A color developer composition exhibiting excellent color developability, resistance to yellowing and light-fastness is disclosed, which comprises a substituted or unsubstituted benzoic acid salt represented by formula (I), or a mixture of a substituted or unsubstituted benzoic acid salt represented by formula (II) and a novolak type phenol resin represented by formula (III): ##STR1## wherein R.sub.1 to R.sub.19, M, M', n, n' and M are defined in the specification.