2011 Edward Gorey House Prints

Each year, the Edward Gorey House produces several limited edition prints. The selection for 2011 includes a favorite Gorey image, and entire book, and a never before seen color image from the archives.

As I have stated in previous postings, I believe these prints represent one of the best buys in Gorey collecting ~ each print is wonderfully executed with attention to detail and superb color representation. The prints are available unsigned and in a signed/numbered limited edition. Each limited edition print is "signed" with an embossed facsimile of Edward Gorey's signature. To purchase prints, go the the Edward Gorey House website.

This year's selection includes:

Les Insectes Cyclistes - image: 6 5/8" x 8 7/8", paper 9 1/2" x 11 1/2" - Unsigned $25.00. Limited edition of 200 numbered ($50.00) and 26 lettered ($85.00) impressions - This iconic image was created for The Broken Spoke and the privately owned original art has been included in the Elegant Enigmas exhibition.



The Eclectic Abecedarium - image: approximately 9" x 15", paper 11" x 17" - Unsigned $35.00. Limited edition of 200 numbered ($75.00) and 26 lettered ($100.00) impressions - This print includes all the art and text from Mr. Gorey's first of two miniature books published by Bromer Booksellers. The colors on the print match the current reprint of this book title available from Pomegranate Books.

Le Higlif - image: 6 1/4 x 9.0 poster 9 1/2 x 11 1/2 - Unsigned $25.00. Limited edition of 200 numbered ($50.00) and 26 lettered ($85.00) impressions. This fantastic piece of original art from the Gorey Archives is previously unpublished, and is currently on display at the Edward Gorey House.

Article

Here is an interesting short article about Edward Gorey.

Fine Art Prints, Part 9

We continue with Gotham Book Mart's 2002 list of prints created by Edward Gorey. Most of the prints shown on this post are available for purchase from The Edward Gorey House - edwardgoreyhouse.org - although some editions are sold out. Unfortunately, I do not have large scans of many of these prints. To see the images more clearly, please reference the Gorey House web site.

#36 Elephant Ignoring The Giant Skull - 20/50 prints were hand signed.
#37 Elephant in Sea Foam - 32/75 prints were hand signed.
#38 (No Publication) - This is the first bump in the numbering system of this list. Look below for the major gap which has been causing confusion since this list was published.

#39 Loch Ness Resident - 34/50 prints were hand signed.
#40 Two Resting Striped Elephants & Two Birds - 20/50 prints were hand signed.
#41 Au Secours - 17/25 prints were hand signed. I have print #8/25 in my collection. This is the second rarest print of the series (see print #11 in a previous post). This colagraph edition was never completed because the stored plate was damaged beyond repair. While each print is signed x/25, only 17 impressions will ever exist. NOTE: Prints 1 -10 are numbered x/25 but prints 11 - 17 are numbered x/50. Mr. Gorey mistakenly signed the second batch of prints with a higher edition number.
#42 Still Life with Skull Vase & Elephant - 24/50 prints were hand signed.
#43 Le Chien de Giselle (Ballerinas) - 30/50 prints were hand signed. This image comes from Pacific Book Auctions.
***The gap in the numbering system which now occurs on the GBM list had nothing to do with Edward Gorey. Mr. Gorey created prints and sent them to Gotham Book Mart to be marketed and sold. The numbering gap exists because GBM's in-house accountant was having a difficult time keeping track of all the Gorey related material being sold at the bookstore. She finally started a list to keep track of each item, and while items #44 - #94 are Gorey related, they are not prints.

#95 Bat in Rain - 75/95 prints were hand signed.
#96 Bat - 80/95 prints were hand signed. I have print #8/95 in my collection. This is arguably the most famous of Edward Gorey's etchings, and this image has appeared on t-shirts and other Gorey related merchandise.

Minnesota Fringe Festival

As it does each August, the Minnesota Fringe Festival is going full tilt around the Twin Cities, providing a diversion to the summer heat. One of the shows this year is a production of Fletcher and Zenobia Save the Circus, based on the story by Edward Gorey. Fringe shows have very short runs, but there is still time to catch this production. Below is the full review by John Townsend that appeared in today's Star Tribune.

Fletcher & Zenobia Save the Circus

Ripe with physical comedy, award-winning Fringe favorites premiere their adaptation of Edward Gorey's "children's" book about an unlikely cat-and-doll duo who must overcome all odds to save a circus from ruin.

The playful Live Action Set brings vivacious physicality to the characters of Edward Gorey's children's book and its illustrations by Victoria Chess. Though the actors pull out all the stops and glory in their quirky clown-like portrayals, the cavernous Mill City Museum venue swallows up much of the dialogue, making it difficult to decipher whether their collaborative script adaptation coheres or not. But playing railroad trains and animals is a sure bet for laughs. Best of all, musicians Chris Hepola, Steven Hobert and Paul Fonfara capture the circus spirit.

Aug 12, Fri. at 7:00 pm
Aug 13, Sat. at 4:00 pm
Aug 13, Sat. at 7:00 pm
Aug 14, Sun. at 2:30 pm
Aug 14, Sun. at 5:30 pm

Mill City Museum
704 S. 2nd St.
Minneapolis, MN
(612) 872-1212
www.fringefestival.org/2011

Memoirs

To date, there have been three published memoirs about Edward Gorey written by his friends and associates. The first, The Strange Case of Edward Gorey by Alexander Theroux (2000 Fantagraphic Books), appeared in print very shortly after Mr. Gorey's death. The next to appear was Elephant House or, the Home of Edward Gorey by Kevin McDermott (2003 Pomegranate Books). A third memoir has recently become available, Edward Gorey Plays Cape Cod; Puppets, People, Places & Plots by Carol Verburg (2011, BOOM Books).

Of the three volumes, my personal favorite is Elephant House by Kevin McDermott. I have written about this book in a previous post (May 29, 2011), and find the combination of photographs and text to be interesting, informative, and inviting.

The earliest memoir, The Strange Case of Edward Gorey by Alexander Theroux, is liberally illustrated and includes the most personal information about Edward Gorey. Presented as a combination of biography and personal memoir, this is my least favorite of the three books, mainly due to the tone of the writing... more than one person has referred to this book as inaccurate and bitchy!

The most recent published memoir is Carol Verburg's Edward Gorey Plays Cape Cod. While on the whole I like this publication, my main disappointment is its extreme brevity. At what amounts less than 20 written pages (when you remove the illustrations), this piece reads like a fleshed-out outline for a larger work. Ms. Verburg states that she will be publishing the scripts for Mr. Gorey's theatrical works - hopefully, in the upcoming book she will be telling us more about the shows themselves alongside the scripts, and possibly including interviews with others involved in the productions.