I do wish I could have been more extensive in my seasonally-themed posts, however, academia was calling my name (well sending me annoying letters), which had to be tended to. I am glad that I was able to publish what I did and its no time for regrets; the year is winding down and a whole new unforeseeable future is before us, which leads me to what I wanted to share tonight.
While skimming through the blogosphere this afternoon I ran across a little known "fortune" pack illustrated by Edward Gorey, which I was so taken aback by I had to post something about it. For the unaware Edward St. John Gorey is
probably best known for his contribution to the opening credits of the PBS series Mystery! back in the eighties; even now Masterpiece Mystery (PBS) uses excerpts of Gorey's animations in their opening sequence. Gorey was born in Chicago in 1925, however, began to make his mark illustrating works for such literary notables like T.S. Eliot (Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats) and Bram Stroker's Dracula in New York City (1953 to 1960). In his later years Gorey took residence in Yarmouth Port, Massachusetts on Cape Cod in a house known as the "Elephant House," which now functions as the Edward Gorey House Museum. In addition to being a literary illustrator for others he is also a published author and illustrator in his own right. Gorey described his work as literary nonsense, which is a genre of (albeit loose definition) literature that is noted for its nonsensical elements of defying typical use of conventional language as well as logical reasoning. Historically speaking literary nonsense appears to derive from folkloric tales. However, published works such as the series of Mother Goose nursery rhymes, Edward Lear's A Book of Nonsense (1846), and of course the Alice stories by Lewis Caroll.
Gorey is quite a curiosity to me and one of my favorite illustrator (I grew up watching Mystery! as a child). His interests and inspiration draw from an accumulation of highbrow and lowbrow culture; his knowledge of film and literature was unusually extensive citing among his favorite authors and artists Agatha Christie, Francis Bacon, and Lady Murasaki. To juxtapose these Gorey's enthusiasm for popular culture that establishes a lovely balance; and avid follower of soap operas and television comedies. Of course Gorey appreciation for darker dramas such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer and The X-Files.
The Fan trod Pack is a series of twenty cards that forecast a list of possible outcomes for the querent ranging from the merely unpleasant to the downright horrible. Included with the pack is a thirty two page booklet with interpretations provided by Mme. Groede Weyrd, which Gorey tell us,
'[she is] of mixed Finnish and Egyptian extraction, [and] has devoted her life to divination, and is the author, among a shelf of other works, Floating Tambourines, a collection of esoteric verse, and The Future Speaks Through Entrails.' Of course Mme. Groede Weyrd is a pseudonym for Gorey himself and is typical of other anagram-based pen names connected with his other published works. Originally published in the sixties in Esquire these twenty black and white crosshatched ink illustration are a parody on traditional Tarot (major arcana) or other fortune packs; with unusual (or rather usual in Gorey's case) image that are quite macabre. The cards bare such titles like "The Ancestor," "The Limb," and "The Waltzing Mouse."
The examples that I have seen are just stunning and eerily charming. Obviously strong enough to stand on their own as a work of art. I for one am putting Gorey's Fantrop on the top of my list of purchases for the New Year. One reviewer has suggested it more for Groey fans and collectors than for those who read Tarot (or any other oracle pack for that matter), this is due for the fact of the cards more ominous meanings.
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