The Victorian Celebration of Death [Paperback]

James Stevens Curl (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 25, 2005

In this beautifully illustrated and well-researched book Professor Curl has rescued much fascinating material from undeserved oblivion, and his work fills a genuine gap. From humble working-class exequies to the massive outpouringof grief at the State funerals of Wellington and Queen Victoria herself, The Victorian Celebration of Death covers an immense canvas. It describes the change in sensibility that led to a new tenderness towards the dead; the history of the urban cemeteries with their architecture and landscapes; the ephemera of death and dying; State funerals as national spectacles; and the utilitarian reactions towards the end of the nineteenth century. Combining wit with compassion, Curl wears his learning lightly, and his taste for the eerie is delicately balanced by this literary personality. He has resurrected many valuable and extremely interesting aspects of nineteenth-century attidues to death and the disposal of the dead; Curl's achievement is as well-ordered as any sumptuous funeral, and is lucid as well as entertaining, with many surprises and assiciated delights.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Professor James Stevens Curl is Senior Research Fellow at The Queen's University of Belfast. He read for his Doctorate at University College London, and was Visiting Fellow at Peterhouse, University of Cambridge. He has established an international reputation for scholarship and lucidity of style. He has published many works dealing with aspects of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: The History Press (January 25, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0750938730
• ISBN-13: 978-0750938730
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.8 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,786,031 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A fascinating read, January 25, 2009

By 

Keri Van Zeyst (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Victorian Celebration of Death (Paperback)

A friend of mine gave me this wonderful book. It talks about general attitudes towards death and dying in the 19th Century. It goes heavily into the different types of 19th Century cemeteries, including private cemeteries and garden cemeteries. It explains how things began to change bringing the raise of cremation and how things ended up at the eventual end of the Victorian era. There are some great photographs in the book of grand cemeteries and fabulous engravings of churches. The author also makes some very interesting architectural observations...it's really a unique book and ever so interesting.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Cemetery Art, May 1, 2008

By 

Stuart Schneider "Author of books on collecti... (Teaneck, NJ USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Victorian Celebration of Death (Hardcover)

This is a great book! It has more information than you will ever want, but it has wonderful gems of information that make it a great read. I photograph cemeteries and love the history of cemeteries, so it was fun and useful for my purposes.

1.0 out of 5 stars Boring, November 14, 2011

By 

fairy-whispers (Qld, Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Victorian Celebration of Death (Paperback)

This could have been a very interesting topic, but the writing is boring and repetitive. I gave up after page sixteen.