cream card. Decorative text (bk). Trapp & Munch
1873-1874

A

000-3200

EW monogram. Brown printing & line border. E. WHEELER 1881-1882 J

000-2000

Edmund Wheeler (front)  Cream card. Decorative text (bk). Trapp & Munch 1890-1891 S

000-1000

Edmund Wheeler (front)  Cream card. Decorative text (bk). Trapp & Munch
1874-1875 B

000-1500

EW monogram. Brown printing & line border. E. WHEELER 1882-1883 K

000-1000

Edmund Wheeler (front)  Cream card. Decorative text (bk). Trapp & Munch 1891-1892 T

000-1000

Edmund Wheeler (front)  Cream card. Decorative text (bk). Trapp & Munch
1875-1876 C

000-1100

EDMUND WHEELER. Ivory card. Red printing. 1883-1884 L

000-1500

Edmund Wheeler (front)  Cream card. Decorative text (bk). Trapp & Munch 1892-1893 U

000-2500

Edmund Wheeler (front)  Cream card. Decorative text (bk). TRAPP & MUNCH
1876-1877 D

000-2000

EDMUND WHEELER. Ivory card. Elaborate text. 1884-1885 M

000-1000

Edmund Wheeler (front)  Cream card. Decorative text (bk). Trapp & Munch 1893-1894 V

000-1000

Edmund Wheeler (front)  Cream card. Decorative text (bk). TRAPP & MUNCH

1877-1878

E

000-2200

EDMUND WHEELER. Marion Imp, Decorative text. Ivory card. 1885-1886 N

000-1000

Edmund Wheeler (front)  Cream card. Decorative text (bk). Trapp & Munch 1894-1895 W(AA)

000-1000

Edmund Wheeler (front)  Cream card. Decorative text (bk). TRAPP & MUNCH
1878-1879 F

000-2000

Edmund Wheeler (front). Ivory card. Decorative text. 1886-1887 P

000-1000

Edmund Wheeler (front)  Cream card. Decorative text (bk). Trapp & Munch 1895-1897 X/Y(BB)

000-1000

Edmund Wheeler (front)  Cream card. Decorative text (bk). TRAPP & MUNCH
1879-1880 G

000-3000

Edmund Wheeler (front)  Cream card. Decorative text (back). 1887-1888 Q

000-1000

Edmund Wheeler (front)  Cream card. Decorative text (bk). Trapp & Munch 1896-1898 Z(CC)

000-1000

Edmund Wheeler (front)  Cream card. Decorative text (bk). TRAPP & MUNCH
 

Acknowledgements

A special thank you to Roger Vaughan, author of the informative website Victorian and Edwardian Photographs and owner of the Roger Vaughan Photograph Collection. Roger Vaughan was the first person to draw my attention to Edmund Wheeler's novel method of identifying the year a particular photograph was taken. Roger Vaughan noticed that Edmund Wheeler added a "letter suffix" to the negative number, with each letter of the alphabet representing a particular year of business.

WEBSITE: Roger Vaughan's website Victorian and Edwardian Photographs - Roger Vaughan Photograph Collection (Roger Vaughan's article on Victorian Photograph Card Printers has been especially helpful).

 

Edmund Wheeler of Brighton: Galleries of Photographic Portraits

Edmund Wheeler's Carte-de-visite Portraits: Gallery One (1872-1880)

Gallery of Edmund Wheeler's Carte-de-visite Portraits    (1)

Edmund Wheeler's Carte-de-visite Portraits: Gallery Two (1881-1895)

Gallery of Edmund Wheeler's Carte-de-visite Portraits    (2)

Edmund Wheeler's Carte-de-visite Portraits: Gallery Three (1896-1906)

Gallery of Edmund Wheeler's Carte-de-visite Portraits    (3)

Edmund Wheeler's Cabinet Portraits: Gallery Three (1896-1906)

Gallery of Edmund Wheeler's Cabinet  Portraits    (4)

 

To read an account of the life and photographic career of Edmund Wheeler junior of 43 Western Road, Brighton, click on the link below:

Edmund Wheeler junior - Brighton Photographer

 

Click here to return to home page