Unloading, Vignette Die Proof, Frederick Girsch 1860s ABNCo

Engraved by Frederick Girsch for the American Banknote Company this as a die proof depicting men unloading goods at a wharf.

Frederick Girsch was born near Darmstadt, Germany 31 March 1821, died Mt. Vernon, NY 18 Dec. 1895. As a boy he received drawing instructions from Carl Seeger. He supported his mother and four sisters by painting. His portrait of a Princess helped Girsch to attend the Royal Academy of Darmstadt. In that city he engraved for G.G. Lange. In 1848 he went to Paris to study; the following year he came to New York City. His first work in the U.S. was as etcher and engraver for the New Yorker Criminal Zeitung. In New York City Girsch also worked for other publishers including D. Rice, A.N. Hart, and DeBow’s Reuiew. The portraits of G.B. McClellan, David D. Porter, George Washington and John Winthrop in Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography were engraved by this artist. Bank note engraving was his forte. From 1855 to 1866 Girsch engraved for Danforth, Wright & Co. He engraved for American BNCo as early as 6 Dec. 1862 and as late as 12 June 1875. He might have also engraved for the National BNCo, and perhaps the Continental BNCo.