Lettering on gravestones and other gravemarkers, especially that of the Post-Reformation period, has been given little attention by researchers. It is barely mentioned in the literature on funerary memorials. Yet, it is a resource of immense importance in its own right and one that can inform several other disciplines including material culture, art history, archaeology, social history and genealogy. This book demonstrates the range of inscriptional forms and their history in an international context with examples from many countries including Britain, Ireland, continental Europe and North America. The author introduces research methods that can be applied to lettering on gravemarkers and concludes with advice on conservation.

CONTENTS
Preface
Acknowledgements
Gravemarker lettering – a nation’s heritage
Burials and burial sites
Memorial forms
A short history of lettering
The inscriptional perspective
The masons
Materials and techniques
Lettering styles
Gravemarker chronology
General trends
A time of change – Roman lettering from archaic to incised
Informality and the copy-book – the development of script forms
Decadence, banality and opportunity
Design and interpretation
Layout
Ligatures and flourishes
Regional identity, influence, and inspiration
The rustic vernacular tradition
Recording and analysis
How to record
What to record
Statistical analysis
Case study
Conservation

ISBN 978 1905569359
published by Wordwell
A5  174 pages
£25 £12.50
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