Reading the Gravestones of Old New England

Reading the Gravestones of Old New England
Author: John G.S. Hanson
Publisher: McFarland
Total Pages: 255
Release: 2021-11-15
Genre: History
ISBN: 1476643296

The graveyards of old New England hold an incredible range of poetic messages in the epitaphs etched into the gravestones, each a profound expression of emotion, culture, religion, and literature. These epitaphs are old, but their themes are timeless: mourning and faith, grief and hope, loss, and memory. This book tells the story of a years-long walk among gravestones and shares insights gained along the way. It identifies the source texts and authors chosen for these stones; interprets something of the tastes and beliefs of the people who did the choosing; offers some hypotheses on the various ways these texts were accessible to readers in remote towns and villages; gives a brief summary of the religious context of the times; and reflects on how the language and literature chosen for these epitaphs express these peoples' conflicted and evolving attitudes towards life, death, and eternity.

Early New England Gravestone Rubbings

Early New England Gravestone Rubbings
Author: Edmund Vincent Gillon
Publisher:
Total Pages: 244
Release: 1966
Genre: Art
ISBN:

Reproductions of gravestone rubbings from grave sites in New England.

Carved in Stone

Carved in Stone
Author:
Publisher: Wesleyan University Press
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2024-01-02
Genre: Photography
ISBN: 9780819501240

Evocative photographs and essay illuminate early American gravestones Gravestones are colonial America's earliest sculpture and they provide a unique physical link to the European people who settled here. Carved in Stone book is an elegant collection of over 80 fine duotone photographs, each a personal meditation on an old stone carving, and on New England's past, where these stones tell stories about death at sea, epidemics such as small pox, the loss of children, and a grim view of the afterlife. The essay is a graceful narrative that explores a long personal involvement with the stones and their placement in New England landscape, and attempts to trace the curious and imperfectly documented story of carvers. Brief quotes from early New England writers accompany the images, and captions provide basic information about each stone. These meditative portraits present an intimate view of figures from New England graveyards and will be enjoyed by anyone with an interest in early Americana and fine art photography.

Graven Images

Graven Images
Author: Allan I. Ludwig
Publisher:
Total Pages: 526
Release: 1966
Genre: Crafts & Hobbies
ISBN:

In Puritan New England, with its abiding concern for things not of this world and its distrust of forms and ceremonies, one art flourished: the symbolic art of mortuary monument stonecarvers. This carefully researched, beautifully illustrated work was the first to consider this art in depth as a meaningful aesthetic-spiritual expression. It is reissued for today's readers, with a new preface outlining changes in the field since the book appeared in 1966.

Over Their Dead Bodies

Over Their Dead Bodies
Author: Thomas Clifford Mann
Publisher:
Total Pages: 126
Release: 1993
Genre: Epitaphs
ISBN: 9781566190497

A Graveyard Preservation Primer

A Graveyard Preservation Primer
Author: Lynette Strangstad
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 238
Release: 2013-08-28
Genre: Architecture
ISBN: 0759122431

A Graveyard Preservation Primer has proven itself to be a time-tested resource for those who are seeking information regarding the protection and preservation of historic graveyards. It was first written to help stewards of early burial grounds responsibly and effectively preserve their graveyards. Much information found in the first edition of the book remains valid today. Still, much has changed in the twenty-five years since its first publication, and the new edition reflects these changes. Attitudes and the understanding of historic graveyards as an important cultural resource have grown and developed over the years. Likewise, changes in treatments have also taken place. Perhaps the most dramatic change in burial ground preservation is in the world of technology. Changes in computers and the way we use them have also changed preservation practices in historic graveyards. Discussion of technological changes in the new edition includes those in mapping, surveying, photography, archaeology, and other areas of evaluation and planning. Consideration is given, too, to maintenance and conservation treatments, including both traditional and newer treatments for stone, concrete, and metals. Metals were not discussed in the earlier editions, and protection and preservation of the landscape as it relates to graveyards is an expanded focus of this book. The historic preservation of cemeteries and burial grounds is an aspect within the discipline of historic preservation that is unknown to many. Those whose responsibility is the care of these historic sites may be unfamiliar with appropriate approaches to such areas as documentation, planning, maintenance, and conservation. Unwitting personnel can do irreparable harm to these important cultural resources. The Primer is an effort to protect historic cultural resources by breaching the gap between maintenance staff, cemetery boards, friends’ groups, and graveyard preservation professionals by offering readily available, responsible information regarding graveyard protection and preservation. It is also designed to assist those who would undertake a preservation project in the reclaiming of a neglected or abandoned historic cemetery. The book is generously illustrated with diagrams and photos illustrating procedures and gravemarker and graveyard forms, styles, and materials. The appendix section is completely updated and expanded, offering a worthwhile resource in itself.

Burial and Death in Colonial North America

Burial and Death in Colonial North America
Author: Robyn S. Lacy
Publisher: Emerald Group Publishing
Total Pages: 212
Release: 2020-09-09
Genre: History
ISBN: 1789730430

This book explores the relationship and organization of 17th Century burial landscapes within their associated settlements and the wider setting of colonial northeast British North America to provide readers with a more holistic understanding of settlers’ relationship with mortality.

African American Historic Burial Grounds and Gravesites of New England

African American Historic Burial Grounds and Gravesites of New England
Author: Glenn A. Knoblock
Publisher: McFarland
Total Pages: 333
Release: 2015-12-14
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1476620423

Evidence of the early history of African Americans in New England is found in the many old cemeteries and burial grounds in the region, often in hidden or largely forgotten locations. This unique work covers the burial sites of African Americans--both enslaved and free--in each of the New England states, and uncovers how they came to their final resting places. The lives of well known early African Americans are discussed, including Venture Smith and Elizabeth Freeman, as well as the lives of many ordinary individuals--military veterans, business men and women, common laborers and children. The author's examination of burial sites and grave markers reveals clues that help document the lives of black New Englanders from the 1640s to the early 1900s.

Changing Landscapes in Urban British Churchyards

Changing Landscapes in Urban British Churchyards
Author: Sylvia E. Thornbush
Publisher: Bentham Science Publishers
Total Pages: 297
Release: 2020-04-27
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 9811441243

his interdisciplinary reference work presents a linked consideration, to the reader, of physical- cultural (physicocultural) representations of headstones located in urban churchyards in England and Scotland. The geomorphology of landscapes relevant to these locations is explained with the help of detailed case studies from Oxford and Edinburgh. The integrated physicocultural approach addresses the conservation of the archaeological record and presents a cross-temporal perspective of landscape change – of the headstones as landforms in their landscape (as part of deathscapes). The physical record (of headstones) is examined in the context of both cultural representation and change. In this way, an integrated approach is employed that connects the physical (natural) and cultural (social) records kept by historians and archeologists over the years. Changing Landscapes in Urban British Churchyards is of interest to geomorphologists, historians and scholars interested in understanding landscaping studies and cultural nuance of specific historical urban sites in England and Scotland.