Carved in Stone

Evocative photographs and essay illuminate early American gravestones. Gravestones are colonial America's earliest sculpture and they provide a unique physical link to the European people who settled here. Carved in Stone book is an elegant collection of over 80 fine duotone photographs, each a personal meditation on an old stone carving, and on New England's past, where these stones tell stories about death at sea, epidemics such as small pox, the loss of children, and a grim view of the afterlife. The essay is a graceful narrative that explores a long personal involvement with the stones and their placement in New England landscape, and attempts to trace the curious and imperfectly documented story of carvers. Brief quotes from early New England writers accompany the images, and captions provide basic information about each stone. These meditative portraits present an intimate view of figures from New England graveyards and will be enjoyed by anyone with an interest in early Americana and fine art photography.

"Carved in Stone is a thoughtful and thought-provoking commentary on New England gravestone art of the pre-industrial era--a welcome addition to the New England gravestone studies literature."--Bob Drinkwater, past president of the Association for Gravestone Studies

"Carved in Stone is a thoughtful and thought-provoking commentary on New England gravestone art of the pre-industrial era--a welcome addition to the New England gravestone studies literature."--Bob Drinkwater, past president of the Association for Gravestone Studies

"The flat images are full of a primitive power, much augmented by relevant quotations from the journals, sermons, and accounts of the period. This is a large, handsome volume, essential for anyone interested in old graves."--Brenda Clough, ICCFA Magazine

"These solid chunks of the past are strange and wonderful, irresistible and repellent, sign posts to our past as well as our future. There's never a crowd. Above ground that is. If a case can be made for visiting these lonely, eerie, open air exhibits, two brothers, Thomas and William Gilson, have made it in their new book."--David Holahan, Hartford Courant

"While on a rather unusual subject, this wonderful book from Wesleyan University Press is both informative and entertaining. Eighty duotone photographs by Thomas Gilson are accompanied by (text) written by his brother William. These explain the stone carvers and the various stories they are telling in their work, from wrecks at sea to epidemics, the loss of small children, and the more mundane."--The New London Day

"The artistry of these gravestones is remarkable given the Puritan aesthetic to find religious images, and art in general one supposes, inappropriate."--Christopher Cumo, Connecticut History

"If you've ever liked strolling through a graveyard--and as a kid I remember spending a lot of time walking the dirt lanes of the vast Pocasset Cemetery--this collection of New England's past will fascinate."--Tony Laroche, Providence Sunday Journal

"Pine Bush photographer Thomas E. Gilson documented early American gravestones for years before learning that his brother William, a writer and poet, had a parallel obsession. Their collaboration pairs more than 80 spare, striking black-and-white photos with a personal and searching essay on the allure of these idiosyncratic, oddly eloquent carvings."--Nina Shengold, Chronogram

"One of the most interesting books of photography, and history, published in recent years."--Chris Rowley, Shawangunk Journal

"The Gilson brothers--photographer Thomas and writer William--have captured the essence of these somber, touching memorials. An excellent look at a fascinating subject and a fine introduction to the field."--Paula Frosch, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Library Journal

"Carved in Stone...is an eerie book, one that quietly works on you."--Jan Gardener, Boston Globe

"Thomas Gilson's photographs are beautiful, haunting, revelatory at times frightening."--Alan Bisbort, Waterbury Republican-American

THOMAS E. GILSON, author of The New England Farm, lives in Pine Bush, New York. WILLIAM GILSON lives in England and his writings appear in numerous journals. The Gilson brothers were born and raised in Connecticut.

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