Gorey Messages

I used to be a champion letter-writer back in the day (though in a quantity not quality sense), but never thought about “defacing” my envelopes with art.  Too Canadian, I guess.  I’m kicking myself for the lost opportunities, now.

It’s no secret we’re big fans of Edward Gorey’s, mid-century illustrator of the macabre, whose work influenced generations of creators, from Nine Inch Nails to Tim Burton. Between September 1968 and October 1969, Gorey set out to collaborate on three children’s books with author and editor Peter F. Neumeyer and, over the course of this 13-month period, the two exchanged a series of letters on topics that soon expanded well beyond the three books and into everything from metaphysics to pancake recipes.

Today, Neumeyer is opening the treasure trove of this fascinating, never-before-published correspondence in Floating Worlds: The Letters of Edward Gorey and Peter F. Neumeyer — a magnificent collection of 75 typewriter-transcribed letters, 38 stunningly illustrated envelopes, and more than 60 postcards and illustrations exchanged between the two collaborators-turned-close-friends, featuring Gorey’s witty, wise meditations on such eclectic topics as insect life, the writings of Jorge Luis Borges, and Japanese art.

via Floating Worlds: Edward Gorey’s Never-Before-Seen Letters and Illustrated Envelopes | Brain Pickings.

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