EverythingGorey

The Vinegar Works

It has taken me awhile but I now have a copy of Edward Gorey's The Vinegar Works: Three Volumes of Moral Instruction to add to my ever growing collection of Gorey paraphernalia. My husband Joel came home with a near mint box set that he purchased from Ebay for an extremely reasonable price. How we do love that fabulous website, and I often wonder what I would do without it, but back to Gorey because that is what this site is all about.

There are two different box sets available; one that contains 7 volumes and the one that I now own that contains 3 volumes. The 3 volume box set consists of three different books; The Gashlycrumb Tinies, The Insect God, and The West Wing. All copies are noted first editions and were printed by Simon and Schuster, New York in 1963.

So even though my collection is growing in leaps and bounds it is really never enough - but that is usually the way it is for us avid bibliophiles. 

Gorey Collection

I have just spent the day organizing my book collection, not exactly my whole collection, I only managed to sort through my Edward Gorey collection. In so doing, I did manage to spend some time reading; Edward Gorey books, of course.

The first book I read, or viewed may be the more appropriate term in some instances, was Edward Gorey's 'Amphigorey Also'. This is a collection of works by Gorey, and although it is a wonderful book, it is not as enjoyable as picking up an individual book by the brilliant Author/Illustrator.

Next, was 'Donald and the...' which was written by Peter F.Neumeyer and illustrated by Edward Gorey. It is a great tale about a boy who finds a worm...I won't tell you anymore, as the book is only about 20 pages long so I would not want to ruin the ending.

Last, but certainly not least, was 'The Curious Sofa' by Ogred Weary, who is just another alias for Edward Gorey. This was a quirky yet interesting book.

Next weekend I will start sorting through my Virginia Woolf collection, but somehow I cannot imagine reading 2 or 3 of her books in one day?

THE UNSTRUNG HARP; OR, MR. EARBRASS WRITES A NOVEL

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.