The Mission

Greetings, all!

A few years ago a clanne (Preachain-Basternai) cousin gave me a stack of Early Period. They were already out of print at that point, and I was in awe of the veritable gold mine he'd laid in my lap. There were less than 20 issues, and a few were missing. I knew this information needed to be shared.

After a few years, I finally got to a point that I could buy my own computer and actually sit down to tackle the task. After I'd finished the first issue, I happened to meet the original publisher online by chance via a listserve. I had tried previously to contact them through the addresses listed in the magazines but had been unsucessful. I got official permission to republish all the issues online, plus he sent me a complete set of Early Period...about 30 issues in all.

Sometimes it is difficult to come across good research materials depending on the areas in which we live. Sometimes we notice little things about someone's garb that we find interesting or think "that looks neat but it probably isn't really in period" and don't ask about it. Sometimes we see things and wonder what they are at all.

In addition to being a great resource for researching and learning about your own persona, Early Period is also a great way to learn about other cultures as well, which is what the SCA is all about. Now when you see that unusual item or piece of garb you can recognize it and instead of wondering what it is or if its period look more closely to see how it was made. It might even spark a shy person to ask about it!

A lot of time and effort goes into putting these issues online. The text does not scan well so everything is typed, and often the drawings are redrawn so that they can be clear enough to aid the article. However much more work went into actually creating the issues; the original authors, artists and publishers have given priceless effort so that the rest of us might be enlightened and have a better SCA experience overall. It is to these people I deliver my heartfelt thanks.

In Service I remain,

Ceara ni Neill