60 x 94 mm. A carte de visite half length studio portrait of John Noble (1836-1898) seated with one arm resting on a table. A brother of professor Roderick Noble, he arrived in Cape Town in 1857 and worked as a journalist on the newly founded Cape Argus. From 1865-97 he served as a clerk to the house of Assembly and was the editor of The Cape Monthly Magazine from 1875-79. His descriptive handbook of Cape Colony… was published in 1875 and he was the author of numerous other works. From 1880-82 he was seconded by the government as secretary to the Bantu Laws and Customs Commission. Noble was the Cape honorary corresponding secretary to the Royal Colonial Institute and died while on holiday in England. The backmark reads: 'Mr Barnard, Photographic Artist, Adderley Chambers, Adderley Street', and has the handwritten note: 'No. 7976'.