Scanning and scanning and scanning….

One of the things that I’m really excited about for the history of the 6th Pennsylvania Cavalry is the collection of illustrations that I’ve accumulated over the years. I have photos of more than 70 members of the regiment plus a bunch of other associated illustrations. They run the gamut from photos of the two regimental monuments at Gettysburg to contemporary woodcuts of the Lancers in the field, to a handsome Winslow Homer painting of Rush’s Lancers in the field in 1862. All told the book will have something in the range of 80 illustrations and about 15 maps. Finding a publisher who would permit me to use/include all of this stuff was critical to my efforts; I didn’t go to all of the trouble of collecting all of this stuff not to include it. For instance, I own a tintype of Lt. William Carey of the Lancers that has never before been published, so I’m really excited about the fact that it will be included. I’ve also gotten a number of photos from descendants of veterans of the regiment that obviously have never been published, either.

The flip side of this equation, however, is that I have spent the last two evenings huddled over the flat-bed scanner upstairs, diligently scanning all of these images. Fortunately, we have a new scanner that’s much faster than our old one, or it would take me about a week to get all of these images scanned. It’s tedious work that doesn’t require much in the way of intellectualism, but it has to be done. So, I turn on Radio Margaritaville and listen to Jimmy Buffett while I slog away at the scanning. I have one photo left to do, and then the maps, and then this particular job is finished. Good riddance, if you ask me.