After months of gathering photos and information from Hall County residents, "The Pictorial History of Gainesville and Hall County" is finally here.

With printing officially completed, pre-ordered copies of the book will begin shipping today, said Times’ Circulation Director Jim Brumbelow.

At 128 pages, the book contains several hundred years of Hall County history.

"It’s a pictorial history of the county going back for hundreds of years," Brumbelow said. It’s aimed at "anybody who has an interest in the past here in Hall County."

Nearly half of the 1,500 copies of the book have already been sold through pre-orders. While many of those orders came from residents of North Georgia, the entire state was pretty well represented in the 650 books that sold early, Brumbelow said. Even "12 are going out of state."

The contents of the book were collected during a four-month period earlier this year when The Times asked readers to submit photos of Gainesville and Hall County. Sifting through the myriad submissions resulted in the book that will now be available in two editions.

The standard edition is on sale for $34.95 plus tax, while the limited edition — which is leather-bound — will cost $75 plus tax, Brumbelow said.

Copies of the book will be available to pick up from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. today and 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday thereafter.