[Rarebooks] [b] FS: An 1843 Tract Upon Tomb-Stones

[The Prints & The Paper]

What an exceptionally interesting description! What a snarly old dude was
the Rev. Paget! While I was reading I was trying to think of an epitaph that
might have passed muster with him (my mind lurches around such thoughts this
late in the day, and especially a day on which tombstones figure a prominent
topic) and here's what ran through my head before I reached the end:

Here lies John Fried.
He Lived. He Died.
Nobody Cried.

(Time for my nap - definitely!)
Lee



> -----Original Message-----
> From: biblio-bounces at bibliophilegroup.com
> [mailto:biblio-bounces at bibliophilegroup.com]On Behalf Of Joslin Hall
> Rare Books, ABAA
> Sent: Wednesday, October 31, 2007 2:05 PM
> To: abaa-books at abaa.org; biblio at bibliophilegroup.com;
> rarebooks at rarebooksmailinglist.com
> Subject: [b] FS: An 1843 Tract Upon Tomb-Stones
>
>
> >From our new A GRAVE AFFAIR catalog-
> <http://www.a-grave-affair.com/Catalog_307.htm>
>
>
> [Paget, Rev. Francis Edward]. "A TRACT UPON TOMB-STONES; or, Suggestions
> for the Consideration of Persons Intending to Set Up That Kind of Monument
> to the Memory of Deceased Friends"
>
> Rugeley; John Thomas Walters: 1843.
>
> The Reverend Paget [1806-1882], rector of Elford, did not care for much of
> what he saw in mid-19th century churchyards. Among the things that
> disturbed him- epitaphs made up of too-effusive flattery & "lies" meant to
> gloss-over the reputations and deeds of disreputable characters; epitaphs
> that ask the reader to pray for the souls of the deceased which bear "a
> reference to the Popish doctrine of Purgatory" (no praying for the souls
> of the deceased, if you please); epitaphs declaring the deceased to be
> worthy of Heaven or an innocent (as in a child), because all Men are
> sinners in the eyes of God; epitaphs that declare the deceased to be in
> Heaven -this is a problem because, well, hey, you never know, do you?
>
> The Rev. Paget also deplores pedigrees and genealogies being carved upon
> tombstones; he dislikes slate tombstones; he dislikes silver and gold
> lettering and the use of fancy fonts and effects; he disapproves of jokes
> and poetry in epitaphs and is driven to the depths of outrage and despair
> by epitaphs which set out, often at length, the ailment the deceased died
> of. What really drives him to distraction are tombstone carvings- lambs,
> cherubs, scythes -all are bad, and even worse if they follow the modern
> fashion and are painted out in bright colors. Even doves are bad- "unfit
> even for the best of us". And let us not talk of urns. God forbid anyone
> use an urn -it is a pagan symbol!
>
> What is appropriate? A cross, and a short epitaph, best left to the
> suggestion of your local clergyman. The Reverend Paget, a member of the
> Lichfield Society for the Encouragement of Ecclesiastical Architecture, is
> happy to illustrate 7 examples provided by the Society, all of which are
> quite lovely in a vaguely neo-Gothic way, two of which are designs for
> wooden markers, and several of which, interestingly, incorporate
> Celtic-style crosses and decorative work.
>
> An interesting Victorian-era work by a man who did not like what he was
> seeing in churchyards -no siree, not one little bit! This volume was
> reprinted in 1847 and 1853; none is common; OCLC locates just 11 copies of
> this edition.
>
> Hardcover. 5.25"x8", 25 pages plus 7 lithographed plates; original
> softcovers perished, and newly bound into marbled boards with a paper
> label; slight torn area inside the upped spine just visible, but else a
> fine, neat, clean copy. [09757] $200.00
>
>  -
>
> To see the entire A GRAVE AFFAIR catalog, go to-
> <http://www.a-grave-affair.com/Catalog_307.htm>
>
>  - - -
>
>
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