Giers Photo Gallery Account Books, Archive

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Historic Southern Summer Auction

By Case Auctions

Jul 30, 2016 - Jul 31, 2016

Set Reminder 2016-07-30 09:00:00 2016-07-31 09:00:00 America/New_York Bidsquare Bidsquare : Historic Southern Summer Auction https://www.bidsquare.com/auctions/case-antiques/historic-southern-summer-auction-1593
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• Lot Description
  Account books and related items from the photography businesses operated by C.C. Giers (1828-1877) and his son Otto Giers of Nashville. 1st and 2nd items: 2 books, one titled Giers Gallery with beginning date 1872, the other titled Giers and Koellein, no beginning date, but circa 1895, both containing hundreds of signatures of Giers photography customers, presumably sitters, over a period of several years. Most of the clients who signed listed their residences from the Middle Tennessee area, but a few hailed from further environs including Charleston, Buffalo NY, Memphis, Kentucky, and as far as Mexico. (Giers Gallery book - 10 1/2" x 8" x 1 3/8". Giers and Koellein book - 10 1/4" x 8 1/4" x 1 3/8"). 3rd item: Partial C.C. Giers ledger, much of it written in German, circa 1872 (12 1/8" x 7 1/2" x 3/4"). 4th item: Memorial of the International Exhibition 1876, souvenir booklet with 48 views of the event in Philadelphia, "compliments of C.C. Giers," with views including the Photographic Association Studio, where C.C. Giers exhibited his work (wear to cover, toning to interior pages). (3 1/8" x 4 7/8" x 1/4"). 5th item: 3 Pages from Frank Leslie's and Harper's Weekly with engravings based on Giers photographs. 6th item: 2 photographic images of C.C. Giers including CDV with his own photography studio backstamp verso and a sixth-plate tinted tintype portrait. (CDV overall - 4 1/8" x 2 1/2". Tintype overall - 4 3/4" x 3 7/8"). 7th item: 2 Thuss, Koellein and Giers envelopes, 1 empty, the other containing a lock of hair and addressed to Miss E. Childress (both envelopes toned and torn). 8th item: Will of Carl C. Giers, dated Oct. 16, 1875, ordering his business property, "especially my business on Union Street, together with its good will and fixtures", to be sold, with the income invested and interest to benefit his wife, Pauline. (Toning, scattered minor stains). 9th item: June 2, 1883 Bill of sale transferring ownership of Armstrong's Photographic Gallery at 139 Union Street in Nashville to the partnership of W.G. Thuss, Emil Koellein, and Otto Giers, "together with its good will, furniture, fixtures, specimens, apparatus, negatives stock and materials." (Toning, 1/2" tear at fold, light grime). 10th item: Civil War certificate, partially printed and dated Dec. 26, 1864, noting that "Giers and Co is duly authorized to sell supplies to loyal persons at Nashville and that he may be permitted to ship to that place during the month of December, supplies... to the amount of $500." Signed by C.A. Fuller. Together with a Special License to ship to Insurrectionary States and Districts, allowing C.C. Giers to import $200 worth of "goods, wares and merchandise", signed by W.D. Gallagher and dated July 19, 1862. 1/2" loss at top of page. (Note: Giers was allowed to continue his photography business during the Civil War, in fact photographing numerous Civil War officers on both sides of the conflict. However, as these certificates show, operating the business in a Union occupied Southern city carried its share of red tape). 11th item: Apron from Giers' studio; metal door plate "Chas. C. Giers" (3 1/2" x 7"). 12th item: Light magnifier or lens from a piece of photography equipment (1 1/2" x 3 1/4"). 13th item: Metal printing plate depicting the Giers photography shop along with a late 20th century card showing a reprint of the image. (Plate - 1 5/8" x 4 3/8" x 7/8". Card - 3 1/2" x 5 1/2"). 14th item: C.C. Giers TN and Pacific Railroad Pass. 15th item: 4 Koellein, Patterson, and Giers trade cards (grime). 16th item: Otto B. Giers "First Class Photographer" ad (adhered to 1960s photo album page). 17th item: Giers and Koellein sign: "Notice: All Photographs Must be Paid for in Advance". 18th item: Souvenir booklet from the Photographer's Association of American convention dated July 23-27 1900 (6 1/2" x 10 1/8" x 1/4"). 19th item: Souvenir programme of the Photographer's Association of Kentucky and Tennessee, McMinnville TN June 20-23, 1905 with ads and samples of photography from various area studios (9 3/4" H x 6 5/8" W x 3/8" D). 19th item: Register book, lacking covers, dated March 20 -Dec. 19, 1868, containing signatures and residences - possibly another Giers photography customer register. Book is fragile with separations to spine, newspaper clippings pasted to some pages, chew losses to corners (7 3/4" x 6 1/2" x 3/8"). 20th item: Scrapbook containing newspaper clippings related to C.C. Giers, including some of his letters to the editor favorable to immigration ("Let them come"), a critical report from the Tennessee exhibit at the World's Fair in Vienna, 1873 ("Tennessee makes a poor show in the world"), etc. Lacking covers, pages heavily toned, clippings glued down. 21st item: Large document signed by Tennessee Gov. John C. Brown appointing Giers as Commissioner to the 1873 Vienna Exposition, vignette of the state Capitol at top, seal at bottom. (Fragile with full tears at lower fold lines). (20 7/8" x 15 5/8" approx.). Note: Carl C. Giers immigrated from Germany and arrived in Nashville in 1852. He set up a photo gallery downtown, photographing many Nashville occupants and visitors - including notable Civil War figures during the city's Union Occupation. C.C. Giers passed away in 1877 and the studio was sold, but his son, Otto Giers, only 19 when his father died, took up the trade and continued it as part of the firm Thuss, Kollein and Giers. He went on to make a name for himself photographing a series of documentary photos of the city of Nashville (included in this auction), the Nashville Centennial Exposition, and other important citizens, sites, and events. Provenance: the estate of Giers descendant Sarah Hunter Hicks Green, formerly of Historic Devon Farm, Nashville, Tennessee. (Higher-resolution photos are available at www.caseantiques.com)

  Condition

  Covers of 1872 Giers Gallery sitters' book fully detached and badly worn; front cover of the Giers and Koellein book missing and back cover nearly detached. Ledger in poor condition with pest damage, lacking covers, heavy toning and foxing. Other items used and worn, see item description above.
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