Edward Gorey (February 22, 1925 to April 15, 2000) needs no preface.
Here is a bibliographic note from Columbia University that will interest his fans.
[An im]portant collection of works by idiosyncratic illustrator, designer and writer Edward Gorey has been donated to Columbia’s Rare Book & Manuscript Library by Andrew Alpern ..... Numbering more than 700 items, the collection includes nearly every edition of every work published by Gorey, in addition to illustrations for dust jackets and magazines, original drawings, etchings, posters and design ephemera. By any measure, this is a major gathering of Gorey’s work.
Born in Chicago in 1925, Gorey attended Harvard after World War II, and then became an illustrator for Doubleday Anchor in New York City. At the same time, he began writing and illustrating his own distinctive works, in a wittily ghoulish style that evoked a fin de siecle atmosphere. He also illustrated books by such literary masters as Samuel Beckett, T.S. Eliot, John Updike and Charles Dickens. He died in 2000.
Gorey is perhaps best known for the animated opening sequence to the long-running PBS television series Mystery! He also designed sets and costumes for many theater productions, and in 1978, his work on the Broadway play Dracula,...., earned him a Tony Award for best costumes and a nomination for best set designs. A very limited edition of photographs of the set and costume design drawings was made, and one copy from that edition is part of the Alpern gift.
Andreas Brown, Gotham’s owner, took an early interest in Gorey and helped promote the artist’s work at his store, where Alpern was a frequent customer. “I saw a couple of these odd little things sitting on the counter, and they were fascinating, beautifully drawn, and the words were very odd,” recalls Alpern. “I was interested in the drawings, and the books weren’t expensive either, which appealed to me because I didn’t have very much money.”
He started collecting Gorey’s work and became a nodding acquaintance with the artist....
[An im]portant collection of works by idiosyncratic illustrator, designer and writer Edward Gorey has been donated to Columbia’s Rare Book & Manuscript Library by Andrew Alpern ..... Numbering more than 700 items, the collection includes nearly every edition of every work published by Gorey, in addition to illustrations for dust jackets and magazines, original drawings, etchings, posters and design ephemera. By any measure, this is a major gathering of Gorey’s work.
Born in Chicago in 1925, Gorey attended Harvard after World War II, and then became an illustrator for Doubleday Anchor in New York City. At the same time, he began writing and illustrating his own distinctive works, in a wittily ghoulish style that evoked a fin de siecle atmosphere. He also illustrated books by such literary masters as Samuel Beckett, T.S. Eliot, John Updike and Charles Dickens. He died in 2000.
Gorey is perhaps best known for the animated opening sequence to the long-running PBS television series Mystery! He also designed sets and costumes for many theater productions, and in 1978, his work on the Broadway play Dracula,...., earned him a Tony Award for best costumes and a nomination for best set designs. A very limited edition of photographs of the set and costume design drawings was made, and one copy from that edition is part of the Alpern gift.
Andreas Brown, Gotham’s owner, took an early interest in Gorey and helped promote the artist’s work at his store, where Alpern was a frequent customer. “I saw a couple of these odd little things sitting on the counter, and they were fascinating, beautifully drawn, and the words were very odd,” recalls Alpern. “I was interested in the drawings, and the books weren’t expensive either, which appealed to me because I didn’t have very much money.”
He started collecting Gorey’s work and became a nodding acquaintance with the artist....
The authors of the above sketch are no better than most at classifying Gorey when they write about his-- wittily ghoulish style that evoked a fin de siecle atmosphere. This is barely adequate.
Edward Gorey needs no preface, but I think he needs a new adjective: macaberesque.
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