Delighted to share the cover image for the summer issue of MI, which will be mailed next week. This sixth-plate ruby glass ambrotype by an anonymous photographer is from the exquisite collection of Matt Cranford. Representative images from his holdings are highlighted in a feature gallery.

Here’s the caption that accompanies the cover image:
A clean-shaven young infantryman is equipped with all the trappings of war. He holds a Model 1816 conversion musket with fixed bayonet in one hand, and grips a single shot percussion pistol in the other. A regulation rubberized canvas backpack with russet leather straps and bedroll is strapped to his back, and hanging from his neck is a black-painted leather haversack and drum canteen. “What’s really striking is the backdrop: A very subtle, low-lying landscape that makes the soldier appear as if he’s marching in high country,” Cranford declares.