The Glorious Nosebleed

Edward Gorey's fifth alphabet book, The Glorious Nosebleed was published by Dodd, Mead & Co. in 1975 as a limited edition and as a regular edition in illustrated boards with a matching dust jacket. This title is reprinted in Amphigorey Also. The Glorious Nosebleed will be available once again as an individual hardcover in November 2009.

The limited edition has 250 signed/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 copy #55/250.

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 in the photo below so you can see the color difference (the first edition is on the right).

The Glorious Nosebleed is one of Mr. Gorey's more 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".