{"product_id":"beyond-the-veil-the-victorian-obsession-with-death-and-mourning","title":"Beyond the Veil: The Victorian Obsession with Death and Mourning","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eBeyond the Veil \u003c\/i\u003eis a visual tour through the curious history of how we deal with death--the grief and mourning, the funerals, symbols, and ceremonies. \u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eFrom \u003cb\u003eVictorian England\u003c\/b\u003e across to the \u003cb\u003eUS\u003c\/b\u003e, learn about the often peculiar and at times macabre ways of how the living memorialize the dead. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eHumans have always had ways of marking death, but in Victorian England death became a morbid obsession that went global--death was as much 'celebrated' as it was a source of fear and sadness. Queen Victoria herself became a figurehead of grief after the death of her beloved Prince Albert in 1861. Her ensuing\u003cb\u003e fascination with death\u003c\/b\u003e took many visual forms--from her ritualized embrace of black clothing to the building of ostentatious monuments--and massively \u003cb\u003einfluenced cultural norms\u003c\/b\u003e in both the UK and further afield. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThe Victorians built complex cemeteries, collected precious memento mori, commissioned bizarre death portraits, and obsessed over the correct mourning attire and funerary protocol, while turn-of-the century America saw reflections of many of these cultural phenomena. The bestsellers of the period were often about life and death (think \u003ci\u003eFrankenstein \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eDracula\u003c\/i\u003e), while the\u003cb\u003e art, architecture, and style--\u003c\/b\u003ewith its often dark and heavy gothic overtones--revelled in the glamorization of death.\u003ci\u003e Beyond the Veil\u003c\/i\u003e brings this extraordinarily \u003cb\u003eelaborate and stylised visual culture\u003c\/b\u003e together while expertly explaining and elaborating on its most \u003cb\u003epeculiar and fascinating\u003c\/b\u003e aspects. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eFor example, it explores: \u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe influence of\u003cb\u003e Queen Victoria's personal mourning\u003c\/b\u003e on fashion and social custom.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe rise of \u003cb\u003eVictorian cemeteries and funerary architecture\u003c\/b\u003e. \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe art of \u003cb\u003ememento mori and post-mortem photography\u003c\/b\u003e. \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe emergence of \u003cb\u003espiritualism, seances and afterlife communication\u003c\/b\u003e. \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe fascination with \u003cb\u003egothic literature, symbolism\u003c\/b\u003e and the\u003cb\u003e romanticization of death. \u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBeautifully illustrated throughout with archival photography, artworks and design, \u003cb\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003eBeyond the Veil \u003c\/i\u003eis a must-have for\u003cb\u003e lovers of history, art, and the macabre. I\u003c\/b\u003et invites readers to step into the shadows of the past and discover how Victorian mourning shaped our modern relationship with grief and remembrance.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Paul Gambino","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover","offer_id":47288389173484,"sku":"9781836004226","price":29.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0684\/1791\/3068\/files\/9781836004226.jpg?v=1770548109","url":"https:\/\/intl.allstora.com\/products\/beyond-the-veil-the-victorian-obsession-with-death-and-mourning","provider":"Allstora","version":"1.0","type":"link"}