A Graveyard Preservation Primer (American Association for State and Local History Book Series)

Rating:
Summary: By far, this is the most comprehensive book out on the topic
Review: The Graveyard Preservation Primer is a must read for anyone interested in the reasons to save old graveyards and how to go about doing so in a respectful and historically accurate manner. Her book is well researched and well written. It is straightforward and simple enough for novices, yet has enough insightful information for even the most informed reader. Her topics range from how to organize volunteers to do gravestone and graveyard cleaning to photographic techniques to get outstanding records of the stones. Her suggestions for cleaning techniques are well researched and very sound. Overall, this is just a superb manual. A must read before any work is done on an old graveyard. It will also enhance the experience of the graveyard afficionado, by exposing them to a whole new set of ways to observe the gravestones and yard.

Rating:
Summary: Exactly what it's entitled
Review: This is a great concise, basic book on graveyard preservation - a real "primer" indeed. Anyone interested in such work should read this through at least once before ever attempting it, then it can be a quick reference after that. Covers briefly yet thoroughly all aspects of gravesite preservation, explaining what you'll have to think about even if it can't give you precise instruction. Lynnette Strangstad, writing for the Association for Gravestone Studies (AGS), does a fine job and includes bibliography and even some possible contacts for proceeding on preservation.