The Civil War Collection: Artifacts and Memorabilia from the War Between the States [With 48 Page BookletWith 24 PC Paper Ephemera, and Viewer]

These two releases build on journalist Zeller's first In Depth, which three years ago collected similar reproductions of Civil War ephemera. Since then, many more small archive holders have come forward, and the raison d' tre of this second In Depth book of stereograms (glasses included), photos and period documents is to organize and bring them to light--undoubtedly with the huge Civil War-buff market in mind. Houstonian Jean Stanford's unparalleled private collection of stereoviews makes up the core of the book, providing some wonderfully dramatic battle-aftermath shots, as well as fascinating everyday looks at telegraph operators, spies and Port Hudson, La., ""the last rebel stronghold."" The book is carefully and compellingly laid out, the captions inform of scene and date, but analysis is not a focus. The Collection is a stand-alone set of period reproductions, including the 1863 color ""almanac"" (or catalogue) of clothing manufacturer Charles Stokes & Co., a contractual ""Slave Policy,"" a pamphlet calling bearers ""TO ARMS! TO ARMS!!"" money, maps, daguerreotypes, advertisements and other period objects. (All are catalogued and briefly explained in a short accompanying text by Zeller.) The quality of the reproductions is generally good, if less than crisp, and the selection of materials effectively delineates the kinds of printed matter that circulated in mid-century torrents. As the war and culture surrounding it continue to be exhaustively mined by historians and buffs, such projects are the next logical step in getting the material to people in a form as near to the originals as possible, and the closest thing (short of reenactment) to having been there. (Sept.)