Tuesday, September 30, 2008

101 Ways, Part 45: Yielding Up Her Spirit

For a brief intro to the "101 Ways to Say 'Died'" series, click here.

North Burial Ground, Providence, RI:


In Memory of
Miss AMEY SESSIONS,
the amiable daughter
of the Hon. Darius Sessions
& Sarah his wife;
who though suddenly called,
met her dissolution with great
composure,
yeilding up her spirit into the
hands of her Creator in full
confidence of His power and mercy,
on the 22d. day of Oct. 1829,
in the 60th year
of her age.


The beautifully precise lettering is the work of S. Tingley & Sons, whose work dominates the Providence burying grounds during the 1810-1840 period.

2 comments:

Robert J. said...

That's a nice example of how fashions in gravestone carving mirror fashions in print typography. That kind of shadow letting is very much a 19th-century print phenomenon -- it would have been unheard of in the 18th. And the face is very close to Bodoni, which again was unknown in the 18th century, when gravestone lettering styles were much more in the tradition of Caslon and related print typefaces.

Caitlin GD Hopkins said...

The Tingleys have a vast repertoire of lettering styles, from the most delicate cursive to these embellished poster typefaces. I haven't been able to find much information on the family yet, but I wouldn't be surprised if someone in the family worked in printing or bookbinding.

This obituary for Samuel H. Tingley (grandson of the Samuel Tingley of "S. Tingley & Sons") notes that his grandfather was "a fine penman, much
called on by his neighbors to assist therein their writing." Whether this is true or just family legend, I don't know, but it shows that writing was very important to the family's self-image.