According to Seligman and Steve G. the discovery of the faint nebulae itself is an adventure like many IC discoveries. To make it short - both nebulae were discovery independently on photographs taken by Max Wolf and E.E. Barnard around 1893/1894. For us visual observer, the most interesting part is the visual observation of Barnard. He was able to see both nebulae (without any filter!) with the 12-inch Lick at 80x (EP 3.75mm) with a field of 42'. He made a precise sketch with stunning accuracy.
Physically, both parts are bound to the near variable (+1.6mag and +3.0mag) ? Cassiopeiae which makes it easy to find but difficult to observe the faint glows. The massive star itself is rapidly spinning and transforming into a giant star. The main and bright component is itself a spectroscopic binary. Beside this, there are two more bounded companions, B (2.1", 10.9vmag) and C (~1", 13mag).
Both nebulae are listed as emission and reflection nebula. Colourful photographs shows blue and red colours within the nebulae. While the northern IC 59 shows more blue parts, the western IC 63 is shining more in the red colours from the emission of ? Cas.
The colours are already a indication of using nebula filters. Most observers with mid size telescopes reported a somewhat brighter IC 63 with and without filters. While my experiences were the same, I made an opposite observation with a 4-inch binocular telescope. While I could not spot IC 63, I could barely see IC 59 directly west of a faint 12mag star group. Reason could be the very small magnification of 14x, which shows the larger blue parts of IC 59. But what are your experiences? What details could you see and what was the smallest aperture to see the nebulae?
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