Hermann Goering personal photo album

[KarenFC]

We've had this for quite a long time. I recently started to do a little research and came across the same album on a website which is identical to this one which had already sold. I called them but they only wanted to know what I would sell this one for and would offer no idea of the value. Can anyone offer what the price would be for this piece. Of course I know the old adage, something is only worth what someone will pay. I would appreciate your help. Thank you.

[Watchdog]

That's an interesting item if those pictures are period and not reprints. I don't know about others but I can't tell from these images. Is there any provenance with it?

Sorry but it is not Forum practice to give valuations.

This is not to be peevish or difficult but because it is bad for a forum when some people will only ever make one post and then to say "whats this and what's it worth" after which we never hear from them again.

Also, valuations even for professionals can be highly subjective and sometimes the enquirer dislikes the answer and discord breaks out. Again something that detracts from the forum "raison d'etre" which I am sure you appreciate. It has been known for prospective sellers or worse buyers to try and garner "expert appraisal" to support their own purposes.

As I say it's an interesting document and I would like to see more. Any inscriptions/captions on the pics themselves?

Regards

Mark

[KarenFC]

Like I said, my research was garnered from a website specializing in German war items. The full description of the one they sold is there. I ave kept our in acid free paper. The album is filled with 286 very small pic's of about 1" x 1-3/4". It was meant to be used for Goering to choose which ones would be used for larger photo albums and which ones for publication. Red "x's" next to the ones he liked the best. The website claims this to be one of the more important Goering items they have ever found and several are known to exist. I don't have to much provenance except for the fact it was in a deceased relatives estate. He was a WWII vet and passed in the early 80's. There is no way to see the backs, as they are affixed to each page, as shown.

[Watchdog]

Hmm, sounds like a photographers set of contact prints which is a group of prints straight from the negative in "contact" (figure of speech, not actually touching but in a contact frame) with the paper rather than being magnified at a distance as standard prints are.

I don't think many photographers do this very often these days with the advent of digital imagery but it was done to save resources in the printing of full size copies.

Those of us old enough will recall that wedding photographers for example would produce a set of "Contact prints" sometimes just called "contacts" from which the interested parties would choose which images to have printed for albums etc. The same thing used to be done in the media and fashion industries (I think the media term is "rushes") etc. There was no point and lots of waste in producing say 200 full size pictures when you would only used 10 - 20.

If that is what these are then there is unlikely to be anything on the back save perhaps a negative number.

That said if this is an album produced for "The Big Fellow" himself it seems unlikely that there would be more than one identical set. On the other hand, if it were for a wider circulation then yes there would be more than one especially if it related to a particular set of circumstances or events.

If it were the former I would be suspicious of multiple identical albums of this nature. If it were the latter maybe less so but in the end contact prints are "samples" and as you have described they are rather small.

Again, without provenance this is somewhat subjective but as soon as you hear "one of the more important items" together with the phrase "several known to exist" I think I would want some hard provenance otherwise it's "buyers price" indeed.

Regards

Mark

[KarenFC]

Thanks Mark, all appreciated. BTW, I am old enough to remember, Older than you, actually!) but our family never had the money to afford a photographer, although I remember negatives from my little Kodak!

[BlackCat1982]

Interesting, the original is held in the library of congress.

The original is described thus;

Date Created/Published: [1937?]
Medium: 1 album (63 photographic prints) ; 43 x 37 cm. (album)
Summary: Photographs show Hermann and Emmy Göring at a banquet, garden party and ballet performance with people associated with the theater and Nazi officials. Also includes views of ballet dancers performing on the lawn of the Göring's house at Leipziger Platz 11a in Berlin. Includes informal portraits of the Göring's and their guests including the composer Richard Strauss and the conductor Wilhelm Furtwängler. Also includes views of Nazi government and military leaders in conversation including Josef Goebbels, Reinhard Heydrich, Werner von Blomberg, Joachim von Ribbentrop, Bernhard Rust and Erhard Milch.

[KarenFC]

Thanks Mark, all appreciated. BTW, I am old enough to remember, Older than you, actually!) but our family never had the money to afford a photographer, although I remember negatives from my little Kodak!

[KarenFC]

Thanks BlackCat1982, also helpful and interesting. Looks like I posted my quick reply twice...ooops! Sorry.

[BlackCat1982]

Hmm, sounds like a photographers set of contact prints which is a group of prints straight from the negative in "contact" (figure of speech, not actually touching but in a contact frame) with the paper rather than being magnified at a distance as standard prints are.

I don't think many photographers do this very often these days with the advent of digital imagery but it was done to save resources in the printing of full size copies.

Those of us old enough will recall that wedding photographers for example would produce a set of "Contact prints" sometimes just called "contacts" from which the interested parties would choose which images to have printed for albums etc. The same thing used to be done in the media and fashion industries (I think the media term is "rushes") etc. There was no point and lots of waste in producing say 200 full size pictures when you would only used 10 - 20.

If that is what these are then there is unlikely to be anything on the back save perhaps a negative number.

That said if this is an album produced for "The Big Fellow" himself it seems unlikely that there would be more than one identical set. On the other hand, if it were for a wider circulation then yes there would be more than one especially if it related to a particular set of circumstances or events.

If it were the former I would be suspicious of multiple identical albums of this nature. If it were the latter maybe less so but in the end contact prints are "samples" and as you have described they are rather small.

Again, without provenance this is somewhat subjective but as soon as you hear "one of the more important items" together with the phrase "several known to exist" I think I would want some hard provenance otherwise it's "buyers price" indeed.

Regards

Mark

Just to clarify for those who aren't photographers, the term contact refers to placing the negatives directly onto a piece of photographic paper via the contact frame (simply a device that holds the negatives in position). When the paper is exposed thus a positive is made. So from #1 we can assume the film was 35mm judging from the size of the images.

[Watchdog]

Just to clarify for those who aren't photographers, the term contact refers to placing the negatives directly onto a piece of photographic paper via the contact frame (simply a device that holds the negatives in position). When the paper is exposed thus a positive is made. So from #1 we can assume the film was 35mm judging from the size of the images.

Thanks mate, that kind of what I meant in the first paragraph of post #4.

I'm not a photographer either just tend to pick stuff up through natural inquisitiveness

I thought of 35mm but these seem a bit wide. I had a bit of a poke around and wonder if an old format known as '102' could be the one. It was discontinued according to references in 1933 but I suppose that doesn't mean it suddenly stopped being used as there would have been stock to use and cameras that were not ready to be disposed of.

I know we have at least one member here who has been a professional photographer so I am sure he will chime in here before long whilst we amateurs are bungling around

What does concern me is that if the location of the original is known what is the status of this one and others "known to exist"?

Regards

Mark