It isn’t uncommon for writers’ correspondence to be collected in a quantity of its personal. It’s far rarer to see a preserved correspondence the place the envelopes are the principle attraction. But in From Ted to Tom it’s the envelopes and their adornments by Edward “Ted” Gorey (1925-2000)—the Chicago-born author and artist famed for his self-illustrated books, together with The Uncertain Visitor (1957)—that make for a surprisingly shifting learn.
In Mark Dery’s biography Born to Be Posthumous: The Eccentric Life and Mysterious Genius of Edward Gorey (2018), he argued that Gorey’s letters are very important to understanding his internal life, for inside them he “confides his anxieties, his insecurities, his enduring passions, his on a regular basis pleasures, his philosophies of life and artwork”. And whereas, within the preface to From Ted to Tom, Gorey’s pal and correspondent Tom Fitzharris explains that this new quantity contains solely excerpts from the 50 letters he acquired between 1974 and 1975, nonetheless they go away an affect—particularly when taken in tandem with the trademark surreal illustrations impressed by, amongst others, the English illustrator and “nonsense” author Edward Lear (1812-88), which grace the entrance, and typically again, of those envelopes.
Many of the illustrations right here comprise a pair of canine, every carrying clothes that options a big “T”, presumably representing Gorey and Fitzharris. One of many small delights of studying From Ted to Tom is seeing the slight however important variations within the design of those canine, together with font adjustments by which the “Ts” are inscribed. Gorey additionally locations the canine in intriguing conditions. In a single, they’re standing on swings tethered to an particularly wild-looking tree or operating and waving lengthy banners on which Fitzharris’s title and handle are written. There are moments of comedy, as when the 2 canine try to stability an enormous watermelon on their backs whereas carrying curler skates.
Among the many letters shared on this e book there are a handful of quotes taken from writers and books Gorey discovered attention-grabbing, in addition to wry observations on the humanities extra broadly: “The center of the primary motion of the Sibelius Fourth is much more splendidly mushy than the background music for Wuthering Heights, which it strongly resembles. This is named Music Appreciation.” Different turns of phrase may function epigrams in a special context: “Do you are feeling M. Proust ever tells you something that you simply didn’t know earlier than? It is a severe query.”
Witty annotations
Because the correspondence proceeds, Gorey provides tactile parts to his designs. The fortieth envelope finds one of many canine balanced atop a classical column, throwing discs labelled with “La Vie” and “L’Artwork” right into a cloud annotated “L’Obscurité”. Flip over the envelope and the second canine seems sitting in a ship, envelope in hand: it’s one of some situations the place a tangible sense of loneliness leaps off the web page. From Ted to Tom options memorably self-effacing moments too, for instance when consideration is drawn to an inkblot on the again of 1 envelope utilizing an arrow and the caption “Mess, not thriller”. Later, an summary picture is given the witty title: “Inadvertent drawing (ink and water color)”.
Fitzharris writes that though their friendship dwindled, Gorey was “at all times humorous, at all times cordial” when their paths crossed within the years that adopted. (In his biography of Gorey, Dery calls Fitzharris his topic’s “final, nice crush”.) And within the longer correspondence reproduced right here, we sense how a lot this friendship meant to Gorey: one thing Fitzharris’s endnotes assist to make clear.
The twenty sixth envelope is likely one of the uncommon situations with no canine in sight. As a substitute, Gorey illustrated a gaggle of nervous youngsters ready in a darkish room, with leaves adorning the wallpaper and rugs, meticulously rendered in black and white, whereas on the again of the envelope Gorey has drawn a single falling crimson leaf. Fitzharris notes that this leaf “is identical coloration because the leaf I’d picked up as Ted and I hiked down the Flume Gorge within the White Mountains in New Hampshire on Saturday, October 19, 1974”: a really particular reference, which speaks volumes about Gorey’s behavior of zeroing in on a selected element. From Ted to Tom is a captivating addition to Gorey’s bibliography, however additionally it is a shifting chronicle of 1 very explicit friendship.
• Tom Fitzharris (ed.), From Ted to Tom: The Illustrated Envelopes of Edward Gorey, New York Overview Books, 248pp, illustrated all through, $24.95 (hb),printed 4 February
• Tobias Carroll is the writer of 5 books, together with Political Signal (2020) and the novel Within the Sight (2024)
