This Victorian "Blood Book" Will Give You Nightmares

Damn, this is some dark scrapbooking.

The following is a very curious and mysterious object, which was included in Evelyn Waugh's collection at the Harry Ransom Center, University of Texas at Austin.

Courtesy Harry Ransom Center, University of Texas at Austin / Via hrc.contentdm.oclc.org

(The book was not created by Waugh. Its creator cannot be confirmed, but an inscription tells us the book was given as a gift in 1854.)

It has come to be referred to as the "Victorian blood book."

Courtesy Harry Ransom Center, University of Texas at Austin

The images of blood are a reference to Christian sacrifice.

That red hue, however, is not blood; it is red India ink.

Courtesy Harry Ransom Center, University of Texas at Austin

From the description: "Its decoupage was assembled from several hundred engravings, many taken from books of etchings by William Blake, as well as other illustrations from early nineteenth-century books."

This is only a selection of a few pages from the book, however the imagery is similar throughout — a mix of religious iconography, nature, and "extensive religious commentary."

Courtesy Harry Ransom Center, University of Texas at Austin

We can make an educated guess about a few things from the inscription...

Courtesy Harry Ransom Center, University of Texas at Austin

The book is inscribed by someone named John Bingley Garland, to his daughter, Amy, reading, "A legacy left in his lifetime for her future examination by her affectionate father."

We can assume (but not confirm) that the artist is this Garland guy because his handwriting matches that in the book.

Courtesy Harry Ransom Center, University of Texas at Austin

While this appears terrifying to us now, it probably conveyed a different meaning to its Victorian owners.

Courtesy Harry Ransom Center, University of Texas at Austin

Here's what the Garland family has to say about it: "It is full of symbols of both Human and Non-Human 'Crusaders and Protectors' of God and Christianity and most of the Verses, Quotes, etc are encouraging one to turn to God as our Saviour."

Still...there's something utterly haunting (and beautiful) about this book.

Courtesy Harry Ransom Center, University of Texas at Austin

To browse the entire "blood book," go here.

Whoever made this is probably the world's first great graphic designer.

Courtesy Harry Ransom Center, University of Texas at Austin

The book is filled with exquisite pages of decoupage, creating a collage with images, red ink, and words.