My friend Michaela sent me the most amazing book last week. Well, if we’re going to get technical about it, she actually sent it to me with the idea that I might forward it to my brother, Luke.  She knows he’s a Civil War fanatic and that he might be interested in it. But once I saw the book, I decided it would really be much better if I kept it for myself.

It’s a photographic history of the Civil War, dated 1912. Michaela’s husband, Nik, rescued it from the recycle bin at the dump.

I’m also the proud owner of a new hand-held scanner. I bought it for doing image research for my upcoming trip to the Library of Congress in Washington DC. I’m still getting the hang of it, but I already love it. So you get to see my first attempts with it. They get better. I figured out that it’s not a great idea to scan a picture with the sun streaming in on your book. Pleasant though that may sound, it makes for sun glare on your picture. Anyway, have a look at these amazing photos.

These are southern officers, looking resplendent in their uniforms.

And here is a new recruit at a Union camp, learning the ropes of doing camp laundry.

These guys are the butcher brigade—being married to a basketball coach, I have been known to complain about how often I have to feed an army, but these guys literally had to.

This is an image you rarely see from this era: an overweight soldier. An overweight anyone. It was obviously notable enough to include in the book.

And here’s an illustrator from Harper’s Weekly, sketching the battlefield of Gettysburg in 1863. It’s a larger photo and my first effort at “stitching” scans together. I think it turned out pretty well. And isn’t it an amazing picture?

If any of my nonfiction writer friends would like a lesson from me in how to scan, please feel free to email me. Because obviously I am now an expert.