The Ongoing Voyage of New Discoveries
At the Franklin Show last December, I had the opportunity to hold a newly discovered ambrotype of a soldier posed with a “Jeff. Davis and the South!” placard. The owner
Category: Editor’s Desk
On the Collector-Connoisseur
The term connoisseur conjures up a vision of the meticulous art historian studying an unattributed oil painting that has hallmarks of a master’s brush. Or in a similar vein, the
Why We Need Access to Affordable Images
Sales are an indicator of the health of any collector’s market. By this measure, a review of recent sales indicates that the state of Civil War image collecting is strong.
Can Your Old Photo Become an NFT? Should It?
At the recent Ohio Civil War Show, an attendee asked my opinion about non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and Civil War photographs. This query has come up before, sometimes jokingly, but in
Military Images and Gettysburg Publishing Tag Team a New Book
I am excited to tell you about a new book with its origins in this magazine: Gettysburg Faces: Portraits and Personal Accounts, the culmination of a project nine years in
Showcasing the Artists Behind the Lens
My fascination with photographers who produced Civil War era portraits is rooted in my earliest days of collecting. Part artist, technologist, chemist, meteorologist and entrepreneur, these multidisciplinary masters captured the
A Word About Mail Delivery
There is much to celebrate when closing an issue. I reflect on the joys associated with editing the columns and stories, studying amazing images, and learning more about 19th century
Musings on Showcasing
I dedicated my last two columns to the importance of interpretation and preservation, two of the guiding principles in our motto: Showcase. Interpret. Preserve. These words are a credo for
Musings on Preservation
I dedicated my last column to the importance of interpretation, one of the guiding principles in our motto: Showcase. Interpret. Preserve. These words are a credo for collectors who look
Musings on Interpretation
The guiding principles of MI are highlighted in our motto: Showcase. Interpret. Preserve. I added these words to the masthead with a specific purpose in mind: To be a credo