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Announcement of the Sale of MI in the Civil War News

Civil War NewsTranscribed from the latest issue of the print edition:

Ron Coddington Is New Military Images Publisher

ARLINGTON, VA.—Historian David Neville, who owned and edited Military Images magazine since 2003, sold it to Ronald S. Coddington of Arlington in early August.

Coddington, who is familiar to Civil War News readers as the author of “Faces of War,” took over as publisher and editor immediately.

Noting the magazine’s long tradition of excellence in bringing to light rare military portrait photographs, Coddington said, “I am thrilled and honored to have the opportunity to guide MI to the next chapter in its life.”

He said, “The magazine continues to play a key role in preserving the visual record and stories of citizen soldiers in America, and is a key source for information about uniforms and other aspects of the military.”

Coddington said, “In the current digital age, with so much new material surfacing, it is more important than ever to have a publication that showcases and interprets these important images.”

Harry Roach founded the Military Images in 1979. He set a mission to document the photographic history of U.S. soldiers and sailors from the birth of photography in 1839 through World War I, although the vast majority of published images date from the Civil War Period.

Roach sold the magazine in 1999 to Phillip Katcher, from whom Neville purchased it four years later.

Regular contributors to MI include some of the most knowledgable collectors in the country, including Michael J. McAfee, John Sickles, Chris Nelson, David Wynn Vaughan, Ron Field and Ken Turner.

Coddington said he is excited to continue working with all of the MI contributors and invites new faces with a passion for military photograhy to participate.

He may be contacted at militaryimages@gmail.com or militaryimagesmagazine.com

A Letter to Subscribers

Military Images subscriber letterToday I will be begin sending this letter announcing the change in ownership of Military Images to subscribers. It reads:

August 20, 2013

Dear Subscriber,

I am pleased to announce that MI has changed ownership. On August 10, 2013, I signed an agreement with Dave Neville to purchase the magazine, and became the fourth publisher and editor in its thirty-four year history.

Military Images has a long tradition of excellence in bringing to light rare military portrait photographs, and I am thrilled and honored to have the opportunity to take the helm of this unique publication. I have been a long time subscriber and an occasional contributor, and know firsthand how special MI truly is.

I want to take this opportunity to acknowledge my deep commitment to advancing the work begun by Harry Roach in 1979, and followed by Philip Katcher and Dave Neville. All three men have my deepest respect and appreciation.

I also extend a profound thanks to our contributors, who have worked with energy and enthusiasm for years. I’ve had the pleasure to communicate with a number of them since the purchase, and all have expressed their excitement and willingness to continue to contribute their wonderful images and well-researched stories.

Finally, thank you for subscribing. Your support is critical to the ongoing success of MI. If you believe as I do that Military Images plays a crucial role in preserving the visual record of citizen soldiers who forged this country in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, please take a moment to fill out a brief survey to share your opinions about the magazine. Your feedback will be a tremendous help: http://bit.ly/16T4s7t

Exciting changes to the magazine are already in the works, including a redesign. You can follow the progress at facebook.com/militaryimages, and a new web site, militaryimagesmagazine.com.

Again, many thanks for your support. A new and exciting chapter in the history of MI begins now!

Kindest regards,

Ronald S. Coddington
Publisher and Editor, Military Images
P.O. Box 50171
Arlington, VA 22205
703-568-1616
militaryimages@gmail.com
militaryimagesmagazine.com

Picking Up the Last of the Back Issues

Bella with back issuesYesterday I drove to Dave Neville’s home outside Pittsburgh, and picked up boxes of back issues of the magazine. This was my second trip. Last weekend, I picked up the first half the boxes and signed the purchase agreement. On that trip, I drove alone. This time I brought along Bella, our 10-year-old pug. Here she poses with some of the 40 boxes that I unpacked from the car. In the two trips combined, I brought home 81 boxes containing about 6,000 issues. Not bad considering the moving vehicle was a Honda Civil Hybrid!

Next comes the task of organizing and making an inventory of the contents. This work will help me to determine which issues are missing from the archive, and also allow me to list the inventory for sale on tis site and elsewhere.

Prototype for the Cover Redesign

Cover prototypeIn reviewing various magazine-related materials yesterday, I came across this phrase, “By photo collectors for photo collectors.” It caused me to reflect upon the essential strength of Military Images: The contributors who bring forth superb examples of nineteenth and early twentieth century photographs of soldiers and sailors, and the subscribers, many collectors themselves, who appreciate the quality and subject matter. It is this relationship that drives the magazine.

MI should have a design that recognizes this relationship, and meets the demanding aesthetics and sensibilities of contributors and subscribers. This includes a full-color cover—a first for the magazine, and long overdue. I spent some time last night working with the new logo and a few images from my collection.

In the end, I came up with the prototype shown here. The logo is in the upper left, but can be moved the the upper right depending upon the contents of each cover photo. I modified the logo slightly to accommodate the issue date, which is located just below the “I” in “MI.” In this example, the black box behind the “MI” has been removed because of the darkness of the background. If the background happened to be light, the black box would be added. I also decided not to display any headlines or other text that might take away from the power of the portrait. This follows the traditional look of the magazine, although there have been past issues that do include headlines and other promotional material. The headline-free design also recognizes the collector-subscriber relationship at the heart of the publication.