The H.N. Tiemann & Co. Photograph Collection spans the period from ca. 1880 to 1916 and contains 283 black and white negatives (measuring 8 x 10 inches) of views of prominent Manhattan locations. Most negatives are glass, but a few film negatives are included. Negatives are filed by Tiemann's stock numbers. The collection was purchased as a discrete group of 480 negatives in 1952 and was originally integrated into the Negative File (PR 045). Some of the negatives were filed without indication of their creator and remain in the Negative File. Gaps in the numbering sequence reflect the existence of those negatives. Some of the images in this collection were cataloged individually for inclusion in the department's in-house card catalog; they were originally assigned numbers consisting of the prefix 63200- followed by the Tiemann stock number. Most negatives bear Tiemann's imprint, "THE H.N. TIEMANN CO. NEW YORK CITY" or are marked with the firm's distinctive numbering. Titles in this finding aid represent the captions which were handwritten or stamped onto the negatives with abbreviations left intact; titles in brackets have been supplied by N-YHS staff. Dates reflect Tiemann's as they are written on the negatives; dates in brackets have been provided by N-YHS staff.

Negatives in this collection portray Manhattan streets, buildings, hotels, churches, residences and landmarks. Most views are of prominent locations, tourist attractions, grand architecture, or fashionable street views. However, some photographs of shanties show a less glamorous Manhattan at the turn of the 20th Century. Among heavily represented subjects are the 1909 Hudson-Fulton Celebration, Queensboro Bridge, Croton Reservoir, Fifth Avenue, the Flatiron Building, the American Museum of Natural History, Grand Central Terminal, Madison Square Garden and Union Square. Photographs of residences include those of notable New Yorkers A.T. Stewart, Harry F. Sinclair, Cornelius Vanderbilt, and Gouverneur Morris, Jr. A few photographs depict scenes outside of New York City, including one copy negative of a photograph of the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. and a view of a military camp in Peekskill, New York.

Included in the collection are numerous copy negatives of engravings, lithographs, and photographs by other artists, many of which depict earlier views of Manhattan. Copies of photographs by Irving Underhill, J.S. Johnston, and Joseph Hall are present in the collection; most original photographers represented have not been identified. Copy negatives of lithographs by W.C. Rogers & Co. and G. Hayward are included.