Editing Edward Gorey (section)

== Career ==
[[File:Gorey28.jpg|right|thumb|Gorey in the kitchen of his home at [[Yarmouth, Massachusetts|Yarmouth]], [[Cape Cod]], 1999]]
From 1953 to 1960, he lived in [[Manhattan]] and worked for the Art Department of [[Doubleday (publisher)|Doubleday]] Anchor, where he illustrated book covers,<ref name="isbn_9780399581038">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DANIDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA111 |page=111 |title=The Look of the Book: Jackets, Covers, and Art at the Edges of Literature |author=Peter Mendelsund, David J. Alworth |publisher=Rodale |year=2020|isbn=9780399581038 }}</ref> added illustrations to text,<ref name="isbn_9780399581038"/> and provided [[typography|typographic]] design.<!--Reference supporting the typographic design: The 1957 New York Doubleday Anchor edition of [[George Pólya]]'s ''[[How to Solve It]]'' states on its copyright page, "Typography by Edward Gorey".--> He illustrated works as diverse as [[Bram Stoker]]'s ''[[Dracula]]'', [[H. G. Wells]]' ''[[The War of the Worlds (novel)|The War of the Worlds]]'',<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.heavymetal.com/news/edward-goreys-illustrations-for-a-1960-edition-of-war-of-the-worlds/ |title=Edward Gorey's Illustrations for a 1960 Edition of "War of the Worlds" |date=June 18, 2015 |publisher=HeavyMetal.com}}</ref> and [[T. S. Eliot]]'s ''[[Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats]]''.<ref>{{cite book|title=Old Possum's book of practical cats|first1=T. S. |last1=Eliot |first2=Edward |last2=Gorey|publisher=Harcourt Children's Books|oclc = 1272812677 |year=1967|isbn=9780547248271}}</ref> Throughout his career, he illustrated over 200 book covers for Doubleday Anchor, Random House's Looking Glass Library, Bobbs-Merrill, and as a freelance artist.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Heller|first=Steven|title=Edward Gorey: his book cover art and design|publisher=Pomegranate|year=2015|isbn=978-0-7649-7147-1|location=Portland, Oregon|pages=5}}</ref> In later years he produced cover illustrations and interior artwork for many children's books by [[John Bellairs]], as well as books begun by Bellairs and continued by [[Brad Strickland]] after Bellairs' death.

His first independent work, ''The Unstrung Harp'', was published in 1953. He also published under various pen names, some of which were [[anagram]]s of his first and last names, such as Ogdred Weary,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://torontopubliclibrary.typepad.com/arts_culture/2020/11/gorey-tales-the-stories-and-art-of-edward-gorey.html|publisher=Toronto Public Library |title=Gorey Tales: The Art and Stories of Edward Gorey|date=November 13, 2020}}</ref> Dogear Wryde, Ms. Regera Dowdy, and dozens more. His books also feature the names Eduard Blutig ("Edward Gory"), a German-language [[pun]] on his own name, and O. Müde (German for O. Weary).

At the prompting of Harry Stanton, an editor and vice president at [[Addison-Wesley]], Gorey collaborated on a number of works (and continued a lifelong correspondence) with [[Peter Neumeyer|Peter F. Neumeyer]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Neumeyer|first=Peter|title=Floating Worlds: The Letters of Edward Gorey and Peter F. Neumeyer|publisher=Pomegranate Communications Inc.|year=2011|isbn=978-0-7649-5947-9|location=San Francisco, California|pages=7–21}}</ref>

''[[The New York Times]]'' credits bookstore owner Andreas Brown and his store, the [[Gotham Book Mart]], with launching Gorey's career: "It became the central clearing house for Mr. Gorey, presenting exhibitions of his work in the store's gallery and eventually turning him into an international celebrity."<ref>{{cite news| last = Gussow| first = Mel| title = Edward Gorey, Artist and Author Who Turned the Macabre into a Career, Dies at 75| newspaper = The New York Times| date = April 17, 2000| url = https://www.nytimes.com/2000/04/17/arts/edward-gorey-artist-and-author-who-turned-the-macabre-into-a-career-dies-at-75.html }}</ref>

Gorey's illustrated (and sometimes wordless) books, with their vaguely ominous air and ostensibly [[Victorian era|Victorian]] and [[Edwardian era|Edwardian]] settings, have long had a [[cult following]].<ref>Acocella, Joan, ''[https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/12/10/edward-goreys-enigmatic-world?mbid=nl_Humor%20120618&CNDID=24468011&hasha=5ab2fd85cb9acb9ad384e84d6c6dc8a9&hashb=7ac401a5dbcbe389d32b4735d8bb59e5a9393deb&spMailingID=14746853&spUserID=MTMzMTgyNTAyMTU2S0&spJobID=1540502724&spReportId=MTU0MDUwMjcyNAS2 Edward Gorey's Enigmatic World]'', The New Yorker, December 10, 2018 print edition under the headline "Funny Peculiar", with many illustrations</ref>  He made a notable impact on the world of theater with his designs for the [[Dracula (1977 play)|1977 Broadway revival of ''Dracula'']], for which he won the [[Tony Award for Best Costume Design]] and was nominated for the [[Tony Award for Best Scenic Design]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://crimereads.com/edward-gorey-designed-the-sets-for-the-1970s-broadway-run-of-dracula/ |title=EDWARD GOREY DESIGNED THE SETS FOR THE 1970S BROADWAY RUN OF DRACULA |date=October 22, 2020 |last=Rutigliano |first=Olivia |author-link=Olivia Rutigliano }}</ref> In 1980, Gorey became particularly well known for his animated introduction to the [[Public Broadcasting Service|PBS]] series ''[[Mystery!]]'' In the introduction of each ''[[Mystery!]]'' episode, host [[Vincent Price]] would welcome viewers to "Gorey Mansion".

[[File:Edward Gorey House 3.jpg|right|thumb|[[Edward Gorey House]], [[Yarmouth Port, Massachusetts]] (2006)]]
Because of the settings and style of Gorey's work, many people have assumed he was British; in fact, he only left the U.S. once, for a visit to the Scottish Hebrides. In later years, he lived year-round in [[Yarmouth Port, Massachusetts]], on [[Cape Cod]], where he wrote and directed numerous evening-length entertainments, often featuring his own [[papier-mâché]] puppets, an ensemble known as Le Theatricule Stoique. The first of these productions, ''Lost Shoelaces'', premiered in [[Woods Hole, Massachusetts]], on August 13, 1987.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Ross|first=Clifford|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/33863808|title=The World of Edward Gorey|publisher=Harry N. Abrams, Inc|others=Karen Wilkin, Ruth A. Peltason, Edward Gorey|year=1996|isbn=0-8109-3988-6|location=New York|pages=184|oclc=33863808}}</ref> The last was ''The White Canoe: an Opera Seria for Hand Puppets'', for which Gorey wrote the libretto, with a score by the composer [[Daniel James Wolf]]. The opera, which was based on [[Thomas Moore]]'s poem ''The Lake of the Dismal Swamp'', was performed under the direction of Carol Verburg, a close friend and neighbor of the artist, after Gorey died. Herbert Senn and Helen Pond, two renowned set designers, created a puppet stage for the opera. In the early 1970s, Gorey wrote an unproduced screenplay for a [[silent film]], ''The Black Doll''.

After Gorey's death, one of his executors, Andreas Brown, turned up a large cache of unpublished work, both complete and incomplete. Brown described the find as "ample material for many future books and for plays based on his work".<ref name="locus">"The Data File: Gorey Discoveries", ''[[Locus (magazine)|Locus]]'', December 2000, p.11.</ref>