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Gotham Book Mart collection of Edward Gorey material

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Held at: University of Pennsylvania: Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts [Contact Us]3420 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104-6206

This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the University of Pennsylvania: Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in their reading room, and not digitally available through the web.

Overview and metadata sections

Call Number:
Ms. Coll. 1185
Repository:
University of Pennsylvania: Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts
Extent:
11 linear feet (19 boxes)
Language:
English
Preferred Citation:
Gotham Book Mart collection of Edward Gorey material, 1945-2012, Ms. Coll. 1185, Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts, University of Pennsylvania
Date:
1945-2012 (inclusive)
Creator:
Brown, Andreas
Form:
Machine-readable artifacts, Audiovisual materials, Photographs, Writings (documents), Correspondence, Memorabilia, Printed ephemera, and Estate inventories
Abstract:
Edward St. John Gorey (1925-2000) was an American author and artist, primarily known for his children's stories and illustrations of children's books, although he also produced adult-oriented work. Sometime around 1977, Gorey established a company, Doomed Enterprises, to handle all matters related to publication and licensing of his work. This collection consists primarily of records of Andreas Brown's and the Gotham Book Mart's records relating to Doomed Enterprises, documents relating to the execution of the Edward Gorey estate after 2000 (for which Brown served as an executor), and other documents and artifacts documenting Gorey's public image and legacy.

Edward St. John Gorey (1925-2000) was an American author and artist, primarily known for his children's stories and illustrations of children's books, although he also produced adult-oriented work. Reviewers and fans often labeled his work "dark" or "macabre," although Gorey and his associates resisted such labels, preferring "whimsical" or "eccentric." Gorey authored more than 100 books and illustrated more than 60 by other authors. Gorey was raised in Chicago, was drafted in the Army during World War II, graduated from Harvard, and then lived and worked in New York City until 1982, at which point he effectively retired to Yarmouth Port, Massachusetts, where he remained involved in local arts and theatre.

While living in New York, Gorey was a frequent patron of the Gotham Book Mart, which also exhibited his art and published some of his work. In fact, according to Gorey's obituary in the New York Times

A turning point in Mr. Gorey's career was his meeting with Andreas Brown. When Mr. Brown bought the Gotham Book Mart, 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. The Gotham sold great quantities of his books and also collectibles: greeting cards, T-shirts (one reads, ''So many books, so little time''), calendars and stuffed toys. With the publication of his first anthology, ''Amphigorey'' (in 1972), followed by two sequels, his audience widened.

Sometime around 1977, Gorey established a company, Doomed Enterprises, to handle all matters related to publication and licensing of his work. While Gorey was nominally president of Doomed Enterprises, it was Andreas Brown (the vice president) who seemed to work more closely with lawyers and publishers. Upon Gorey's death in 2000, Brown served as executor of the Edward Gorey estate, in which he continued his active role managing Gorey's public legacy.

Gussow, Mel. "Edward Gorey, Artist and Author Who Turned the Macabre Into a Career, Dies at 75." New York Times, April 17, 2000 (accessed 2018 January 24)

This collection consists primarily of Andreas Brown's records of Doomed Enterprises, documents relating to the execution of the Edward Gorey estate after 2000, and other documents and artifacts documenting Gorey's public image and legacy. The collection is arranged in six series: I. Edward Gorey papers, II. Doomed Enterprises/Estate of Edward Gorey records, III. Edward Gorey-related ephemera, IV. Proofs, galleys, and mock-ups, V. Prints and photographs, and VI. Media.

In the first series, Edward Gorey papers, some personal correspondence addressed to Gorey and personal records of Gorey are included, but they comprise only a small part of the collection. In addition, many of these personal records are only photocopies presumably in Andreas Brown's possession. No letters from Gorey are included in this collection, although there is one folder containing scraps of paper with notes in Gorey's handwriting.

Series II. Doomed Enterprises/Estate of Edward Gorey records contains correspondence between Brown, other authors and illustrators, lawyers representing the Edward Gorey estate, the directors of the Edward Gorey House museum, and companies seeking to license Gorey works or images for commercial or artistic purposes. This series also includes a large, but still fragmentary, collection of licensed Gorey merchandise.

Series III. Edward Gorey-related ephemera contains a small group of materials which mostly demonstrates his relationship with the Gotham Book Mart as the store both advertised his works and exhibited his art. However, researchers will also find a fairly robust grouping of articles about Gorey and his work; dustjackets and slipcases for some of his publications; catalogs; and exhibition catalogs, notices, and invitations for events that took place at locations in addition to the Gotham Book Mart. Of particular interest may be Gotham's catalogs of Gorey's works which were issued each year from 1971 until at least 2006. There is also some information about the Edward Gorey House, which was turned into a museum after Gorey's death in 2000.

In Series IV. Proofs, galleys, and mock-ups, researchers will find highly annotated and corrected photocopies of a few of Gorey's works. The work most represented in this group of materials is Amphigorey Again. This work is printed out, markings are made in red pen (it is unclear who marked up the documents), and illustrations are pasted onto the print-out.

Series V. Prints and photographs includes prints of a few of Gorey's illustrations and photographs of Gorey at work and with his cats, of Gorey events at Gotham Book Mart, and of the Edward Gorey House in Yarmouth Port, Massachusetts.

Series VI. Media includes cassette tapes, cds, vhs recordings, and a computer floppy disc. While some of this material was professionally produced, there is some material that was clearly recorded by Brown or a member of the Gotham Book Mart staff. All originals are restricted, but can be made available to researchers by contacting Reprographic Services (reprogr@upenn.edu) for cost estimates and ordering.

This collection was included among the Gotham Book Mart materials acquired through an anonymous gift in 2008 by the University of Pennsylvania.

At the Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts, University of Pennsylvania: Gotham Book Mart records, 1723-2006 (bulk: 1967-2006), Ms. Coll. 1025

At the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis: Edward Gorey Papers 1974-1982.

People
Organization
Subject

Publisher
University of Pennsylvania: Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts
Finding Aid Author
Jack Dwiggins
Finding Aid Date
2016 February 29
Access Restrictions

The bulk of this collection is open for research use, however access to original audio/visual materials and computer files (in boxes 10 and 14) is restricted. The Kislak Center will provide access to the information on these materials from duplicate master files. If the original does not already have a copy, it will be sent to an outside vendor for copying. Patrons are financially responsible for the cost. The turnaround time from request to delivery of digital items is about two weeks for up to five items and three to seven weeks for more than five items. Please contact Reprographic Services (reprogr@upenn.edu) for cost estimates and ordering. Once digital items are received, researchers will have access to the files on a dedicated computer in the Van Pelt-Dietrich Library Center. Researchers should be aware of specifics of copyright law and act accordingly.

Use Restrictions

Copyright restrictions may exist. For most library holdings, the Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania do not hold copyright. It is the responsibility of the requester to seek permission from the holder of the copyright to reproduce material from the Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts.

Collection Inventory

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Abrams, Harry N.-Gartner, Aleba, 1966-1995.
Box 1 Folder 1
Gillam, Barry-Yazoo Mailorder, unidentified correspondent, 1972-2000.
Box 1 Folder 2
"Stumbling Christmas" typescript with annotations (photocopy), undated.
Box 1 Folder 3
Art Directors Club The One Show merit award, 1974.
Box 1 Folder 5
Records of theatrical productions, 1978-1999.
Box 1 Folder 10
Address book (photocopy), undated.
Box 1 Folder 4
Notebook (photocopies), 1945.
Box 1 Folder 8
Memorial service program, 2000.
Box 1 Folder 7
Handwritten notes by Edward Gorey, undated.
Box 1 Folder 6
Other notes for or about Edward Gorey (not by Edward Gorey), undated.
Box 1 Folder 9

Ahrens, Flip-Atkinson, Carol, 1978-2004.
Box 1 Folder 11
Bagby, Benjamin-Breglio, John F., 1974-2004.
Box 1 Folder 12
Boose, R. Andrew-Brender, Barbara, 1995-2005.
Box 1 Folder 13
Brown, Andreas, 1974-2003.
Box 2 Folder 1
Brown, Andreas, 2004-2005, undated.
Box 2 Folder 2
Brown, Eric-Burwood, Nigel, 1985-2004.
Box 2 Folder 3
Caldwell, Joseph-Clark, H. Nichols B., 1978-2005.
Box 2 Folder 4
Coleman, M. Graham, 1996-2005.
Box 2 Folder 5
Cooper, Timothy J.-Evans, Joshua, 1974-2005.
Box 2 Folder 6
Falk, Patricia-Guy, Gina, 1973-2005.
Box 2 Folder 7
Hamanaka, Toshinobu-Henschel, Shirley M., 1973-2004.
Box 2 Folder 8
Herz, Anya C.M.-Hughes, Keith, 1977-2004.
Box 3 Folder 1
Irwin-Kusinitz, Nathaniel, 1994-2005.
Box 3 Folder 2
LaFleur, John-LaFleur, Trish, 2000-2005.
Box 3 Folder 3
Langdale, Cecily-Lutts, Julie, 1988-2004.
Box 3 Folder 4
Macdonald, Jane-McNeil, Nina, 1974-2005.
Box 3 Folder 5
Mercure, Rosemary P.-Osterhuber, Lory Ann, 1975-2005.
Box 3 Folder 6
Page, Fred-Pomegranate Communications, 1977-2004.
Box 3 Folder 7
R.,S.M.-Rutishauser, Beatrice, 1975-2004.
Box 3 Folder 8
Sakai, Richard-Schick, Ron, 2000-2005.
Box 3 Folder 9
Shaw, Brook-Smith, Peter, 1992-2004.
Box 3 Folder 10
Snappy Dance Theater-Suzy, 1975-2004.
Box 4 Folder 1
Tanaka-Namekawa, Yuko-Verburg, Carol, 1978-2004.
Box 4 Folder 2
Walker, Steve-Zimmer, Jim L., unidentified correspondent, 1985-2005.
Box 4 Folder 3
Court documents (Andreas Brown as co-executor of Estate of Edward Gorey) including Answers to demand for bill of particulars, Receipt and release agreement, Estate tax release of lien, and First and second accounts of executors (also included is a copy of Gorey's last will and testament), 1983-2002.
Box 4 Folder 4
Invoices, purchase orders, and transaction records, 1970-1977.
Box 4 Folder 5
Invoices, purchase orders, and transaction records, 1977.
Box 17 Folder 1
Invoices, purchase orders, and transaction records, 1978.
Box 4 Folder 6
Invoices, purchase orders, and transaction records, 1978-1987.
Box 4 Folder 7
Invoices, purchase orders, and transaction records, 1988-2005.
Box 4 Folder 8
Invoices, purchase orders, and transactions (ebay bids and online orders), circa 2003-2004.
Box 16 Folder 1
Licensing proposals and agreements (largely relating to merchandise), 2001-2003.
Box 4 Folder 9
Licensing proposals and agreements, GTC Project binder (includes CD--RESTRICTED), 2003.
Box 10 Folder 1
Loan agreements (includes Yale University exhibit), 1974-2003.
Box 4 Folder 10
Memoranda and meeting minutes (Edward Gorey House Board of Directors, Executor meeting, Licensing meetings, and Merchandising meeting), 1978-2004.
Box 4 Folder 11
Memoranda and meeting minutes for Edward Gorey House Board of Directors, 2003 May 3, October 5.
Box 10 Folder 2-3
Publication, republication, and reproduction agreements, 1979-2003.
Box 5 Folder 1
Bookmarks ("Get a Little Gorey" packaged set, Mystery!, Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats (four bookmarks), and playing children (2 bookmarks) , undated.
Box 5 Folder 2
Buttons: Opening night for "Gorey Stories" and New York City (or Kitty) Ballet, undated.
Box 14 Folder 4
Calendars (wall), 1979-2006.
Box 11 Folder 1-2
Calendars (pocket, bound, and boxed), 1984, 2000-2006.
Box 12 Folder 1-8
Cards: "Cottage of Content" (loose), Glorious Nosebleed (loose cards and boxed) and "Gorey Cats" (empty box).
Box 12 Folder 9-10
Cards: Holiday (boxed and loose), undated.
Box 13 Folder 1-5
Cards: "Two Elephants" (folio), undated.
Box 13 Folder 6
Clothing: Tee shirts ("Cat Aerobics," Cat on unicycle, Holiday Cat, "Do Funeral Prices Scare You To Death?," Dragon with Gift, "The Gashlycrumb Tinies," "Garden ... Cultivate Delight," "I Saw Dracula" (two tee shirts), "Mystery" (three tee shirts), New York City Ballet) and Penguin watch, undated.
Box 15 Folder unknown container
Clothing: Tee shirts ("Real Men Read," "People Say Life is the Thing ... But I Prefer Reading," and "So Many Books, So Little Time") and Lost Shoelaces, undated.
Box 16 Folder 11
Dolls (Bat, "The Black Doll," Cat, and "ORV", undated.
Box 15 Folder unknown container
Gift tags (Cats, Dancer, and Penguin), undated.
Box 13 Folder 7
Journal: "A Gorey Journal," blank, after 2000.
Box 13 Folder 7
Lunch box mockup, undated.
Box 14 Folder 5
Magnets for The Metropolitan Opera (including The Bass, The Contralto, The Soprano, and the Tenor), circa 1987.
Box 13 Folder 7
Mugs, undated.
Box 18-19 Folder unknown container
Notepads for the New York City Ballet, undated.
Box 13 Folder 8
Pins and Dracula pendant, undated.
Box 13 Folder 7
Postcards: Blue Aspic-Very Fine Clock, untitled, undated.
Box 13 Folder 9-10
Posters, including Blue Aspic, Gashlycrumb Tinies, Gorey End, Iron Tonic, and "Schorshi Shrumpft", undated.
Drawer 55 Folder unknown container
Rubber stamps, undated.
Box 13 Folder 11
Stickers (Dracula and "The World of Edward Gorey" (two packaged sets)), undated.
Box 5 Folder 3
Tote Bags (Gashlycrumb Tinies, "I Saw Dracula," and "Mystery"), undated.
Box 16 Folder 12
Toys and games ("Act Three: A Vault"), undated.
Box 11 Folder 3
Toys and games (E.D. Ward, A Mercurial Bear paperdoll and The Fantod Pack), undated.
Box 14 Folder 1
Toys and games (Dracula cutouts), undated.
Box 17 Folder 2
Vinyl records, undated.
Box 11 Folder 4
Design mockups, 2000-2003, undated.
Box 5 Folder 4-5
Design mockups, 2001-2003.
Box 17 Folder 3
Merchandise notes, undated.
Box 5 Folder 6
Bibliographies, 1994-2001.
Box 5 Folder 7
Estate inventories, circa 2000.
Box 5 Folder 8-9
Intellectual property management records, 1998-2005.
Box 6 Folder 1
Letterhead, undated.
Box 6 Folder 2
Notes and memoranda, 2000-2004, bulk undated.
Box 6 Folder 3-4
Scholarly manuscripts, undated.
Box 6 Folder 5

Articles, 1961-2012, undated.
Box 16 Folder 2-6
Articles, 1972-2005.
Box 17 Folder 4
Articles, 1978.
Drawer 55 Folder unknown container
Bookplate, undated.
Box 6 Folder 6
Catalogs (Gotham), 1971-2000.
Box 6 Folder 7-11
Catalogs (Gotham), 2001-2006, undated.
Box 7 Folder 1-5
Catalogs (non-Gotham), 1975-2004.
Box 7 Folder 6
Dust jackets (From Beowulf to Virginia Woolf, The Gilded Bat, The Glorious Nosebleed, "Gorey-in-a-Box," The Haunted Tea-Cozy, The Headless Bust, and Ravensgill), undated.
Box 7 Folder 7
Dust jackets and slip cases ("Gorey-in-a-Box" and The Vinegar Works), undated.
Box 14 Folder 2-3
Edward Gorey House promotional materials, 2002-2005.
Box 7 Folder 8
Edward Gorey House promotional materials (binder, business cards, and brochure), undated.
Box 16 Folder 7
Exhibition catalogs, 1978, 1992.
Box 16 Folder 8
Exhibition notices and invitations, 1972-1988.
Box 7 Folder 9
Exhibition notices and invitations, 1990-2001.
Box 8 Folder 1
Exhibition notices and invitations, 2002-2005, undated.
Box 16 Folder 9
Miscellaneous photocopies, undated.
Box 8 Folder 2
Miscellaneous photocopies, undated.
Box 17 Folder 5
Pamphlets and programs, 1968-2005.
Box 8 Folder 3
Promotional material, 1958-2004, undated.
Box 8 Folder 4-6
Promotional material, 1968, 1978.
Drawer 55 Folder unknown container
Promotional material, 1995-2001.
Box 17 Folder 6
Promotional material, undated.
Box 11 Folder 5-7
Promotional materials, undated.
Box 16 Folder 10
Sheet music: "Themes for E. Gorey" (photocopy), 1996.
Box 8 Folder 7
Signed ephemera, 1987, undated.
Box 9 Folder 1

A, 1988, 2001.
Box 9 Folder 2
Amphigorey Again, 2004.
Box 9 Folder 3
Amphigorey Again (oversize proofs), circa 2004.
Box 17 Folder 7-13
Amphigorey Too; The Bleeding Trunk, undated.
Box 9 Folder 4
Categorey, undated.
Box 9 Folder 5-6
D-T, 205, undated.
Box 9 Folder 7

Prints of Gorey's illustrations, 1976, 2004.
Box 9 Folder 8
Photographs of Edward Gorey, circa 1979, 1983.
Box 9 Folder 9
Photographs of Edward Gorey events at Gotham Book Mart, 2001-2002.
Box 9 Folder 10
Photographs of Edward Gorey House, circa 1970s.
Box 9 Folder 11

"Books of the World: Edward Gorey," VHS [RESTRICTED], 1986.
Box 14 Folder 6
"From Prodigy to Polymath: The Singular Journey of Edward Gorey," data CD [RESTRICTED], 2001.
Box 14 Folder 7
Tiger Lilies/Kronos Quartet, Gorey, CD Version 5 CD [RESTRICTED], undated.
Box 14 Folder 7
Tiger Lilies, Gorey End, cassette tape [RESTRICTED], undated.
Box 14 Folder 7
BBC Radio 4, The Gorey Details, cassette tape [RESTRICTED], 2003 March 27.
Box 14 Folder 7
"Gotham EG April '96?," floppy disc [RESTRICTED], circa 1996.
Box 14 Folder 8
Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats, by T.S. Eliot, audiobook (cover art by Gorey), 1999.
Box 14 Folder 8

Print, Suggest