{"product_id":"beyond-the-veil","title":"Beyond the Veil- The Victorian Obsession With Death and Mourning","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eBeyond the Veil \u003c\/em\u003eis a visual tour through the curious history of how we deal with death – the grief and mourning, the funerals, symbols and ceremonies.  \u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eFrom Victorian England across to the US, learn about the often peculiar and at times macabre ways of how the living memorialise the dead. \u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\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 fascination with death took many visual forms – from her ritualised embrace of black clothing to the building of ostentatious monuments – and massively influenced cultural norms in both the UK and further afield. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\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 \u003cem\u003eFrankenstein \u003c\/em\u003eand \u003cem\u003eDracula\u003c\/em\u003e), while the art, architecture and style – with its often dark and heavy gothic overtones – revelled in the glamorisation of death.\u003cem\u003e Beyond the Veil\u003c\/em\u003e brings this extraordinarily elaborate and stylised visual culture together while expertly explaining and elaborating on its most peculiar and fascinating aspects. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFor example, it explores: \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe influence of Queen Victoria’s personal mourning on fashion and social custom.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe rise of Victorian cemeteries and funerary architecture. \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe art of memento mori and post-mortem photography. \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe emergence of spiritualism, seances and afterlife communication. \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe fascination with gothic literature, symbolism and the romanticisation of death. \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBeautifully illustrated throughout with archival photography, artworks and design, \u003cem\u003eBeyond the Veil \u003c\/em\u003eis a must-have for lovers of history, art and the macabre. It 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":"QUARTO","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":67700091748488,"sku":"9781836004226","price":29.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0618\/3501\/8376\/files\/BeyondthVeil.jpg?v=1792447833","url":"https:\/\/intotheferal.com\/products\/beyond-the-veil","provider":"Into the Feral","version":"1.0","type":"link"}