Thursday, 3 February 2011

Gorey James

Dover Publications do a sterling job keeping a lot of great literature available at very cheap prices, as well as some great art collections and early graphic novels by the likes of Lynd Ward. But it's also true that much of their literature collection have uninspired covers and not always very sensitive typography. However, their most recent Henry James reissue, What Maisie Knew, uses the cover originally created for Anchor in the 1950s by the late Edward Gorey (about who I've written a lot in the past).


And here's the original Anchor edition:


Compare this with some of their other Jameses, and you'll agree it's a great improvement. More Gorey, please!




Here are two more old Gorey James covers, stolen from E·ratio.


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9 comments:

  1. claire3 February 2011 at 18:40

    I love Gorey so hard.
    Kate Beaton, history comic artist of great internet renown, did some funny little comics based on Gorey book covers: check them out on her blog Hark A Vagrant here and here. I can't decide which one I like best, but it's probably down to What Maisie Knew or KIERKEGAARD...

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  2. JRSM3 February 2011 at 19:16

    Thank you, Claire, those are wonderful!

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  3. Matthew Adams3 February 2011 at 23:15

    Funny thing is Gorey didn't really like the work of Henry James (if I remember what I read in Ascending Peculiarity correctly).

    Those comics are excellent!

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  4. Alan4 February 2011 at 02:58

    I came to make sure you were aware of Kate Beaton's Gorey comics! She is the best. Two others:
    http://www.harkavagrant.com/index.php?id=252
    http://www.harkavagrant.com/index.php?id=272

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  5. Lisa6 February 2011 at 11:18

    I also lurve lurve lurve Gorey and really enjoyed those comics Claire linked. (Thanks!) But I just gotta say that Gorey does not have a Henry James FEEL to me. Using his artwork on a cover isn't bad, since it would inevitably cause someone like me to pick up the book, but it feels like a mismatch tone-wise.

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  6. India Pictures7 February 2011 at 02:41

    Really it is very useful post and I like to read these type of posts and thanks for sharing such type of posts please keep it sharing.

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  7. Tulkinghorn8 February 2011 at 11:38

    Gorey was "Art Editor" of Anchor Books during the fifties. Your Gorey Bonanza, part 1, reproduces a number of the Anchor Books.

    Information here with links to (damn it) black and white reproductions of the covers:

    http://www.goreyography.com/west/paper/paper.htm

    Cool quote:

    As art editor, Gorey was responsible for the total cover package, supplying the lettering, typography and design layouts. Often other artist contributed the actual illustration: Leonard Baskin, Milton Glaser, Philippe Julian and even Andy Warhol; but Gorey then designed the finished product lending a uniform appearance to the whole line.

    Gorey worked in this capacity from 1953 until 1960, a period which roughly corresponds with Anchor's first two hundred titles. About a fourth of these have line drawn covers by Gorey. He also designed various covers for Vintage, Capricorn, Compass and other publications that followed Anchor's lead.

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  8. JRSM8 February 2011 at 13:25

    Thanks, Tulkinghorn: that link and that quote are really very useful (shame about the lack of colour, but you can still see his lovely linework).

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  9. Andy Smith22 February 2011 at 15:10

    You're right. More Gorey please

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