The Hounds of Fate Original Artwork

Published in 1964 by Diogenes, Die Offene Tur is a book of stories by the English writer H. H. Munro (pen name Saki) with illustrations by Edward Gorey. This small, hardcover book with a dustjacket is a German language edition of these stories.

This collection, with the Gorey illustrations, was reprinted in English in 1981 as a leather bound book by the Franklin Library titled Saki Short Stories. The Franklin printing does not have all the stories (or illustrations) from the Diogenes printing, but does have one new illustration that was created by Mr. Gorey which did not appear in the German language version.

I have one piece of original artwork from this title which appears in the Diogenes printing, but unfortunately not in the English language edition. The intriguing title of the story it illustrates is The Hounds of Fate. Because I don't read German, I do not know the story that goes along with the illustration. This small piece of original art has a lot of atmosphere and evokes a mood of gloom. It is signed at the lower right.

Merry Christmas from Goreyana!

Edward Gorey was a huge animal lover. So much so that his entire estate is devoted to helping animals in need. In that spirit, I am posting pictures of my two rescue dogs for your enjoyment this Christmas. Don't forget your local animal shelters this Holiday Season, Muzzy and Pepper have lots of orphan animal friends looking for homes.

Muzzy and Pepper are waiting for Santa to arrive.


Muzzy goes to bed early so Santa will know she is a good dog and leave her lots of treats.


Pepper thinks if she smiles nice for Santa, she will get an extra helping of dog treats for Christmas.
Pepper finds out that what she got from Santa was a gift certificate to the vet to have her teeth cleaned! Merry Christmas from Muzzy and Pepper!!

The Christmas Bower

The Christmas Bower is a charming holiday book by Polly Redford which was published in 1967 by E.P. Dutton & Co., Inc. Edware Gorey provided a wrap around watercolor dust jacket design as well as chapter titles and numerous full and partial page illustrations.

According to the flap copy, "Edward Gorey and Polly Redford were high-school classmates and promised each other that some day they would do a book together".

This is a story about a "store family" who have lost the holiday spirit because of all the hustle and bustle of running a large department store for many years. Through a series of misadventures one holiday season at the store, family priorities are put right again.

The only real "Christmas" illustration is the cover painting which shows the elaborate store displays that are the cause of all the troubles. Some of the main characters throughout the book are exotic birds who run amok in the store and Mr. Gorey has provided many detailed illustrations of specific species of rare birds. Because he is concentrating on being ornithologically accurate in his depictions, the bird drawings tend to look a bit stiff.

This is a lovely holiday read, and reminds me of the John Bellairs stories in tone (but without the ghosts).

Edward Gorey Limited Christmas Cards

Edward Gorey created a series of Christmas cards for Albondocani Press beginning in 1975 and ending in 1990. These cards were printed in limited editions and were sent by the publisher for their Christmas Greeting. The editions range from 350 to 450 cards and they were issued unsigned/unnumbered.

The three most famous images from the series are Gertude Stein Decorates a Dog for Christmas (1975), A Future Unremembered Poet from the Seventeenth Century accepts a Christmas Cookie from the Great Veiled Bear (1977), and Fruitcake (1990). Some of these cards have been reproduced in boxed sets, but the majority of the images were only issued for use by this publisher. Shown in the photos is the complete set of ten cards. All of the cards shown have been signed by Edward Gorey on either the copyright or limitation statements.

The cards were published in the following order:

1975 - Gertrude Stein as a child decorates a dog for Christmas - edition of 450
1977 - A Future Unremembered Poet from the Seventeenth Century accepts a Christmas Cookie from the Great Veiled Bear - edition of 450
1979 - Hertha Struggs Fifth Christmas - edition of 450
1981 - Ettie Lou Stopper does a tinsel dance at a tree trimming party in Gumsville, Nebraska, Christmas Eve, 1923. - edition of 450
1983 - Un cadeau ennuyeux - edition of 400
1986 - Noel chez les volants des Alpes Dolomites - edition of 400
1987 - In Stubville Nebraska on December 23,1911 Christmas tree ornaments fell from a cloudless sky. - edition of 400
1988 - L'Etoile en Orient - edition of 400
1989 - Christmas in the Eggplant Hills - edition of 400
1990 - Fruitcake - edition of 350

Edward Gorey Christmas Booklet

Over the years, Edward Gorey created many Christmas drawings and illustrations. He illustrated Christmas themed books and even wrote his own - The Water Flowers. One of the more unusual Gorey Christmas items I have in my collection is this limited edition "Christmas Gift".

Limited to 150 signed, numbered copies, THE RETURN OF BINGO HUMPAGE, A Christmas Fable from Oceana is by Paul Theroux, and was used as "A Christmas Gift from Sheila Donnelly & Associates, Honolulu Hawaii, 25 December 1990". The booklet is stapled together and there is a piece of decorative raffia tied around the spine. The booklet came in a close fitting envelope with a matching larger mailing envelope (both unused). It is signed on the title page by Theroux and numbered on the limitation page at the rear of the booklet.

The cover illustration is by Edward Gorey, and he has signed the front of the booklet. Mr. Gorey has also hand colored one of the ornaments on the Christmas tree which the alligator is decorating. Different booklets had different ornaments colored in by Gorey. In the late 1990's Gotham Book Mart acquired about 7 of these booklets which had not been sent out, and each had a different ornament hand colored in red by EG. I acquired two of these unused booklets and indeed, each had different ornaments highlighted.

Apparently, this booklet was sent out in 1990 as a private Christmas Greeting by Shelia Donnelly. From 1967 to 1993, Paul Theroux was married to Anne Castle. In 1995 Theroux married Shelia Donnelly.

This small four page booklet contains the complete Christmas story written by Theroux. The story was commissioned by, and appeared in, the New York Times Book Review on December 2, 1990. The New York Times Book Review commissioned several holiday illustrations that year from Edward Gorey and asked for two additional drawings that would be shown to writers who would then write a short story based on the artwork. The Return of Bingo Humpage was Theroux's published submission.

The Sinking Spell

Back with publisher Ivan Obolensky, Gorey's second book for 1964 is The Sinking Spell. This book was actually published in May 1965, but it has a copyright page which states the title was published in 1964, so there must have been publishing delays. The Sinking Spell matches the other books Gorey produced with Obolensky, and is a small paperback book. This title is included in Amphigorey. My copy is signed and inscribed to me by Mr. Gorey.

This is one of Edward Gorey's "gentle" stories. Something descends from the sky and continues its downward progress, entering a house and descending through it from top to bottom until it exits the dwelling out the basement floor. This charming, gentle story would be a great Gorey title to read with a younger child.

Creating Your Own Gorey-esque Soap Story

While reading the newspaper a few years ago, I came across the "Soap Opera Update" in the television section. The update covered the past week and went through all the Soaps, telling what had happened on the shows. As I read these short sentences I was struck by how you could create a pseudo-Gorey story by taking one line from each soap and stringing them together.

Here is an example from the update by Dana Block that appeared in Monday's Minneapolis StarTribune. The Soaps involved are All My Children, As The World Turns, The Bold And The Beautiful, Days Of Our Lives, General Hospital, Guiding Light, One Life To Live, and The Young And The Restless.

David drugged Krystal's drink.
Dusty was arrested for shooting Paul during an altercation.
Tragedy struck during a heated argument between Rick and Phoebe.
Chloe decided to keep her engagement to Lucas a secret after hearing Kate's bad news.
A fire broke out in the cabin where Jake was being held.
Mel urged Bill to hide a scar that could implicate him in the kidnapping.
Viki disowned Todd.
Victor told Ashley about Jack forgetting the diary.

Not quite as inspired as Mr. Gorey's prose, but since he watched so much television, I think EG would have found this amusing! Now, if we just had some illustrations...

The Nursery Frieze

One of Edward Gorey's more enigmatic offerings is The Nursery Frieze. This small oblong book has orange wrappers and the pages inside show a procession of hippopotamus-like creatures (they may well be hippos) parading in single file emitting seemingly disjointed words. Scattered about the landscape are large letters which seem random until you realize they string together to spell out - The Nursery Frieze by Edward Gorey.

The front cover of The Nursery Frieze has a large number 15 and on the reverse, is the word TWO. This signifies that this is Mr. Gorey's fifteenth published book and it is the second volume published by his Fantod Press. This title was published in an edition of 500 unnumbered copies and appears in Amphigorey Too. My copy is signed by Mr. Gorey (not all copies are signed).

What makes this book unique is that Edward Gorey created drawings that could be enlarged and used as a wallpaper frieze to go around the top of a room. That he calls it a frieze for a nursery implies that it will entertain and instruct the young inhabitant of the room. But with words such as dismemberment, mistrust and remorse, perhaps this frieze is actually intended for the nursery of The Beastly Baby! If this is an instructional frieze, then most of the words need to be looked up by many readers. Examples: etui, ganosis, thurible, accismus. It would have been interesting to play Scrabble with EG!

Photostat enlargements of this book were made by Gotham Book Mart and used as decoration for their booth at a New York Book Fair. Some of these enlargements were on display in the "old" Gotham on 47th Street positioned near the ceiling. These "full sized" papers have appeared on the market recently through Bromer Booksellers.

Friends Magazine Original Artwork

I have two pieces of original artwork that Edward Gorey created for Friends Magazine. The first is a delightful image of a small boy "flying" behind a large shaggy dog that is chasing a butterfly. This playful image shows the sweetness that Mr. Gorey achieved in many of his drawings of small children at play. This running dog piece is beautifully rendered with EG's fine line work drawn with a light touch. The lines of this piece look as though they barely touch the page, furthering the impression of movement. I acquired this piece of artwork in 1993 from Gotham Book Mart. At that time, they had several pieces of original artwork from the collection of Robert Weeks who was the Friends art director and had commissioned illustrations from Mr. Gorey for Friends. The photos show a (fading) three page fax I received from Gotham at that time with the artwork from Friends they had available. In 1993, I was only able to get the dog piece. I recently acquired a second piece from this collection and will show it in a later post.

Friends Magazine

Created as a sales tool for automobile showrooms beginning in the 1940's, Friends Magazine is an odd place to find Edward Gorey illustrations, but they are there! Chevrolet produced this magazine from around 1948 into the 1980's as a giveaway extolling the virtues of owning your own car so you could travel and see the "real" America. Article topics included places of interest, family pastimes and even recipes - usually for picnic foods. Of course, in between all the articles were ads for the latest cars being produced by Chevrolet! I have an enlarging collection of Friends, some of which are shown below. How did Gorey's artwork end up in a car magazine? The art director for Friends was a personal friend of Edward Gorey's. Robert Weeks commissioned spot illustrations for the magazine and the drawings Gorey created were primarily of children playing. Gorey presented the original drawings to Mr. Weeks after they were used, and they remained in his collection until 1993 when they were obtained by Gotham Book Mart, becoming available to the market for the first time. I will show some of these images in later posts.

 

The Wuggly Ump

"Sing tirraloo, sing tirralay,
The Wuggly Ump lives far away."

That is one of my favorite beginnings to an Edward Gorey book. You just KNOW that the Wuggly Ump is not staying far away!!

Published as a hardcover book with a matching dust jacket in 1963 by J.B. Lippincott of Philadelphia/New York, The Wuggly Ump has the appearance of a carefree children's book. The illustrations are simple, colorful, and resemble the happy drawings Mr. Gorey has been creating for John Ciardi's books. Of course, books by Edward Gorey are rarely happy and carefree. What is a Wuggly Ump? Only Edward Gorey knew for sure, but this is the only book that this rare creature appears in.

This book is printed in three colors (like The Bug Book), but the colors were added at the printing stage and not on the original artwork. This gives the book a paint by number feel that is appropriate to the story, with the colored areas being flat solid tones which infill elements of the drawings.

The Wuggly Ump was reprinted in 1966 as a paperback book by Willy Whale Books. This reprint used an interior illustration and standardized type on the cover and is not nearly as attractive a book as the first edition. The book has only one interior color, a dark grey/blue that looks rather odd on the drawings. Little care was taken to use the infill of color to any great effect. This book was printed on very inexpensive acidic paper and is quite fragile now.

This story appears in Amphigorey, and is currently in print from Pomegranate Books. Both my first edition and WWB reprint of The Wuggly Ump are signed by Edward Gorey on the title page.

The Vinegar Works

1963 brought forth what is un- doubtedly Edward Gorey's best known and most quoted book - The Gash- lycrumb Tinies. Published by Simon and Schuster, New York, TGT is one of three hardcover books that formed The Vinegar Works, Three Volumes of Moral Instruction. The other two books in the set are The Insect God and The West Wing. All three books are reprinted in Amphigorey.

Published together as a three volume set, The Vinegar Works is the first time that Edward Gorey released three new titles at one time packaged in a boxed set. In the upcoming Three Books from the Fantod Press I, II, III & IV, Gorey would continue to release multiple books which had to be purchased as sets. The Vinegar Works has the most elaborate slipcase design EG would ever design, with each of the five sides having new artwork specifically designed to showcase the books contained within.

What can be said about The Gashlycrumb Tinies that hasn't been written before? From Amy who fell down the stairs to Zillah who drank too much gin, this classic Gorey alphabet book shows the perils that await unwary youth. This is probably Edward Gorey's most reprinted title. It appears in book form, on tee shirts, posters and is readily available today.

Book two of the trilogy of moral instruction is The Insect God. This book was reprinted in 1986, and can still be found in hardcover. In this story, giant bugs kidnap and destroy poor little Millicent Frastly in a ghastly ritual. Should this book be required reading for all children about the dangers of accepting sweets and rides from strangers? Quite possibly...

The West Wing is a collection of drawings of rooms. This book has no text and none is needed. The settings go from unsettling to unusual and it is one of Gorey's more enigmatic books. It has been widely reported that Mr. Gorey dedicated this volume to Edmund Wilson after receiving repeated literary criticism from Mr. Wilson that many of EG's texts were found to be wanting when compared to his illustrations. Therefore, Gorey gave him a book to review with no words!

The three volumes I have are all signed and inscribed by Mr. Gorey. This set was included in the exhibition Gorey Stories, Books and Drawings by Edward Gorey in the Leslie Memorial Room of the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 1984/1985.

The Willowdale Handcar

After publishing three books with Obolensky in 1961, Edward Gorey moved to The Bobbs-Merrill Company, Inc. of Indianapolis/New York in 1962. The Willowdale Handcar is his first excursion with this new publisher, and the paperback book matches the Obolensky titles in general size and format.

My 1st/1st is signed and inscribed by Mr. Gorey. This title was pub- lished in hardcover with a matching dust jacket in 1979 by Dodd Mead & Company of New York. This title appears in Amphigorey. This title was last reprinted in 2003 and is currently available as a single book.

The Willowdale Handcar is a rather charming travel book with sinister undertones. Edna, Harry and Sam embark on a cross country excursion "one summer afternoon" by liberating a handcar from the Willowdale train station and setting out to see "if anything was doing". While hand pumping their way cross country (or state) on the railway handcar, we get glimpses of unusual happenings occurring to characters around them which are of course, the main story of the book.

This book has some of EG's more memorable place names including Bogus Corners, Chutney Falls, Peevish Gorge, Hiccupborro, and my personal favorite, Penetralia. The Crampton Vinegar Works, the Halfbath Methodist Church and the Weedhaven Laughing Academy are all places the trio stop at or pass by during their journey.

The entire story has a the feel of an epic silent film by D. W. Griffith and this book is appropriately dedicated to silent film actress Lillian Gish. Lillian Gish was born in 1893 and had her first film roll with Griffith in 1912. She continued acting well into her 90's, and died in 1993 at age 99. I had the good fortune to see Lillian Gish in person in the autumn of 1986 when she came to Minneapolis for Cinecon 22, a film convention which that year was dedicated to the memory of her sister, silent film actress Dorothy Gish. Introduced and prompted by Lenard Malton, Miss Gish talked about her sister, working with Griffith and finally introduced the film Orphans of the Storm, which had recently been restored at that time. I have a lovely vintage signed photograph of Lillian Gish in my collection.

Edward Ardizzone

Edward Gorey had many artistic influences. He was not only a voracious reader and cultural observer, but an inveterate dance (theater) attendee, art lover, music appreciator and television junkie. In short, Edward Gorey was a cultural sponge! When asked to name some artists who influenced his work, one name that frequently came up was that of illustrator Edward Ardizzone. Ardizzone was born in 1900 and died of a heart attack in 1979. He was British and began illustrating books in the 1930's.

It is easy to see why Ardizzone's work appealed to Mr. Gorey. Stylistically they are very similar, though Ardizzone's line work never achieves the level of sophistication that Mr. Gorey practiced. Ardizzone's work is more akin to EG's early work, however Ardizzone tended to be much more cute and cuddly in his subject matter than Gorey ever was. As an illustrator, Ardizzone was known for hand lettering the titles and author's names on the covers of the books he illustrated. Perhaps EG remembered seeing these books as a child and emulated the illustrator in his own career. Like Mr. Gorey, Edward Ardizzone was a prolific illustrator who enjoyed a long career and his works are collected today.

I have one original Ardizzone illustration in my collection. When I ran across this image I thought it was one of the more interesting and less saccharine images I had seen (though it is still pretty high on the cute meter!). It comes from a book of stories titled Sailor Rumbelow and Britannia by James Reeves. This book was published in 1962 By William Heinemann Ltd, London.

In this charming drawing, gnomes are running amok in an English country house garden at night. It appears on page 42 as an illustration for The Gnome Factory. I received a first edition copy of the book as a gift from my partner after I acquired the artwork.

The Beastly Baby

Published in 1962, The Beastly Baby was actually the first book Edward Gorey tried to shop around to publishers in the early 1950's, but kept getting rejected. Gorey shelved this story until, using the anagram Ogdread Weary, he finally self published this title to get it in print.

Founding The Fantod Press, EG began what would become a mini publishing empire unto himself. The Fantod Press only ever published limited edition works by Mr. Gorey and he would continue to publish under this imprint until 1997's The Deadly Blotter.

The Beastly Baby has all the earmarks of an early Gorey work. The drawings, while finished, are sketchy and broad in their execution. The story is startling and irreverent. The subject matter is distasteful. This book is therefore a must have for all Goreyphiles!

The Beastly Baby was first published in an edition of 500 copies, and can be something of a Holy Grail for Gorey collectors. This title appears in Amphigorey Too. My 1st/limited edition copy of this title is signed by Mr. Gorey as Ogdread Weary. It was not available in print (apart from being included in Amphigorey Too) until 1995 when the first hardcover edition in dust jacket was published by Peter Weed Books. The hardcover 1st has a title page drawing that does not appear in the original printing. My copy of the hardcover is signed.

There were a number of Gorey books reprinted over the years by the Swiss publisher Diogenes as uniformly sized slender paperback books. These reprints were collected in slipcased sets with a translation booklet included in each set, but these copies were never readily available in the United States. Diogenes did publish a copy of The Beastly Baby.

1961 - A Busy Year For Edward Gorey

One wonders how Edward Gorey got so much work done at this point in his career. He had to have kept extra large ink bottles and stacks of illustration board on hand in his tiny New York apartment to get through as much artwork as he did during the next decade. In 1961, books illustrated by Mr. Gorey included Quake, Quake, Quake: A Leaden Volume of English Verse by Paul Dehn; The Man Who Sang the Sillies by John Ciardi, Scrap Irony by Felicia Lamport, The Comic Looking Glass by Hart Leavitt, and The Rats of Rutland Grange by Edmund Wilson (printed in a magazine, this work was later published as a separate book). In addition to these fully illustrated books, Gorey provided cover drawings for several books, spot illustrations for a few magazines, was still working at Looking Glass Library, and published his own books The Fatal Lozenge, The Hapless Child and The Curious Sofa with Obolensky! Mr. Gorey said it could take two months or more to illustrate one of his own books after he got the writing done. He worked on his drawings mainly in the mornings and would then go out and about during the day for meals, to visit friends, go to movies and attend theatrical events. Since 1957, he had also been attending every single performance of the New York City Ballet. Throughout the 1960's, Mr. Gorey would continue to keep up and incredible pace, producing innumerable drawings, illustrations and complete books. It is no wonder he said that he practiced "crosshatching as a way of life"!

The Curious Sofa

The Curious Sofa was Edward Gorey's third (and final) book published by Ivan Obo- lensky in 1961. As with the other two tiles from this pub- lisher, TCS is a paperback book that shows wear easily. TCS is the first Gorey volume which he publishes under an assumed name; Ogdred Weary (being an anagram for Edward Gorey). Over the years, Mr. Gorey would come up with numerous pen names based on the letters of his name. He seems to have been given just the right combination of 11 letters to make up far more names than one would have believed to be possible.

The Curious Sofa is subtitled A Pornographic Work, and what a work it is! At the beginning of the story, we find Alice eating grapes in the park when she is approached by Herbert. We follow Alice's adventures as she sets off on a whim with Herbert and encounters alfresco dining, well hung men and dogs, sympathetic women and it all ends (presumably badly) with her screaming in a polar bear fur lined room. Sex occurs from the first, and even though it is rampant, it is always just out of eye shot and never explicitly rendered. Gorey portrays Alice in every drawing holding or eating grapes.

One of the confusing things about TCS is that every copy of the first edition has a limitation statement printed on a fake colophon page stating that "this copy is no. 83 of an edition limited to 212 copies". I have heard it said that this was Edward Gorey's private joke because he did so many limited edition books, but in fact this book predates all of his signed/numbered/lettered/limited edition volumes, and is really foreshadowing for things to come over the next 39 years! By 1961 he had only published The Bug Book in a limited run of 600 copies, and this was for the private use of The Looking Glass Library.

All first edition copies of TCS have a printed price of $1.50 on the cover. When the price increased to $1.75, a price change sticker was put over the amount. Once again, I have several editions of this title in my collection. I have two 1st/1st's which are both signed, one being inscribed to me and the other being a very nice copy that was signed twice by EG, once as a (supposedly) forged signature and a second time signed in person by the man himself!

The first hardcover/DJ of this title was printed in 1980 by Dodd Mead Co., NY. My copy is signed. The second hardcover printing was produced by Hardcort Brace in 1989, and my copy of this reprint is also signed. In the picture above, I show the uncorrected Hardcort proof of this title in printed red wrappers. The final, psychedelic version of this title I show is the 1st Swiss edition in laminated boards. This title appears in Amphigorey and is currently in print once again.

Scrap Irony

In 1961 Edward Gorey illustrated Scrap Irony, the first of three books by Felicia Lamport with Gorey illustrations (Scrap Irony 1961, Cultural Slag 1966, and Light Meters 1982). Published by Houghton Mifflin in Boston, Mr. Gorey provided artwork for the dust jacket, title page, chapter titles and numerous interior illustrations for this book of satirical verse.

In 1985, I purchased my first three pieces of original Edward Gorey illustration art (the first in April, the second in August, and the third in September), thus beginning my Gorey art collection. In September of that year, I had the good fortune to be offered the original frontispiece/title page art from Scrap Irony (I will show the other two pieces in later postings since they are not from this book). After purchasing this piece of art, I was unable to purchase another piece of original art by Edward Gorey until 1993 - there just wasn't much original Gorey art being offered during this time.

One of the things I particularly like about this piece of artwork is that it includes a self portrait of Edward Gorey on the right side. I have been told that the woman on the left is a portrait of Felicia Lamport. For the second printing of the book, the date on the original drawing was changed by Mr. Gorey from 1961 to 1962. The publisher's information must have also changed for the second printing because there are remnants of a paste-up on the lettering on the scarf. The paste-up change had fallen off the drawing and was lost before I purchased the piece.

This piece of artwork, along with my first edition copy of the book, was included in the exhibit "Reading and Collecting Books, Minnesota Book Collectors" which was held from June 8 to August 11, 1996 in the Cargill Gallery at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. This piece was also exhibited from April 17 to September 27, 1974 at Yale University as part of the exhibition "Phantasmagorey, The Work of Edward Gorey" and is listed in the catalog of the same name by Clifford Ross.

The Hapless Child

With the publication of The Hapless Child in 1961, Edward Gorey's considerable skill as an artist becomes fully realized. In his previously published volumes, EG had been experimenting with different drawing styles and levels of line work, but for this story Mr. Gorey pulls out all the stops and produces intricate drawings that are densely detailed. Each illustration becomes a master class on how to render people, wallpapers, bricks, cloth, plant life and various atmospheric conditions using only black ink on white paper. All of this could become so over the top that it would stand in the way of the story being told, but due to Mr. Gorey's expertise it enhances rather than detracts from the tale.

Remembering that artwork in his published books is reproduced life size to his original drawings, it is no small feat that Gorey was able to put so many details into each image. In The Hapless Child, he has finally gone over the edge and created a masterpiece of pattern, texture, light and shadow.

This being stated, I must admit that The Hapless Child is not my favorite Gorey volume even though I realize that it is a turning point in his career as an author/illustrator. This book is inspired by Mr. Gorey's love of silent films and the book has a cinematic feel to it, both in the story telling and the illustrations. Even with the plot twists and turns, I find The Hapless Child to be a rather straightforward tale, and for me it less engaging than his more non-linear stories which invite the reader to join in and "fill in the blanks".

A fun fact about The Hapless Child is that every drawing in the book contains a small black creature cavorting about the scene. Part of the charm of this book is to locate the creature in each drawing, an artistic device that Mr. Gorey did not repeat in any other book.

The Hapless Child is the second volume in the Ivan Obolensky triad. The first edition has a pinky/ purple cover and once again, it is a paperback book that can be difficult to find in excellent condition because when the book has been read a few times it shows signs of wear quickly. The Hapless Child was included in Amphigorey and is currently in print and available as an individual book.

I have several editions of this title in my collection: two 1st/1st's; one in excellent condition that is signed, and one in slightly lesser condition that is signed and inscribed to me by Mr. Gorey. The smaller blue copy in the photo is an Honor Astor reprint which is also signed. The 1st hardcover in DJ was published by Dodd Mead in 1980 (this book sometimes is called a reprint, but it is the first American hardcover edition). Also shown is the white Swiss 1st hardcover. This volume was included in the Minneapolis Institute of Arts 1984 Gorey Stories exhibition.

The Fatal Lozenge

In 1960, while still working at the Looking Glass Library, Edward Gorey once again changed publishers for his next book. The Fatal Lozenge is the first of three books that would be published by Ivan Obolensky, Inc. of New York. I have always liked the name of this publisher because it seemed as though it should be one of Mr. Gorey's character's names.

Gorey was quoted as stating he switched pub- lishers fairly often because he would be ap- proached and con- vinced by a new publisher that they could increase sales of his illustrated volumes. He said he would switch publishers and after publishing a book or two, they would let him go (or drop him) due to limited sales figures and the process would begin afresh.

The Fatal Lozenge is Edward Gorey's first published "alphabet book". Each letter of the alphabet is represented by a character which appears in a four line poem (Apparition, Baby, Cad, Drudge, etc.), each poem being accompanied by a single illustration. Apart from being in alphabetical order, the individual poems do not relate to each other, but rather each turn of the page reveals a new personage who is involved in some sordid activity or misfortune.

The first edition of The Fatal Lozenge was published as a small paperback volume with $1.25 printed on the cover. On the second printing of this book the price has changed to $1.75, but otherwise they are identical. Because only the price has changed and no statement of a second printing appears inside the book, this is really a secondary binding and not a true second printing.

The Fatal Lozenge is another Gorey book that is hard to find in great condition since the dark blue of the cover was printed on white paper and over time becomes easily scuffed. This title is included in Amphigorey. Both my 1st/1st and secondary binding of The Fatal Lozenge are signed by Mr. Gorey and inscribed to me on the title page.

In 1961, an edition of The Fatal Lozenge was published in London under the Constable imprint. For the English first edition, the title was changed to The Gorey Alphabet and new cover art was created. The British first was printed as cloth hard cover book with no dust jacket and has shockingly pink covers! The cloth of this edition has a fairly rough texture to the weave, so it is surprising that Gorey's fine line work printed so well on the covers.

Edward Gorey The Haunted Looking Glass, Part 2

I have a second piece of original artwork from Edward Gorey's Haunted Looking Glass published by Looking Glass Library in 1959 (see my post from October 31, 2008). This piece of artwork illustrates The Body Snatcher by Robert Louis Stevenson.

Once again, Mr. Gorey's expert use of line work creates just the right mood through his mastery of light and shadow. I particularly like the composition of this piece with the hanging skeleton presiding over the evil proceedings.

I obtained this piece of artwork from an online auction in the Fall of 2000. Mr. Gorey had passed away in April of that year, and there was a flurry of online activity following his death. Of the many pieces of original artwork that became available during that time, I was thrilled to add this spectacular piece of art to my collection. This piece of art is hand signed in the lower right hand corner.

The Bug Book

The Bug Book is one of Edward Gorey's cuter novellas. The story has all the happiness, drama, trauma and retribution of many a classic novel. This deceptively simple story focuses on some brightly colored bugs whose contented lives are threatened when a bully bug disrupts their happy existence. The beleaguered bugs hold a secret meeting and deal with the interloper in a permanent way, later enjoying their victory over the dreaded foe.

Originally conceived as a 1959 Christmas greeting, the privately printed paperback first edition of this book is Mr. Gorey's first limited edition book. Only 600 copies were produced under the Looking Glass Library imprint and it was meant to be used as a holiday keepsake by the publishers. This is also Edward Gorey's first story to appear in color, albeit simplistic primary colors.

My paperback 1st/limited edition of this title is signed by Mr. Gorey and also has the personal library stamp of Charles Paul Helsell inside the front cover. Mr. Helsell was chief curator of Edward Gorey's 1968 "Books and Drawings" exhibition at the Minneapolis Institute of Art (and a consultant for the 1984 MIA Gorey show). I met Mr. Helsell when I lent pieces for the '84 show and it was a nice surprise to find his name inside the cover when I purchased this copy in later years. Due to the age of this title and the white binding, it can be difficult to find a nice clean exterior on this book.

Knowing a good thing when they had it, Ms. Carroll and Mssrs Gorey & Epstein went ahead and printed a hardcover trade edition of The Bug Book in 1960 under the Epstein and Carroll imprint. My first trade hardcover is signed by Mr. Gorey and inscribed to me. The Bug Book appears in Amphigorey and was reprinted by Adama Books. The Adama reprint is a hard back book without dust wrapper and some of the colors in the illustrations were printed incorrectly.