The Chessmen of Doom is the second book by John Bellairs to be published in 1989. As with the other titles for this series, it was published in hard cover with an illustrated dust wrapper by Dial Books for Young Readers.For this title, Edward Gorey created a beautiful wrap-around dust jacket design. Mr. Gorey's watercolor and ink design is a return to his heavily crosshatched style of illustration, and the original artwork was made available for purchase. I saw this wonderful piece framed in a booth at several book fairs when a rare books dealer was offering the piece.
For this title, Edward Gorey created a piece of artwork that is my favorite frontis illustration from the entire Bellairs' series. When Mr. Gorey decided to sell his Bellairs art holdings, I was thrilled to find it amongst the pieces being offered, and this became the first "Bellairs" piece or art which I purchased. I love everything about this illustration. It is detailed, creepy, humorous, and even a little religious! It has all the bells and whistles for a Bellairs or Gorey collector.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_the_King's_Horses_(story)
Oooh, I love this illustration! I envy you for having original artwork from one of my favourite books by the wonderful John Bellairs and illustrated by the incomparable Gorey! Thank you so much for sharing. How did/do you find out about the original Gorey works when they come up for sale? I have got some things on ebay (such as a poster from the PBS Mystery!Series illustrated by Gorey) but original art work - wow!
You are so lucky to be able to purchase that piece of work by Gorey. Not only am I huge Gorey fan, but I'm also a huge John Bellairs fan, so I am green with envy right now. Thanks for sharing!
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