Dracula Pillow Designs

There has been a lot of cleaning going on at our house lately, and in the course of things Bill has been finding some interesting tidbits...and reminders of "things that got away"...


In 1986, Bill, myself and a friend went to New York City for a vacation. On this trip, we took many photos (a practice we have to get back in the habit of doing). This turned out to be one of our more eventful trips to NYC for many reasons, but I will stick to the Edward Gorey story for this posting.

Among the places we visited was The Gotham Book Mart in the Diamond District. In the photo above, Bill is central outside the shop window which was displaying Gorey Books and posters. The long familiar sign hung over the entrance to greet visitors. No visit to GBM was complete without a trip to the second floor gallery, especially when there was an Edward Gorey exhibition on display. To my great surprise, there were several pieces of original artwork being offered for sale. To my great disappointment, I could not afford any of the pieces at that time.


I was allowed to take a couple photos of the art offerings, and Bill ran across these pictures while cleaning. Available were three pillow designs from the set of the Broadway production of Dracula and a two part drawing from Three Ladies Beside the Sea (photo below, see my posting from January 5, 2009 for more on this book). I do not remember what the Three Ladies art was priced at, but I do remember that the pillow sketches were $400.00 each which was too rich for my pocketbook at the time.


In 2006, Bill and I visited the Edward Gorey House museum about a week before the Dracula exhibition opened. One of the items we were able to preview while visiting was a pillow from the set of the stage play. I held the pillow up (see the photo below with Gorey House Director Rick Jones) and Bill snapped a photo. Referencing the 1986 photo with the photo taken 20 years later, the pillow that was on display is one of the three designs that I saw at GBM! Now, if I only had more money back then...