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The magical properties of a good listOpening up Edward Gorey’s Notebooks In the Fall of 2019 the Edward Gorey Charitable Trust allowed the House to borrow several boxes of Gorey’s notebooks, journals, folders, and binders of material for use in this year’s exhibit. In pouring over the contents (a nice way to spend a winter) of what would become our 2020 exhibit He wrote it all down Zealously, it quickly became apparent that the List was a defining component. A curator’s lament: the amount of material was overwhelming—and the handwriting challenging—and so the final assembly, whittled down to fit in...

When purchasing what is now the Edward Gorey House in 1979, at no time, did Edward Gorey plan to have a museum house in his name on Cape Cod - in fact, some might wonder if he'd be pleased with the idea. After Edward's sudden death of a heart attack, in the upstairs of the house, in the presence of his friend and current curator, Rick Jones, his trustees were approached with an idea that was not on the table for converting Edward's assets into his final wishes of supporting animal welfare.  Not only was it not on the table,...

  Guest Blogger Irwin Terry - Tells us about GOREYANA- A Blog Celebrating the Works of Edward Gorey   I was introduced to the works of Edward Gorey in 1979 during my first semester of art college and was instantly smitten. His drawings, wit, and macabre sense of humor resonated with me and I bought up every book currently in print. I expanded my searches to include out of print titles and eventually pieces of original artwork, which have become a primary focus of my collection. One thing led to another and now Edward Gorey and his images are inextricably...

Xerces Society and Edward Gorey   My mum (as we called her; she had British roots) was an avid Edward Gorey fan. From as early as I can remember, she read Gorey books and instilled a love for him in each of us children. I still remember The Gashlycrumb Tinies, with its sordid tales of how child after child met his or her demise, illustrated by delightfully dark artwork that was also somewhat sweet in nature. Another staple in our household was Mystery on PBS television. My favorite part was Edward Gorey’s wonderful illustrations during the opening sequence. Jumping ahead,...

Whiling away this past winter in Kew Gardens, NY, Deborah Grumet and her daughters made a 1:24 scale version of the Edward Gorey House. It is not an exact replica, but the attention to little details—including found objects, photos, bowls of pebbles, Red Rose Tea figurines, posters, and the last waffle of the millennium—make it an authentic artist’s representation of our museum, and a Gorey fan’s true labor of love. We thought we would share it with you. For research, the Grumets took a lot of pictures when they visited the Edward Gorey House during the 2016 Artifacts from the Archives exhibit...