The Empire of Death

2011
Thames & Hudson
London

Beginning in the early modern period and continuing to the 19th century, charnel houses, ossuaries, tombs and chapels were elaborately decorated with human bone. The Empire of Death surveys the most important of of these sites. The design of the book draws inspiration from the historical parallels between architecture and typography, as well as referencing gothic bibles and renaissance title pages. The books is split into two- and four-colour sections, with the contextual history printed on uncoated paper stock, and image sections on matt art. The hardback cover is gold foil blocked with the image tipped on to the front board.