1 See Stephanie Oeben, ‘Alison Gernsheim—Photo Historian and Collector’, in Alfried Wiezcorek, Claude W. Sui (eds.), The Birth of Photography. Highlights of the Gernsheim Collection, exh. cat., (Mannheim, Reiss-Engelhorn-Museums, 2012 September 9 to 2013 January 6), Heidelberg, Kehrer, 2012, p. 48–69. The here published article is a partially revised and shortened version of the above-mentioned article by Stephanie Herrmann (née Oeben) from 2012.
2 John Pultz, ‘Collectors of Photography’, in A Personal View. Photography in the Collection of Paul F. Walter, exh. cat. (New York, Museum of Modern Art, 1985 May 23–August 13), New York, The Museum of Modern Art, 1985, p. 19.
3 Alison Nordström, ‘Ideas in Things. The Gernsheim Collection and the Histories of Photography’ in Roy Flukinger (ed.), The Gernsheim Collection, Harry Ransom Center Photography Series, Austin, Texas, University of Texas Press, 2010, p. 1. The Gernsheim Collection and its creators have already been the subject of several scholarly projects. See particularly the two exhibition catalogues, Alfried Wieczorek, Claude W. Sui (eds.), Helmut Gernsheim. Pionier der Fotogeschichte, publications of the Reiss-Engelhorn-Museen, Vol. 9, Ostfildern-Ruit, Hatje Cantz, 2003; Roy Flukinger (ed.), The Gernsheim Collection, Harry Ransom Center Photography Series, Austin, Texas, University of Texas Press, 2010.
4 In some places, the traditional Spicer Brothers paper factory is also mentioned. See Paul Hill, Thomas Cooper (eds.), ‘Interview with Helmut Gernsheim’ in Dialogue with Photography, New York, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1979, p. 160–210, here p. 191.
5 On the following biographical details, see primarily Claude W. Sui, ‘Helmut Gernsheims Pionierarbeit als Sammler und Fotohistoriker’, in A. Wieczorek, C. W. Sui (eds.), Helmut Gernsheim…, op. cit., p. 19–43; Roy Flukinger, ‘Helmut and Alison Gernsheim and The Gernsheim Collection’, in R. Flukinger (ed.), The Gernsheim Collection, op. cit., p. 11–65.
6 In July 1940, Helmut Gernsheim and about 2,500 other emigrants from Germany and Austria were forced to embark on the repurposed warship Dunera, which was supposed to deport them to Canada but ultimately, after an odyssey of several months, ended up in Australia. See A. Wieczorek, C. W. Sui (eds.), Helmut Gernsheim…, op. cit., p. 21.
7 On the letter correspondence during the internment period, see also R. Flukinger (ed.), The Gernsheim Collection, op. cit., p. 18 and p. 19–20.
10 See the official letter by the passport agency dated September 11, 1945 and addressed to Alison Gernsheim, with the request to submit her passport immediately for cancellation. Not until two years later was she issued a new British passport, dated April 3, 1947, with her new last name: Alison Mary Gernsheim. Helmut Gernsheim was granted British citizenship on January 22, 1947 (File no. 21589) after his naturalization; in the archive of the Contemporary Gernsheim Collection in the Forum for International Photography at the Reiss-Engelhorn-Museen (rem) Mannheim.
11 See Helmut Gernsheim, ‘Gernsheim on Gernsheim’, Image—Journal of Photography and Motion Pictures of the International Museum of Photography at the George Eastman House, 27/4, December 1984, p. 2–8, here p. 2.
12 R. Flukinger (ed.), The Gernsheim Collection, op. cit., p. 13.
13 P. Hill, T. Cooper (eds.), ‘Interview with Helmut Gernsheim’, p. 180.
14 R. Flukinger (ed.), The Gernsheim Collection, op. cit., p. 33.
16 P. Hill, T. Cooper (eds.), ‘Interview with Helmut Gernsheim’, p. 189. See also the letter from his brother Hans Gernsheim to Helmut Gernsheim, April 11, 1969, in the archive of the Gernsheim Collection.
17 P. Hill, T. Cooper (eds.), ‘Interview with Helmut Gernsheim’, p. 186; R. Flukinger (ed.), The Gernsheim Collection, op. cit., p. 33.
18 See the obituary for Alison Gernsheim in The Times, April 7, 1969.
19 P. Hill, T. Cooper (eds.), ‘Interview with Helmut Gernsheim’, p. 188.
20 R. Flukinger (ed.), The Gernsheim Collection, op. cit., p. 25.
22 Alison Gernsheim (ed.), Fashion and Reality, London, Faber and Faber, 1963. A second unabridged and revised edition appeared in 1981 with a modified title: A. Gernsheim (ed.), Victorian and Edwardian Fashion. A Photographic Survey, New York, Dover Publications, 1981.
23 Given name: Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (1832–98)
24 See also: P. Hill, T. Cooper (eds.), ‘Interview with Helmut Gernsheim’, art. cité, p. 186–7; H. Gernsheim, ‘Gernsheim on Gernsheim’, 1984, p. 4–5. The book met with great media resonance in England and America. It was discussed in Life magazine, among others, and was the second most commonly reviewed book of the year. See Ibid., p. 8.
25 Due to an error by the publishing house, Alison Gernsheim’s credit as co-editor was missing on the book jacket, which Helmut Gernsheim called inexcusable in a letter to the publisher. His reaction is further evidence that he saw his wife as an equal scholar and demonstrates how he wanted her to be perceived in public. See R. Flukinger (ed.), The Gernsheim Collection, op. cit., p. 45.
27 A. Gernsheim, ‘Die frühe medizinische Fotografie’, BD—Medizinischer Bild-Dienst, 1, February 1963, p. 7.
28 See Eva Brinkschulte, ‘Patienten in Pose—Zu den Patientenbildern aus dem gymnastisch-orthopädischen Institut von Heimann Wolff Berend in Berlin 1840–1870’, in Ludwig Zichner, Michael A. Rauschmann, Klaus-Dieter Thomann (eds.), Geschichte konservativer Verfahren an den Bewegungsorganen, Jahrbuch Deutsches Orthopädisches Geschichts- und Forschungsmuseum, Vol. 3, Darmstadt, 2001, p. 23.
29 A. Gernsheim, ‘Medical Photography in the Nineteenth Century’, Medical & Biological Illustration, 11/2, April 1961, p. 88.
32 A. Gernsheim, ‘Die frühe medizinische Fotografie’, 1963. The article appeared in 1963 in the company’s own journals in English as well as in a French and a Dutch translation: ‘Les débuts de la photographie médicale’, Service bibliographique Roche, 28/7, 1963; ‘De vroege medische Fotografie’ in Literatuur-Dienst Roche, 31/7, 1963.
33 The original typescript is now in the archive of the Contemporary Gernsheim Collection, op. cit.
34 A. Gernsheim, Fashion and Reality, op. cit., 1963, p. 21 (Preface).
36 Selected reviews have been collected in the ‘Clipping-Books’ created by Helmut and Alison Gernsheim themselves., Clipping-Book, No. VII, 1963–1969. The Clipping-Books are now in the Contemporary Gernsheim Collection, op. cit.
37 Andrea Inselmann (ed.), A Second Look. Women photographers of the Gernsheim Collection, exh. cat. Frankfurter Fototage 1993 (Frankfurt am Main, Frankfurter Fototage, 1993 August 26 to September 2), Frankfurt am Main, Locher, 1993, p. 11.
38 Upon Alison’s death, Helmut Gernsheim called for an extensive investigation of his wife’s medical treatment, because he believed the embolism had been caused by a doctor’s error. See the extensive documentation currently housed in the archive of the Contemporary Gernsheim Collection, op. cit.
39 Helmut Gernsheim, letter to his older brother Hans Gernsheim, April 22, 1969, in the Contemporary Gernsheim Collection, op. cit.
40 See Camera, 7, Lucerne, C. J. Bucher, 1969; Popular Photography Italiana, 6, Milan, Edizioni tecniche, 1969.
41 See the letters of condolence in the archive of the Contemporary Gernsheim Collection, op. cit.
42 Ibid., Beaumont Newhall, letter of condolence to Helmut Gernsheim, April 17, 1969.
43 Helmut and Alison Gernsheim (eds.), The History of Photography. From the Camera Obscura to the beginning of the Modern Era, London, Thames & Hudson, 1969.