Loading…
28
Serious question, I almost trashed a 1740s estate sale find because I couldn't read the corner text
I picked up a folded map at an estate sale in Frederick, Maryland for $8, got it home, and panicked because the bottom corner looked like water damage instead of a printer's mark. I snapped a photo with my phone, bumped the contrast way up in my camera app, and a tiny 'T. Jefferys, 1746' popped right out of the stain, which changed the whole thing from junk to something worth researching. Has anyone else used the phone contrast trick on faded engraving, or is there a better way to pull out worn text without touching the paper?
1 comments
Log in to join the discussion
Log In1 Comment
the_sandra11h ago
Did your stomach drop when that T. Jefferys name popped out? I would have needed to sit down. Estate sales are a coin flip like that, you either walk out with trash or a piece of history for eight bucks. I have used the phone contrast thing on old letters but never on an engraving that faded, so now I need to go dig through my junk drawer and recheck everything.
6