University of Texas at Austin

Edward Gorey:

A Preliminary Inventory of His Art Collection at the Harry Ransom Center

Creator: Gorey, Edward, 1925-2000
Title: Edward Gorey Art Collection
Dates: circa 1950-1976 (bulk undated)
Extent: 1 box (33 prints, 6 drawings)
Abstract: Thirty-nine works on paper by the American illustrator, writer, and designer Edward Gorey. Included are drawings that predate his undergraduate career at Harvard, as well as later book illustrations and cover designs.
Call Number: Art Collection
Language: English
Access: Open for research. Please note that a minimum of 24 hours notice is required to pull art materials to the Ransom Center's Reading and Viewing Room. Some materials may be restricted from viewing. To make an appointment or to reserve art materials, please contact the Center's staff at art@hrc.utexas.edu


Administrative Information


Acquisition: Purchases, 1973-1974, 2002
Processed by: Chelsea Weathers, 2013
Repository:

Harry Ransom Center, The University of Texas at Austin

Scope and Contents


The Edward Gorey Art Collection consists of 39 works on paper (33 prints and 6 drawings) created or produced from illustrations by Gorey. Included are an edition of The Nursery Frieze (1964) mounted on foam board; cover designs for Samuel Beckett's All Strange Away (1976); a series of screen prints published in 1974 by Galerie Daniel Keel, a subsidiary of Diogenes Verlag; and several undated intaglio prints signed by Gorey.
The works are listed by accession number. When possible, titles were transcribed from the items and appear in single quotes; all other information supplied by the cataloger.

Related Material


The Harry Ransom Center has several other related collections. The W. H. Crain Costume and Scenic Design Collection contains a portfolio of material pertaining to Gorey’s sets and costumes for a 1977 production of Dracula. The Edward Gorey Collection consists of numerous manuscripts of poems, prose, and short stories–many with drawings–and correspondence. Additional materials can be found in the Mel Gussow Collection, the Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. Papers, the Steven Moore Collection of Alexander Theroux, the Edward Gorey Literary File, and the Center's library.

Item List

Accession Number: 73.358.1-16 'The Nursery Frieze', circa 1964 item : prints on paper, mounted on Fome-Cor (TM), 17.6 x 57.8 cm Location Box 1   
Accession Number: 73.359.1 Woman sitting on chair, spilled wine glass on the floor, undated drawing : ink, 18.3 x 11.3 cm Location Box 1.3   
Accession Number: 73.359.2 Cover design for Hadrian’s Memoirs by Marguerite Yourcenar, undated drawing : ink, 18.1 x 10.6 cm Location Box 1.3   
Accession Number: 73.359.3 'Hauntings', undated drawing : ink, 29.2 x 18.7 cm Location Box 1.3   
Accession Number: 73.359.4 Illustration for Merry, Rose, and Christmas-Tree June by Doris Orgel, undated drawing : ink, 29.2 x 18.4 cm Location Box 1.3   
Accession Number: 73.359.5 'They’re Calling', Illustration for Merry, Rose, and Christmas-Tree June by Doris Orgel, undated drawing : ink, 21.0 x 16.2 cm Location Box 1.3   
Accession Number: 76.115.1 Man and woman dancing, 1974 print : screen print, 23.8 x 29.8 cm Location Box 1.4   
Accession Number: 76.115.2 Twelve people at a party, 1974 print : screen print, 23.8 x 29.8 cm Location Box 1.4   
Accession Number: 76.115.3 Man looking over his shoulder, 1974 print : screen print, 23.8 x 29.8 cm Location Box 1.4   
Accession Number: 76.115.4 Man and woman drinking wine, 1974 print : screen print, 23.8 x 29.8 cm Location Box 1.4   
Accession Number: 76.115.5 Seven people sitting in a theatre balcony, 1974 print : screen print, 23.8 x 29.8 cm Location Box 1.4   
Accession Number: 76.115.6 Woman sitting at a vanity, woman standing, 1974 print : screen print, 23.8 x 29.8 cm Location Box 1.4   
Accession Number: 76.115.7 Woman with sheet music, man in fur coat, 1974 print : screen print, 23.8 x 29.8 cm Location Box 1.4   
Accession Number: 78.20.1 Child on a cliff, stuffed bear falling off a cliff, undated print : etching, 35.6 x 30.2 cm Location Box 1.5   
Accession Number: 78.20.2 Insect on a unicycle, undated print : etching, 35.6 x 30.2 cm Location Box 1.5   
Accession Number: 78.20.3 Skeleton creature with a skeleton baby on its back, undated print : etching, 35.6 x 30.2 cm Location Box 1.5   
Accession Number: 78.20.4 Child standing on a mattress looking at a creature, undated print : etching, 35.6 x 30.2 cm Location Box 1.5   
Accession Number: 78.20.5 Woman standing under a creature, undated print : etching, 35.6 x 30.2 cm Location Box 1.5   
Accession Number: 78.20.6 Child sitting in a chair under a creature, undated print : etching, 35.6 x 28.9 cm Location Box 1.5   
Accession Number: 78.63.1-3 Paper cover designs for All Strange Away by Samuel Beckett, with a handwritten note by Andreas Brown concerning the hand-printed paper cover publication, 1976 print : photoengraving, 30.6 x 21.6 cm Location Box 1.6   
Accession Number: 78.266 Brochure for Gotham Book Mart with a quotation by John Locke on books, undated print, 22.9 x 19 cm Location Box 1.1   
Accession Number: 2002.7 Male figure wearing a long overcoat, circa 1950 drawing : ink, 17.1 x 26.8 cm Location Box 1.2