First edition: New York/Boston: Duell, Sloan and Pearce/Little, Brown and Company [1953]. White boards with mustard, oxblood, and black pictorial stamping; pictorial dust wrapper. "First Edition" on copyright page.
First English edition: Retitled: THE LISTING ATTIC [and] THE UNSTRUNG HARP London: Abelard [1974]. Hardcover edition: white laminated boards with yellow and black pictorial stamping; issued without a dust wrapper. Paper edition: stiff white wrappers with yellow and black stamping. No priority. "First published in Great Britain by Abelard-Schuman Limited 1974" on copyright page.
January 2005
January 18, 2005
January 17, 2005
Meet the Author, Edward Gorey
EDWARD GOREY (1925 - 2000)
I have since decided to add Edward Gorey to my collection of rare books. I have been concentrating my efforts on such authors as; Bram Stoker, Virginia Woolf, Edgar Allan Poe and Margaret Atwood.
At the moment I have three of Goreys wonderful, yet quirky little books. One is a first edition but the others are later copies which I bought just for the sake of owning anything by Edward Gorey. I also prefer to have some newer editions for my reading enjoyment as I do so worry while reading some of my more collectible books.
I remember the day we met, or should I say I stumbled upon Gorey's work. I picked up a later edition of Bram Stoker's Dracula at Half Price Books in Capital Hill. After arriving home I noticed that the book had some wonderful illustrations throughout, these were done by Edward Gorey, of course.
I then did some research and found that Edward Gorey has quite the cult following. With his strangely enticing characters, dark depictions of life and his macabre humour I had no choice but to be enthralled by him.
Just a taste of Goreyography:
"A is for Amy who fell down the stairs. B is for Basil assaulted by bears. C is for Clara who wasted away. D is for Desmond thrown out of a sleigh..." from The Gashlycrumb Tinies.
