I am working on an accurate epub / ebook version of "Facts about Port and Madeira" by Henry Vizetelly. This publication is illustrated with more than 100 sketches. I do have them in digital format, unfortunately of poor quality (low resolution / black and white). I hope to find something more classier like the second example below. Any idea or suggestion?
Do you have a scanner Derek? Rather than just a copy stand, good lighting, a camera attached to stand, and a grateful recipient of excellent photographs thereby taken?
If you use a camera in order not to damage the spine, then you should also use a small glass plate which will help you to get a smooth surface (pages in old books are normally far from even/smooth). You could fix the glass plate properly with clothes pegs which will be small enough not to extent into the printed area of the page.
Another way of getting a scan, which is good enough for a reproduction in a reprint, would be going to the nearest university library and having the book scanned there with the professional equipment mentioned above. This would not be too expensive, here in Germany I would guess 10 Euro for five to six scans.
The Eleventh Commandment: Thou shalt know thy Port
I am having some problems with my camera as the operating system on my Mac no longer supports the remote shooting software. However, I did manage to get a couple of pictures of one of the illustrations and because of the poor quality of the original they will be no better than those posted in your first post.
The first edition that I have also has quite a bit more foxing on the pages than I had remembered so these blemishes would appear on the illustrations in your ebook, which would not look good.
I think your best option is to go with what you have. Where did you source the second image? Are the others available from the same source?
Derek
"The first duty of Port is to be red" Ernest H. Cockburn
I found the second image a long time ago on the internet, but didn't make a note about the source. I will try to retrace the beauty . Thanks for all your efforts. I'll keep you informed.
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. Thanks for all your efforts. I'll keep you informed.