George Sand and Nadar: Portraiture Between Lithography, Sculpture, and Photography

Abstract

from her country home in Nohant on May 7, 1852, discussing the preparation of the complete, illustrated edition of her works. She suggests including an engraved portrait of herself, recounting that "[Alexandre] Manceau a fait de moi un petit portrait délicieux, ressemblant et pourtant joli," while pondering its possible future use: "[…] je vous demande, moi, à l'insu de Manceau ce que vous comptez en faire. […] Cela nous serait bon pour nos éditions, pour mes mémoires, et j'en voudrais moi une cinquant[ain]e d'exemplaires pour mes amis et connaissances." 1 Here the portrait serves both a public function, putting a face to a famous author's workthe two literally bound and received by her audience together in book formand a private one, as an intimate token of the sitter. Over a decade later, in February 1863, Sand replies to a request by Gustave Flaubert to send him a portrait of her with the following lines: "Mes portraits sont rares, bien qu'on en vende de toutes sortes qui ne sont pas faits d'après moi. Je n'ai ici que de mauvaises épreuves. Quand j'irai à Paris je choisirai moi-même et je vous enverrai ce qu'il y aura de présentable" (Sand vol. 17, 448).Apart from her concern about how presentable her portraits are, the writer laments the lack of control over their dissemination, which circulate apparently without her consent. In an attempt to actively regain control of her image and its use, Sand sat in front of the camera lens again from 1864 and on December 20, 1868 personally places an order at a photographer's studio for a large number of carte-de-visite prints to be made: "Envoie-moi