Eye Magazine

Edward Gorey (1925-2000) spent most of his life trying to remain uncategorised and undefined. Despite being celebrated for his illustrations and book designs, Gorey thought of himself firstly as a writer, and considered many of his illustration commissions unworthy of attention. As a theatre designer he preferred the small scale of local theatre to the Broadway stage where his 1977 production of Dracula had been a great success. In his personal life he behaved like an introvert yet he dressed so flamboyantly that his apparel would raise eyebrows and jeers on the New York streets. He grudgingly described himself as ‘probably gay’ yet he never indulged himself during the heady years of gay liberation. As for the miniature books that made him famous, their combinations of drawings and text also defy easy categorisation, where the gleeful absurdities of Edward Lear shade to dark and melancholy adult dreams.

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