A Gorey Tale from Rome

Fans of Edward Gorey can turn up anywhere, even in the Vatican. About fifteen years ago I was corresponding with Cuthbert Thambimbuttu (1945 - 2019), an insatiable book collector known to many dealers, fellow collectors, and authors as "Tubby" about all things Edward Gorey. Mr. Thambimbuttu was a devoted and persistent collector of signed editions by authors he admired and respected. Edward Gorey was among the authors whose works he sought out.

In an email dated February 21, 2011, Mr. Thambimbuttu told me an origin story about the image Edward Gorey created that has become known as The John Locke Quote. John Locke (1632 - 1704) was an English philosopher and physician whose work and views have influenced writers, philosophers and political thinkers to this day. 

The quote, hand lettered by Edward Gorey, tells of the perils of books in general, and the moral pitfalls that befall anyone who comes into contact with them professionally. Illustrated with a witty color image of an obsessive book collector clutching a volume just after he has caused the previous owner to fall over the edge of a cliff, this delightful image was printed as an oversized folded stationary card by The Gotham Book Mart. The 7" x 8.5" card is printed on regular paper stock and was issued without envelopes. 

Mr. Thambibuttu related that Andreas Brown (1933 - 2020), owner of The Gotham Book Mart and one of the original trustees of The Edward Gorey Charitable Trust, had been sent a copy of the Locke quote by Fr. William Sheehan (1937 - 2018). Fr. Sheehan was originally from New York and in 1986 had become the Director of the Incunabula Catalog Department - Printed Books at the Vatican Library in Rome. Fr. Sheehan had contacted Mr. Brown to see if Edward Gorey could "make anything fitting" using the quote as inspiration. The stationary card was Edward Gorey's response to the request.