Gorey Posters

In 1979 Gorey Posters was published by Harry N. Abrams Inc. as a large format paperback. Using drawings from previously published works and enlarging them to a common format, this collection of black and white images was presented as small posters which could be cut out and framed. There is an interview with Mr. Gorey included at the beginning of the book. Gorey Posters can be difficult to find in fine condition.

Edward Gorey created new cover art for this volume, but no previously unpublished images appear within. It seems that every few months, some industrious person gets hold of one of these 30 year old books, cuts it up and lists the "prints" individually on eBay.

Recently, Pomegranate has published an updated version of this book entitled: EDWARD GOREY, The New Poster Book. Once again, this large scale paperback presents images intended to be cut from the book and used as "posters". The contents of this book overlap slightly with the first Gorey Posters, however this updated version includes mostly new images that were not in the original volume, including many that are printed in color. The new color images include beautiful watercolor paintings by Edward Gorey.

The New Poster Book presents quite a number of black and white drawings which have had color added to them (some more successfully than others). This new trend of adding color to Mr. Gorey's black and white work is a practice that is causing some debate amongst collectors. Personally, I find this trend unsettling in the same way that I think colorized black & white movies look odd. Mr. Gorey created so many wonderful color images that it seems unnecessary to me to use his black & white pieces in this way.