Purchase, 1963
Open for research.
Hagan Barber, Jack Boettcher, Heather Bollinger, Kelsey Handler, 2012
This finding aid replicates some information previously available only in a card catalog. Please see the explanatory note at the end of this finding aid for information regarding the arrangement of the manuscripts as well as the abbreviations commonly used in descriptions.
The collection consists of photographic copy prints made and/or collected by Helmut and Alison Gernsheim. The prints relate to the photographs from the Gernsheim Collection held at the Ransom Center and the couple’s research into the history of photography. The copy prints are of photographs, advertisements, and photography-related ephemera from the Gernsheims' personal collection as well as other photographs held in museums. The prints are of photographs that range in date from the early 20th century to the 1950s.
The collection is arranged into the following four series: I. Photographers, II. Subjects, III. Art and Photography Processes, and IV. Exhibition Prints. The first series is comprised of copy prints of photographs by various photographers, and it is arranged alphabetically by the photographers' last names or studio name. Photographers well represented include: Antonio Beato, Julia Margaret Cameron, Philip Henry Delamotte, Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (Lewis Carroll), Harold Edgerton, Peter Henry Emerson, Roger Fenton, J. E. Mayall, Oscar Gustave Rejlander, John Thomson, and W. & D. Downey.
Series II. Subjects, is arranged alphabetically by subject heading. It includes a large volume of architectural photography in addition to photographs of historical events and figures, royalty, and men, women and children. The photographs of historical events and figures are further broken down between images found within the Ransom Center's holdings and those from other institutions.
The third series, Art and Photographic Processes, consists of copy prints of different artistic and photographic techniques. Examples of processes include calotypes, daguerreotypes, and lithographs. The series also includes copy prints of photographic equipment and advertisements.
Series IV. Exhibition Prints, contains copy prints made by the Gernsheims which were intended for exhibition. The prints are arranged according to the type of support used to mount each image and/or by surface treatment; the majority of the prints are mounted on Masonite. Each group of photographs were likely produced for different exhibitions. Many of the exhibition prints are duplicates of copy prints found in the other three series.
Prior to 1990 when archival cataloging procedures were adopted at the Ransom Center, all manuscript collections were described in a card catalog.
Manuscripts for each author collection were organized into four categories:
Materials that did not fit into these categories, such as art, photographs, books, and near-print materials such as newspaper clippings, were dispersed to other Ransom Center collections for cataloging and storage.
The symbols below were used in combinations. For example