NF Is Bearss' Vicksburg Trilogy worth the cost?

Non-Fiction
Thankfully Bearss is still alive and kicking. It is my understanding that anything written during employment with the National Parks Service is the intellectual property rights of the NPS. No royalties to Bearss or Maggie during their lives or residual income afterward.

Say Bearss wrote a more magnificent and encompassing study of Vicksburg with much better maps (I'm thinking Bradley Gottfried style maps showing which regiment fought where and when) in 2019, should Bearss then cross the Styx. His wife Maggie gets the rights. If Maggie predeceases Ed, then Bearss' childrens inherit them. In no kiddies, then Bearss' parents gets them (of course they're in the afterlife). If no parents, then his siblings and if no siblings, then offspring of the siblings (nephews and nieces) in equal shares. Of course, this is subject to his will/trust or Maggie's will/trust. Ask Eric Wittenberg, he's an atturnii.

I haven't checked the copyright date, but if Ed wrote them after leaving the National Parks, it's his. Then again, he could have sold it to Bob Younger (Morningside Press) and whomsoever bought Morningside Press from the Younger has them.

They were definitely written while Ed was still with NPS. I suspect Younger's successors own the rights, but I cannot say for sure. I know who bought the inventory of Morningside, but I have no idea what happened to the publishing rights.
 
Would it be worth it to try to get some kind of campaign going to get Bearss' trilogy reprinted?
I have the set, but also think it should be reprinted.
However, I see several issues.
1. Knowing how the price of printing, on Good paper especially, has risen since Morningside published, could the set be reprinted at a 'resonable price'?
2. Could enough subscribers step up to make a printing run worthwhile to a publisher. Its going to take a lot more than the number showing interest here.
3. Could the new printing be done quick enought to prevent subscribers from dropping out as time goes by?
I would also like to see "Nighty-Eight Days-A Geographer's ‪View of the Vicksburg Campaign" by Warren Grabau reprinted. I also have this and think it an excellent book. glad I read it before going to Vicksburg. Although it is priced high on Amazon, mine is not worth so much, due to the light brown stripe down the page ends in the area of the maps.
Just a few thoughts!
 
I think the main issue with putting together a campaign to get the books reprinted is that most of us would be more than happy to support this, but few of us have the expertise to spearhead such an effort.
 
I think the main issue with putting together a campaign to get the books reprinted is that most of us would be more than happy to support this, but few of us have the expertise to spearhead such an effort.
After some thought, what would happen if a very generous person were to put Bearss' trilogy up online? If nothing else, it would be a surefire way of finding out holds the rights now.
 
How about some suggestions that are excellent reads, but cost less than $20, used? Example suggestions from earlier threads:

Vicksburg: The Campaign That Opened the Mississippi, by Michael Ballard
Edited: Winston Groom's Vicksburg 1863 (read this; too much unrelated matter)
Grant Wins the War: Decision at Vicksburg. by James R. Arnold
War on the Mississippi: Grant's Vicksburg Campaign by Jerry Korn

Norm
 
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After some thought, what would happen if a very generous person were to put Bearss' trilogy up online? If nothing else, it would be a surefire way of finding out holds the rights now.
Is there anyone who owns the set who willing to attempt this?

It would be great if someone were able to contact Ed Bearss, or contact someone who can ask him about the possibility of a reprint.
 
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