Goreymania - A New Collecting Website

Edward Gorey was born in 1925 and his centennial year is starting off with a bang. Goreymania (www.goreymania.com) is a brand new website devoted to all those perplexing questions one has when plunging into the murky waters of Gorey ephemera. Xandy Hand, the author of the site has provided in-depth information and photos to guide and inform the novice and advanced collector alike. The site currently features four distinct collecting areas of ephemera and promises more will be forthcoming over time.

Fruitcake

Fruitcake

The first recorded recipes come from Ancient Roman times and through the centuries, fruitcake has been an extravagant indulgence served at special celebrations whose ingredients at one time were even regulated by the Pope (See the Wikipedia link HERE for a history of fruitcake).  In November 1978, Johnny Carson told a joke on The Tonight Show about fruitcake, stating that there is only one actual fruitcake that gets passed from hand to hand but is never actually consumed. The joke struck like lightning and fruitcake has never been viewed the same since. It seems that everyone either loves fruitcake or despises it.    

In 1990 Edward Gorey added his own inimitable twist on the ubiquitous holiday treat (and running joke). Published as a limited edition Christmas card for the Albodonocani Press in 1990, Edward Gorey drew Fruitcake, a winter scene in which a bundled up family is braving the cold and snow to dispose of their unwanted fruitcakes under the cover of darkness by dropping them through an ice fishing hole on a frozen pond. 

Strikingly executed in pen and ink, the night sky was rendered not by painting in the background which would have been an overwhelming flat black when printed, but rather by painstakingly applied individual pen strokes. The horizontal flecks of white paper showing through the darkness lighten the image and add a sense of drama to the scene. The fruitcake falling from the sky gives the work a touch of surrealistic humor.  

Arguably Edward Gorey's most famous Christmas card image, I acquired the original artwork for Fruitcake earlier this year.

A Gorey Christmas

Published in the New York Times, The New York Times Book Review (NYTBR) is a weekly supplement that first appeared in the paper in 1896. The NYTBR remains one of the most influential review forums for new literature to this day.

In 1990 Edward Gorey was commissioned by the editors of the NYTBR to create nine spot illustrations to enhance the various book genres being reviewed in the December 2nd issue. Mr. Gorey created two additional illustrations for the issue that provided inspiration for writers to submit short stories based on the images. This issue was titled A Gorey Christmas.

Each of the spot illustrations created for the supplement features three characters; a small boy, an alligator, and a robot. Fir tree branches decorated with Christmas baubles intrude into the frame of each illustration. The book categories illustrated include: Architecture, Art (pictured above), Best Books (pictured at the bottom of the post), Cooking, Gardening, Photography, Poetry, Travel, and the rather inexplicable Dying Children.

Dying Children accompanies an essay by Perri Klass about the prevalence in Victorian yuletide-themed literature of children dying before their time, a theme not dissimilar to Edward Gorey's masterwork, The Gashlycrumb Tinies. Interestingly, the Dying Children drawing is the only one from this series that does not include a book.

The NYTBR supplement also included two special illustrations by Edward Gorey created especially for this issue. These drawings were created as inspiration for writers to compose a story based on the images. Nine short stories were published in the supplement. The first drawing, titled Trimming the Tree, showed our alligator being assisted by a family while placing ornaments on an tree out in the snow, far from the ancestral home in the background (see the top of the post). The second, titled The Skating Party, featured the helpful robot bringing a bowl of flaming holiday punch to a skating party. 

The NYTBR is the only time these whimsical drawings have been published all together, although a few of the images have appeared over the years on greeting cards. 

Original art images courtesy The Edward Gorey Charitable Trust.

 

 

Auction News

There have been several recent auctions that included original art by Edward Gorey. On October 17, 2024 Leland Little Auctions of Hillsborough, North Carolina offered a piece from The Dream World of Dion McGregor, published in 1964 by Bernard Greis Assosiates, New York. The provenance note on this piece stated that the art came from the collection of Don Patterson, executive editor at Bernard Greis. 

Titled Cottage for Sale,  this creepy image illustrates a particularly gruesome tale of a house of torture being shown to perspective renters with the sales pitch given as if the house is a quaint home for rent. Edward Gorey chose what is quite possibly the least horrific part of the tour for this illustration. "And the closet space...each one with a noose hanging in there...". This piece sold for $4920.00 (including buyer's premium).

On October 24th Bohnam's auctions of Los Angeles featured two works by Edward Gorey from the collection of Leonard Stanley. The first, titled Lawn on Malta is a Zen landscape created in 1974 featuring rocks that look like cats alongside sleeping cats that look like rocks. This tranquil scene sold for $12,800.00 (including buyer's premium).

The second piece included in the sale is a beautifully rendered set design from Edward Gorey's seminal 1977 Broadway production of Dracula.

Edward Gorey designed the set with a framework of five arched openings for inset panels which could be quickly changed for each act. This Act 1 set piece is the wall panel inset on the right. The books filling the shelves were indicated on other set drawings for this scene. The drawing sold for $8960.00 (including buyer's premium).

Images courtesy of Leland Little Auctions, Hillsborough, NC, and Bohnams Auctions, Los Angeles, CA. Dracula Act 1 set photo by Martha Swope, New York Public Library Digital Collections.

A Gorey Inspired Puppet

My husband Bill Campbell likes to surprise me each year with an Edward Gorey inspired toy that he makes by hand. With the publication of Carol Verburg's Gorey/Theater book, Bill began working on a hand puppet based on the actors Gorey created for his Le Théâtricule stoïque puppet troupe.

Bill was working towards completing a puppet in time for our Thanksgiving anniversary, but moved things up when I was asked to participate in Carol's October 15th book launch party. With only photos of Edward Gorey's original puppets as reference, Bill sculpted a head and then sewed several practice bodies in plain cloth until he felt he had gotten the proportions correct. He then used a "Gorey appropriate" cloth and sewed the final body. The addition of a parasol made from antique lace completed the figure.

Since none of Edward Gorey's original puppet actors were available to attend the book launch, Bill's understudy puppet was displayed. After her star turn at the event, our Lady With A Lace Parasol has taken up residence in a Chinese Urn in a corner of our dining room.

Everyone knows that actors will perform at a moments notice and our Lady With A Lace Parasol is the consummate understudy, always angling for her turn in the spotlight. Here she is, performing to Absinthe Frappé by Victor Herbert. Written in 1904 for It Happened In Nordland, the tune is played on our antique 1910 Regina music box.

Theatrical Book Launch Event

On Tuesday October 15th Carol Verburg's soon to become a classic book on Edward Gorey's theater career was launched with a book signing event at Big Hill Books in Minneapolis. It was an honor to be Carol's featured guest at the event.

Carol and I discussed Edward Gorey's life long fascination with theater work beginning with his first Christmas concert set design at the Francis Parker School in Chicago, his work with The Poets Theater while attending Harvard University, his enormous success with Dracula on the Cape and on Broadway, and finally to his "entertainments" in the 1990's on the Cape. The talk was illustrated with several pieces of original set design artwork by Mr. Gorey from my personal collection.

After the talk, those that attended were able to purchase the new book and have it personally signed by Carol. The evening was a huge success and was the first of several book launch events across the country that Carol will be attending.

For those who were not in attendance, here are excerpts from our presentation on The Theatrical Adventures of Edward Gorey.

Goreyana Anniversary

It is always a shock to realize that yet another year of sharing stories and events about the life and works of Edward Gorey has flown by. 

As Goreyana turns 16 and begins its 17th year, we are pleased to announce that Irwin Terry will be joining author Carol Verburg at her first book launch event to celebrate the publication of her book The Theatrical Adventures of Edward Gorey on Tuesday October 15th at Big Hill Books in Minneapolis. 

In addition to hearing Carol talk about her professional theatrical experiences and personal friendship with Edward Gorey, several pieces of never before displayed original theater set designs from Irwin Terry's collection that are featured in the book will be on display at the event.

The event will take place at Big Hill Books, 405 Penn Avenue South in Minneapolis, Minnesota on Tuesday October 15th from 7 - 8pm.