Murderesses Television Series

It has been announced that AMC is working on a live action series based on Edward Gorey's Neglected Murderesses postcard set. The announcement in Variety appears HERE.

First appearing in Murderess Ink (Workman Publishing, New York, 1979), Neglected Murderesses is a collection of twelve ruthless women - are all killers who disposed of their victims in novel ways. Each enterprising femme fatale is represented as a single image postcard image with a brief, amusing history. One of Mr. Gorey's most reprinted sets, these cards have appeared in no less than 6 publications.

Happy Valentine's Day

 

 A St. Valentine's Day advertisement for The Hapless Child by Edward Gorey, 1961.

Fan Mail

Like most authors, Edward Gorey received fan mail of all sorts. In the pre-social media days of the 1980's and 90's requests for autographs and written responses to questions arrived through the mail with increasing frequency. His address and phone number were listed in the phone book and with very little effort a fan could track down his address. 

Feeling some sort of responsibility to reply and yet not be overwhelmed by correspondence from fans, Mr. Gorey created a response post card that he hand signed in advance and could address and send as needed. The card has a beautifully detailed illustration showing a cat atop an urn overflowing with unread letters. The cat is telling the recipient that, "You've written me to no avail, Because I never read my mail." 

As part of the Edward Gorey Documentary Project, Mr. Gorey was interviewed on the subject of fan mail. The audio from this interview was animated by Ben Wickey for the documentary. Additional animated interviews from this series can be found on YouTube HERE.

Mr. Earbrass Plays Croquet

 

I have the good fortune to be married to a man who loves to make special gifts for special occasions. For our 41st anniversary this past November, I received a hand made Mr. Earbrass figure. Recreating a scene from The Unstrung Harp, Edward Gorey's first published work, the intrepid Mr. Earbrass is braving the elements to complete a forgotten game of croquet. The collaged figure is amazingly detailed and everything from his head, hands and feet to his croquet mallet are hand made to scale. In the book, Mr. Earbrass is wearing a fur coat during his attempt to finish his game, but Bill decided to swap out his clothing for his traveling costume shown later in the book. Using bits of fabric with appropriately sized patterns, Mr. Earbrass is stylishly attired to brave the elements.

Bill has always enjoyed creating vintage style toys, and Mr. Earbrass is not just a figurine, he is also a Räuchermännchen, or incense smoker toy. Räuchermännchen were first made around 1850 in the Ore Mountains, a region that forms the border between Germany and the Czech Republic. They usually feature pipe smoking figures in traditional costume and remain popular holiday decorations.

Lifting off the top half of Mr. Earbrass, a metal tray is positioned to accept an incense cone. When lit and the top half of his body replaced, smoke gently emanates from Mr. Earbrass' mouth so that you can see his breath as if he were outside breathing in the chilly air. Here is a video of Mr. Earbrass out in the cold, playing croquet.

 

 

Edward Bradford

 

The world of Edward Gorey has lost a staunch and cherished friend. It is with much sadness that we say goodbye to Edward Bradford, a fellow collector, board member of The Edward Gorey House, and Mr. Gorey's official bibliographer who passed on December 26, 2020.

Over many decades, Edward Bradford amassed a staggering Gorey collection that included examples of almost everything produced by the prolific artist. Mr. Bradford was frequently seen attending auctions, book shops and fairs in New York City on his quest for rare (and ephemeral) Gorey items. Recently, the Library of Congress acquired this impressive collection and has plans to publish Mr. Bradford's long anticipated Edward Gorey bibliography in conjunction with Rutgers University. His small volume, F is for Fantods gives us a preview of the upcoming bibliography.

Edward Bradford was an invaluable resource to every Gorey collector and dealer he knew. Generous with his time and knowledge, Mr. Bradford excelled at helping others figure out Gorey conundrums.

Photo of Edward Bradford outside the 2010/11 Elegant Enigmas exhibition in Boston courtesy of Jonas Ploeger.

1979 Graham Gallery Christmas Exhibit - Artist R. O. Blechman

In 1979 Edward Gorey was invited by the Graham Gallery in New York City to be one of four artists included in a Christmastime group exhibition. The show opened on December 19, 1979  and was on display through January 5, 1980. Mr. Gorey had participated in two previous group shows at Graham (1974 & 1975) both of which he produced a quantity of new works specifically for the exhibitions. For this exhibition, Mr. Gorey sold preexisting works (notably, original artwork from his book The Broken Spoke) and included pieces that had not sold at the two previous Graham exhibitions.

 

I have been trying to locate a list for the 1975 and 1979 shows at Graham without success. Sadly, the gallery is no longer in operation and information relating to what was exhibited by any of the artists is elusive. I was therefore delighted when a piece of original artwork by R.O. Blechman from the 1979 Graham show appeared at Swann Auction Galleries this past summer and I was able to add it to my collection. The piece was consigned by the artist himself, who at this time is 90 years old. Included with the artwork is an announcement card from the show that was signed by all four artists, including Edward Gorey.

This delicately executed piece is related to the image Mr. Blechman created for the invitation. Fluttering in a vertical line are a series of ribbons entwined with holly, forming a line of dollar signs in a subtle comment on the holiday season. The artwork, drawn in red ink, is only 3/4" x 4" on a 5 1/2" x 8 1/2" piece of thin paper.

Oscar Robert Blechman (professionally known as R. O. Blechman) is an animation artist & director, illustrator, writer, and cartoonist whose works have been seen by millions of people and has had retrospectives in The Museum of Modern Art, among others. In 2018, Mr. Blechman was interviewed about his long career in this article: artofthespot.com/ro-blechman.html

 Here is a lovely Christmas greeting created in 1966 by Mr. Blechman for CBS.

Alison Lurie

 

Author Alison Lurie passed away on December 3, 2020 at the age of 94. Ms. Lurie was a close friend of Edward Gorey since they met at the Mandrake Bookshop in 1949. Ms. Lurie and her children inspired several of Mr. Gorey's books including The Beastly Baby and The Doubtful Guest, which is dedicated to her using her married name (Alison Bishop). 

In 2008, Alison Lurie discussed her relationship with Edward Gorey during an event at The Edward Gorey House. A transcript of her interesting and informative talk is reproduced here: https://www.goreyography.com/north/north.htm