I'm very excited to see this dummy of Calvariae Disjecta, the book I have been designing for the artist and academic, Robert Williams. Calvariae Disjecta: The Many Hauntings of Burton Agnes Hall focuses on one of the most ubiquitous of English ghost stories, The Screaming Skull of Burton Agnes Hall. Drawing from his extant library and decades of research, Robert Williams re-presents references to the story from more than 100 popular sources that extend across more than 150 years. The project, conducted in collaboration with cultural sociologist, Dr. Hilmar Schäfer, echoes the transmission of the story as quoted text, oral tradition and downright plagiarism, as it draws together the many references across time to a story that tells us as much about cultural and historical representations, as it does a lurid tale of murder, grave-opening, and screaming skulls.
The book is being printed by Allander, Edinburgh, on Munken Pure 120gsm with a cover of Colorplan Smoke Grey 135gsm lined over 2250 micron board. The book is being bound by Charles Letts & Co. in Dalkeith, a company best known for producing diaries.
I'm looking forward to seeing the finished books in a few weeks but at the moment I'm enjoying the purity of this ghost book with no cover design and no content.
