The Merrill Newsletter - Volume 7, Number 2 -
August, 2002 - Page 1
Old Photo
by Allen R. Merrill
I don't know whether you've had much experience with the restoration of old photographs; I had not, until this past week.
I sent the following message to the President of the Leeds, Maine Historical Society, and thought that you might be interested in seeing and hearing details of my good luck, also.
"My father passed down an old, small, (1 3/4" x 2 1/2") glass plate photograph negative of a picture taken in 1860, showing my great-grandfather, John Y. Merrill, holding my grandfather, Edwin K. Merrill, on his lap. Attached to this email is a copy of that picture that a photo shop restored for me last week. (This attachment is from the CD they gave me after generating the restoration.)
I've been wondering how to get that old picture enhanced since I first received it. About ten years ago I took it to a photographer that restored old photos - retouching them by hand, but he said that the image was in such bad shape that the time and cost of trying to correct all the little cracks in the original would be prohibitive. He suggested having a portrait artist paint a copy of the picture, but that didn't appeal to me.
Then, last week I decided to take the little glass plate to a local photo shop that advertises restorative work on old pictures, done electronically, to see what they could do.
I started off by explaining to the people in the shop that I had tried to scan the original myself, but that I couldn't even get an image, so I didn't know whether they'd have much success. They politely pointed out that they were using a $35,000 scanner, at which point I had to confess that my son had bought the scanner which I used, and it probably had cost somewhat less than $35,000...... (I didn't specify about $34,850 less!).
I'm very satisfied, amazed, really, at the result.
Edwin was born in November of 1859. I'd guess his age in the picture to be, what, about 3 to 6 months old? Edwin's mother, Nancy (Manwell) Merrill, died in June of 1860, so this picture had to have been taken either just before or just after her death. I don't know whether it was taken in a studio in Lewiston, or by an itinerant photographer in Leeds; I suspect the latter, considering the problems attendant to transporting an infant in those days.
As you will recall, John Y. Merrill purchased the house and property on old Merrill Road (now Church Hill Road) in Leeds where the Andres now live. John died there after raising Edwin, who had been born in, and then raised his family in the same house.
I'm sending 5 X 7 prints to my children, grandchildren and to other descendants of John and Edwin that I have on my mailing list.
Allen."
You may recall an article about John Y. Merrill's Diaries that ran in The Merrill Newsletter a couple of years ago. Same guy.
In case you're interested: I told the photographer to do whatever was necessary to give me the best chance of getting a good picture. They estimated that the "Custom" level of effort, at $69.95 would probably be necessary. After the restoration they added $10.00 more for the scan, (from which I received the CD), plus $2.95 for my first 5 X 7 print, plus the state tax of $5.39, for a total of $88.29, which I was happy to pay. Incidentally, the prints are even sharper and clearer than this email image, by far!
The foregoing may provide some guidance for any others who know as little as I did about photo restoration.
