內容簡介

死亡是每個人共同的終點，自古至今有許多相關的研究、紀錄，不管是研究祭奠儀式、紀念品、還是以後世界，都可以找到許多文獻紀錄、藝術品或者其他形式的呈現，如知名的埃及《死亡之書》、文藝復興時期的屍體畫、萬聖節等等。

本書則是以前所未見的幅度來探討死亡，內容分為七個不同主題，每個主題各為一個章節，每一章都會有相關行業從業人員、學術研究者、記者的文章，以及大量跟死亡相關的畫作、藝術品照片，除了有很多骷髏頭的照片、還有紀錄死亡之舞的照片，大部分的藝術品都來自英國已故知名演員理查‧哈里斯，他曾扮演哈利波特前兩集電影中的鄧不利多教授。

The ultimate death compendium, featuring the world’s most extraordinary artistic objects concerned with mortality, together with text by expert contributors

Death is the one inevitable fact of life. Throughout the centuries, humanity has sought to understand this sobering thought through art and ritual. The theme of memento mori informs medieval Danse Macabre, the Tibetan Book of the Dead, Renaissance paintings of dissected corpses and “anatomical Eves,” Gothic literature, funeral effigies, Halloween, and paintings of the Last Judgment. Deceased ancestors are celebrated in the Mexican Day of the Dead, while the ancient Egyptians mummified their dead to secure their afterlife.

A volume of unprecedented breadth and sinister beauty, Death: A Graveside Companion examines a staggering range of cultural attitudes toward death. The book is organized into themed chapters: The Art of Dying, Examining the Dead, Memorializing the Dead, The Personification of Death, Symbolizing Death, Death as Amusement, and The Dead After Life. Each chapter begins with thought-provoking articles by curators, academics, and journalists followed by gallery spreads presenting a breathtaking variety of death-related imagery and artifacts. From skulls to the dance of death, statuettes to ex libris, memento mori to memorabilia, all the images are of artifacts in the astonishing collection of Richard Harris and range from 2000 BCE to the present day, running the gamut of both high and popular culture.
900 illustrations in color and black and white