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Limericks for Book Week

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In the 1970's and early '80's, work by Edward Gorey would appear sporadically in Cricket Magazine. Cricket was started in 1973 by Marianne Carus, whose intent was to create a literary magazine for children aged 9 to 14 that could be used in the classroom. Many famous authors and illustrators were associated with the publication.

One of the earliest contributions by Edward Gorey was a limerick reprinted from a 1975 Book Week pamphlet that also included Gorey illustrations. Most of Mr. Gorey's future contributions would be as illustrator for works by other authors, but the magazine did reprint a portion of his Dancing Cats in the March 1981 issue.





A Visit to the Edward Gorey House

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This past week, Bill and I made a visit the Edward Gorey House Museum in Yarmouthport, MA. The 2015 show focuses on Edward Gorey's self published Fantod Press books, and is on display through the end of the year.

Once again, Edward Gorey House director Rick Jones and his staff have done an exceptional job displaying pieces for the exhibition. Every room contains hundreds of objects, each with a story that can be related by the extremely knowledgeable docents - the day we visited, a gentleman named Charles was a delightful and informative companion as we walked through the show. The depth of material and information found in this year's exhibit is second to none.

Upon entering the House, visitors are greeted by a delightful Fantod Under Glass who presides over the exhibition and was created specially for the show. The first two cases you encounter on either side of this colorful fellow are worth the price of admission in themselves.

Edward Gorey created the Fantod Press to self publish The Beastly Baby, a title he was shopping around and which no publisher wanted to touch...much like the Baby itself! These original drawings are rarely seen and are unexpectedly larger in person than their printed versions - a rarity since Mr. Gorey usually drew art at the size he intended for publication. A small sculptural Baby which once belonged to Mr. Gorey is included in the case.

The display on the other side of the Fantod shows artwork from The Chinese Obelisks. On exhibit in this case is an actual mummy's hand which belonged to Edward Gorey and inspired several creepy drawings.
Edward Gorey's home has many rooms with twists, turns, nooks, and crannies which lend themselves to intimate display areas. The small scale of the original art on display is never overwhelmed by the space, and there is something to see in every corner. The interactive layout of the exhibitions also allows for multiple viewers to be in the spaces and still feel as through the show is there "just for them".

In addition to the Fantod displays, there are exhibits of other aspects of Edward Gorey's career. Of particular interest is the large (in terms of material) display showcasing Edward Gorey's relationship with Dracula. The Dracula material includes original artwork from an unfinished illustrated version of the novel, artwork, photographs, and Mr. Gorey's Tony Award from the Broadway production and original art used for the Dracula Toy Theater. The piece of artwork from the Toy Theater has to be one of the largest and most awe-inspiring pieces of original Gorey artwork I have ever seen in person.
Below is a photo of director Rick Jones with myself in Edward Gorey's kitchen, a room that contains a display of personal and interesting objects which Mr. Gorey collected and actually had arranged on his counter tops.
The 2015 show continues on weekends through the end of the year, and is not to be missed.



A Visit to the Edward Gorey House Continued

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My visit to the Edward Gorey House in October was full of pleasant surprises. One room at the far back of the house had several very interesting displays, including the puppets shown in my previous post and materials relating to the animated sequence for Mystery!. This room also contains a display of hand made stuffed creatures. The case displays the popular Figbash dolls along with other rare pieces sewn by Mr. Gorey. A pile of frogs (with different styles of feet) are joined by a rabbit, elephant, and dragon-like creature. Of particular interest is the cat - a first glance it looks like one of the printed Toy Works cats, but it is actually a hand painted version.


In their goal to display as many interesting things as possible, the room also houses a wall of illustrated books that you can look through. Part of this display is a xerox facsimile or one of Mr. Gorey's sketchbooks containing sketches for the Nantucket and Broadway productions of Dracula. I was delighted to find a page showing his sketch for the iconic poster created for the Broadway production.

Even more of a surprise was to find a page showing the original sketch for the Dracula proscenium and drop curtain used in Nantucket. The finished artwork for the proscenium is in my collection, so it was a thrill to see the sketch. All of the elements in the final artwork are present in the sketch. When the production transferred to Broadway, Mr. Gorey redesigned the proscenium and drop curtain. One can assume that the crossing out on the sketch was done as he went through his idea book and was deciding what to keep and what to re-imagine.



Masterful Marks: Cartoonists Who Changed the World

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Looking for a gift for the Edward Gorey collector in your life? Or perhaps you are just feeling the urge to buy a book for your Gorey collection? Masterful Marks: Cartoonists Who Changed the World (2014 Simor & Schuster) by Monte Beauchamp is a great addition to any collection.
The book tells the personal and professional biographies of 16 cartoon artists in the illustrated graphic novel style by a variety of contemporary artists. A wide range of popular cartoonists such as Charles Schulz, Dr. Suess and Walt Disney reside alongside names that might not be as familiar, such as Rodolphe Topffer and Osamu Tozuka. Edward Gorey is presented by illustrator Greg Clarke in a beautiful 6 page spread.

All of the biographies are beautifully presented, with well written interesting tidbits of information and fantastic illustrations in an illustrated "Wikipedia" style.


Edward Gorey's Robots

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Robots appear in illustrations throughout Edward Gorey's career. As a child and early teen in the 1930's, young Edward would have spent Saturday afternoons playing with friends and going to the movies. Movie serials became part of the Saturday afternoon theater experience in the mid-30's, with weekly installments of thrilling adventures, each ending in a cliffhanger for the hero or heroine. Many of these serials included futuristic themes with robots who were sent to do the bidding of a diabolical fiend. This was even true for the cowboy serials featuring Gene Autry!

In 1961, Edward Gorey illustrated Scrap Irony, the first of three collections of verse by Felicia Lampert. The robot featured on page 25 appears to be a cross between a piece of furniture and a robot. As with robots in the movie serials, this metal creation is supposed to be helpful, but is really thinking for itself and plotting against its inventor.
While almost all of the robots in the serial films were malevolent, Mr. Gorey's mechanical creatures tend to be helpful. Mr. Gorey also appears to stonghly associate robots with the Christmas season. Perhaps he was given a cherished toy robot as a child for Christmas. Whatever the reason, robots appear with frequency on his holiday cards.

One of Mr. Gorey's earliest Christmas robots appears to be conflicted as to whether it wants to be helpful or not. Created in the 1950's, this robot arrives at a remote location where a 1920's flapper has been chained to a rock - but who has chained her there, the robot? The robot gives a cheery "Merry Christmas" and comes bearing gifts in each of its four outstretched arms. Is this a joyous rescue for the heroine, or the cliffhanger to this weeks installment? Will a flaming Plum Pudding really help her out of her situation?
Theater on the Bay's 1993 holiday theatrical production of Blithering Christmas features a helpful robot on the program and souvenir button. It can also be noted that Edward Gorey associates alligators with the Holiday Season. In both Blithering Christmas images, the robot is being assisted by a large reptile to help the small girl. In another image, this same pair appears alongside a small boy, each taking photos of a forlorn Christmas Tree. This helpful reptile also appears without the robot on other Christmas cards.




Merry Christmas!

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MERRY CHRISTMAS
From Goreyana!



Light Meters

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While visiting the Boston area in early November, we were delighted to find that the time of our visit coincided with the annual Boston Book Fair. We found many new dealers to get to know, and lots of wonderful items to inspect. We even came away with a few new treasures for our collections.

Book fairs are a fantastic way to expand your collections and knowledge. Even in the booths with items that do not pertain to our specific collecting interests, we can learn more about the world and the records left behind. It is usually true that a dealer will have a specific area of interest and knowledge, and that they are happy to inform the curious about the pieces they have brought. The danger, of course, is that you will find something that you didn't realize you suddenly need to have!

It is also true that not everything is on the Internet! At the book fair, we came away with several items that were not listed at online stores or websites. One such item that I was able to add to my collection was the limited edition copy of Light Meters by Felicia Lamport, illustrated by Edward Gorey.

Light Meters was published in 1982 in a limited edition of 350 numbered and 26 lettered copies. Each of these copies were protected with a fragile glassine dust wrapper and slipcased. The copy I found at the fair was number 128 in mint condition in the original packaging - including the original brown paper wrapping inside the printed mailing box.





Edward Gorey at Auction

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The upcoming auction of Illustration Art on January 22, 2015 at Swann Galleries in New York City features three pieces of original art by Edward Gorey.


The first item is the preliminary sketch for the wraparound dust wrapper of The Spell of the Sorcerer's Skull by John Bellairs (1984). It is interesting to compare how closely the sketch and the final artwork match (see my post from February 16, 2010).


The next piece is the complete finished art for Haunted America, a compilation of ghost stories by Marvin Kaye (see my post from January 6, 2014). This is a wonderfully vibrant image that was severely cropped on the final publication. Swann sold the preliminary artwork for this piece at the January 2014 Illustration Art Sale.


The third offering at the sale is Edward Gorey's final book illustration project before he passed away in April 2000. The Beast Under the Wizard's Bridge lot includes the separate artwork for the hand lettering on the cover and spine of the book.





Z is for Zillah

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While discussing The Gashlycrumb Tinies with a good friend this past Thanksgiving, she mentioned that she had always wanted a doll like Zilla's for her very own. My partner Bill, who is handy with such things, decided to make one for her as a Christmas gift.

The resulting doll has a moveable head, and is weighted so it can sit "splay fashion" like the doll in the original illustration. Gin was not included.



The Glorious Nosebleed

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Edward Gorey's fifth alphabet book, The Glorious Nosebleed was published by Dodd, Mead & Co. in 1975 as a hardcover book in illustrated boards with a matching dust jacket. This title is reprinted in Amphigorey Also.


The Glorious Nosebleed is one of Mr. Gorey's most amusing and popular alphabet books. The individual images have been reprinted as postcards and calendars over the years. The book ends with one of EG's nicest self portraits which accompanies, "He wrote it all down Zealously". 

This title was also published as a signed limited edition of  250 numbered copies and 26 signed/A -Z copies (limitation on a tipped-in colophon page at the front of the book). All of the limited edition copies were issued in a red slipcase. I am showing numbered copy #55/250 and lettered copy K. I recently acquired the lettered edition from a dealer at the Boston Book Fair this past November.

This is one of the easiest Gorey books to spot in first printing because the binding color of the first edition (including the limited edition copies) is tomato red. When this book went into a second printing, the color of the binding changed to cherry red. I have put the two books side by side so you can see the color difference (the first edition is on the right).







Blithering Christmas Stuffed Frog

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For many years, I had heard that Edward Gorey created a small number of Stuffed Frogs in a Christmas fabric which were sold at his 1992 production of Blithering Christmas, but I had never seen one. Recently, the frog pictured appeared on an on-line auction (this frog is not in my collection). Mr. Gorey often sold Figbash dolls at his theatrical productions to benefit the theater, but the Christmas fabric frog was only ever available at Blithering Christmas. Mr. Gorey did sew a few frogs in non-holiday fabrics which he gave to friends.


One of the interesting things about this frog is the tag that is tied to one of its legs, stating that it was created by hand by Mr. Gorey in 1992. The earliest Figbash dolls sold at the theatrical productions did not have tags. It was not until Gotham Book Mart began selling the Figbash dolls that Edward Gorey made tags for them, at the request of GBM.




January Auction News

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After a lengthy dry spell with virtually no new original artwork by Edward Gorey being offered for sale, it has been a busy month at auction. Four pieces of original artwork, all of them dust wrapper designs, have been sold in the past couple weeks.
Earlier this month, the watercolor painting for Masterpieces of Mysteryand Suspense from 1988 appeared on eBay and was sold. The cover vignette of the man entering Hell is a particularly nice detail of this artwork. The art for the hand lettered typography was not included with the painting.

Swann Auction Galleries January 22 Illustration Art sale had two finished book cover designs and one rough sketch for a book cover (see my post from December 30, 2014). All three pieces sold, with the Haunted America cover exceeding its pre-sale estimate. Swann now posts their auction items on eBay, but it should be noted that the final prices listed on eBay do not include the additional 25% buyers premiums. To see the final sale prices, visit swanngalleries.com.


Edward Gorey in High School

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Edward Gorey attended the Francis Parker School in Chicago Illinois beginning in 1938 and graduating in 1942.  While there are not a lot of specifics known about Gorey's early academic years, collector Tom Michalak has put together an interesting outline of Mr. Gorey's life from early childhood through the early 1960's on the Loyola University Chicago Digital Special Collections Page which can be viewed HERE. This biographical outline includes many interesting facts and images, including Gorey's High School Diploma shown above.

I was recently sent some xeroxes of The Parker School's 1941 yearbook which includes the class picture for The Eleventh Grade. Edward Gorey is seated in the front row wearing a light colored shirt, the third person in from the right. This yearbook picture does not appear on the Loyola site.


The Art of Murder

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On a recent visit to the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, I came across a two room exhibition of prints entitled The Art of Murder. A warning outside the gallery states that the exhibit might not be suitable for young children.

Included in the exhibit are a series of prints, many of great antiquity, each of which depicts the act of murder. Along with the usual representations of religious crucifixions are several pieces that reminded me strongly of the works of Edward Gorey.
On display are a number of prints showing Judith beheading Holofernes. It struck me that the gallery's child warning was amusing given that Mr. Gorey included a painting of Judith in his art gallery image for a Town & Country Magazine article entitled, "Art is Fun".

Also on display at the MIA is an 1848 glyphograph by George Cruikshank titled, "The Maniac Father and the Convict Brother are Gone - The Poor Girl, Homeless, Friendless, Deserted, Destitute, and Gin Mad, Commits Self Murder" (see image at the top of the post). Of course, the title alone could easily be the plot line of one of Mr. Gorey's books.


This image reminded me of several illustrations by Edward Gorey - the first from The Object Lesson, and the second from The Fatal Lozenge. Both of these illustrations bear a striking resemblance to the Cruikshank image.



Edward Gorey Stained Glass Original Artwork

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As a youth, Edward Gorey attended the Francis Parker School in Chicago. In 1940, when he was in the 11th grade, Gorey created a stained glass window design for the annual Christmas concert. The "window" was constructed as a backdrop for the school chorus and can be seen in the background of yearbook photos from the concert.
The original cartoon for the window (stained glass window designs are called cartoons) recently surfaced, and is now in my collection. The design is rendered in pencil and crayon, and depicts three monks raising their tankards which are being filled by a winged cherub holding grapes turning into wine. The flying figure is also holding a curling banner with an inscription. The words are penciled on the left side of the drawing and seem to be "cum beatitudinibus Bacchi" or approximately "with blessed and blissful drunken revelers".

The shape of the original cartoon was an elaborate rounded arch, but this was changed to a simpler Gothic arch for the final piece. The change in shape is indicated in pencil on the drawing. The piecework on the original cartoon is also quite complicated. When the set piece was built, much of the line work was simplified, and the cherub's positioning was changed. He no longer holds the banner which floats above the heads of the monks, and it appears that his wing now covers his bare bottom!

The completed "window" gave the stage a "church" backdrop for the choir, as can be seen in the black and white yearbook photos, however the subject matter of the design is an interesting choice.
In the original cartoon, Gorey added details which gave each monk personality and showed them enjoying their alcoholic beverages. Their smiling faces and red noses indicate that a good time is being had by all! These details are difficult to see clearly in the yearbook photos of the choir with the finished piece, but they appear to be less prominent.
To enlarge the design, Edward Gorey began by drawing a grid and numbering each square. This is a basic method that art students are taught for drawing an image to scale. When a larger grid is created, the image within each square is enlarged to the size of the new square. This allows the artist to easily recreate the image at the larger size without distortion.

It's difficult to say whether the finished window may have been backlit. The yearbook does refer to the room being darkened as the Special Chorus entered to take their place onstage with the regular chorus, in front of "a beautiful stained glass window". While the window design looks like a stained glass window, further changes would be needed to be able to truly render this design in glass. There are several pieces with severe in-cuts that would not be possible if the design were to be actually created in glass.






Happy Birthday Edward Gorey!

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Happy 90th Birthday Edward Gorey!


Raise a cup of QRV
Snuggle in with your favorite Gorey volume
Celebrate and Enjoy!



Original Edward Gorey Artwork For Sale

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As Spring slowly approaches, I felt it was time to do a little Gorey Collection Spring Cleaning. With this in mind, I have several pieces of original Edward Gorey artwork available for purchase.

If you would like to receive a PDF of the pieces available, send me an email at ampootozote@aol.com and I will forward the information to you.

Ineptitude and Frivolity

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Over the span of more than 25 years, the work of Edward Gorey appeared in The New Yorkermagazine. Advertisements, spot illustrations, a cover design, and independent works appeared alongside the magazine's oblique cartoons, articles, and reviews. Edmund Wilson also famously reviewed Edward Gorey's early books in the magazine in December 1959.

Two wonderful pieces by Mr. Gorey appeared in 1993 as full page illustrations (magazine scans shown). The first appeared with the title, Artist's Notebook by Edward Gorey in the March 22, 1993 issue. The image shows Frivolity donning the Galoshes of Remorse. This fantastic image appears at the beginning of Amphigorey Again and can be purchased as a print from The Edward Gorey House HERE.

A seldom seen companion piece appeared in the May 10, 1993 issue entitled Blemished Escutcheons by Edward Gorey. This equally wonderful piece features Ineptitude being saved by World Success. Visually, the vignette for this piece is highly reminiscent of the images Mr. Gorey created for Mystery!.


National Post Card Week Original Artwork

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From 1984 to 1996, Edward Gorey created a series of postcards celebrating National Postcard Week for Gotham Book Mart (See my post from May 4, 2012). The cards announce an annual exhibition of postcards at the gallery.

The original artwork from the 1993 card shows a young woman leaping over the outstretched arms of an adoring male audience in the moonlight. As she soars above them, she is scattering a postcard for each to catch. All of the open hands wear a matching ring, and presumably matching tuxedos. The crosshatched background deepens behind the woman, giving the image the appearance of a stage set. This artwork has been reproduced many times with the lettering removed from the sash.


It is always interesting to compare Mr. Gorey's original uncropped artwork to the final cropped image. For this image, the cropping shortens the arms on the left and cleans up the edges, tightening the image and focusing our attention on the woman. The uneven edge on the original art reveals the hand work involved in producing the crosshatched background, bringing Mr. Gorey's involvement with the piece alive.



2015 Edward Gorey House Exhibition

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Get your travel plans set to visit The Edward Gorey House this year because the new exhibition will open on April 16th. Now in its 13th, the EGH celebrates the life and work of Edward Gorey with annual themed exhibitions or original artwork, printed materials, unusual memorabilia, and eclectic ephemera from his life. Making the experience unique, the museum is housed in the home Mr.
Gorey lived in.

A prolific illustrator and author, Edward Gorey published his own works while also illustrating hundreds of books by other authors. The 2015 exhibition is titled, From Aesop To Updike Edward Gorey's Book Cover Art & Design, and features books and original artwork from Mr. Gorey's earliest days working at Anchor Publishing to the posthumously printed Cautionary Tales by Hilaire Belloc.

For more information on The Edward Gorey House and the 2015 exhibition, go HERE.



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