Anthologies by Seon Manley and Gogo Lewis

Throughout his career, Edward Gorey created dust wrapper designs for a number of book series, the longest association being the 22 covers he created for the series started by John Bellairs and continued by Brad Stickland. Mr. Gorey also created covers for several authors who specialized in sinister anthologies.

Beginning in the early 1960's, Seon Manley and Gogo Lewis compiled over twenty anthologies which included subjects ranging from the natural world and science. Their main focus however, was collecting and publishing anthologies of stories about ghosts and the supernatural. From 1973 to 1979, Edward Gorey created covers for eight titles by Manley & Lewis, all but one of which focused on tales by female authors.

Janet Helen "Seon" Givens (1921 - 2009) and Mona "Gogo" Givens (1923 - 2008) were sisters who were raised in Connecticut and began collecting books as children. After college, they moved to New York City and became familiar faces in literary circles. Seon married Robert Manley, and Gogo married William Lewis. The sisters drew inspiration for their anthologies from their private libraries and personal interests. This is a (probably incomplete) list of their published titles:

Titles which do not have Edward Gorey covers:

Teen-Age Treasury of Our Science World 1961
Teen-Age Treasury of Imagination and Discovery 1962
Mystery! A Treasury for Young Reader 1963
Teen Age Treasury of the Arts  1964
Merriment: A Treasury for Young Readers 1964
Suspense 1966
Magic! 1967
The Oceans 1967
High Adventure 1968
Polar Secrets 1968
A Gathering of Ghosts 1969
Shapes of the Supernatural 1969
Ladies of Horror 1971
Bewitched Beings 1974
Baleful Beasts  Bewitched Beings 1974 
Masters of the Macabre 1975
Masters of Shade and Shadows 1978
Christmas Ghosts 1978
Masters of Shades and Shadows 1978
Nature's Revenge  1978
Cat Encounters 1979
Haunted Dolls 1980

Titles with dust jacket designs by Edward Gorey:

Mistresses of Mystery 1973

Grand Dames of Detection 1973

Ladies of Fantasy 1975

Ladies of the Gothics 1975

Women of the Weird 1976

Sisters of Sorcery 1976

Ghostly Gentlewomen 1977

Fun Phantoms 1979

Books from this series showcase wonderful cover artwork by Edward Gorey. These titles tend to be found as ex-library volumes and are often marred by library stickers on their covers and interior markings, making the search for unblemished copies challenging and rewarding.