From Ted to Tom: The Illustrated Envelopes of Edward Gorey

by Edward Gorey, Tom Fitzharris (editor)

On the envelopes of letters sent to a dear friend, the famed artist and writer Edward Gorey drew dozens of original illustrations—illustrations now collected in this volume along with marvelously playful selections from the correspondence, all never before seen by the public until now.

From Ted to Tom will be published in the centenary year of Edward Gorey's birth.

When Tom Fitzharris met Edward "Ted" Gorey in 1974, the two quickly struck up a friendship. Over the next year Gorey sent a total of fifty letters to Fitzharris. Every envelope Fitzharris received was illustrated by Gorey, and filled with surprises: typewritten letters with news and opinions from Gorey's life, handwritten note cards with unexpected quotes, sketches, inside jokes, and a host of other joyous miscellany.

Assembled here for the first time, these envelopes and their contents deliver all the humor, imagination, gossip, and wonder that came with being Edward Gorey's pen pal.

Genres: Art, Nonfiction, Humor, Romance, Memoir, Graphic Novels

248 pages, Hardcover

First published February 4, 2025

About the author

Born in Chicago, Gorey came from a colourful family; his parents, Helen Dunham Garvey and Edward Lee Gorey, divorced in 1936 when he was 11, then remarried in 1952 when he was 27. One of his step-mothers was Corinna Mura, a cabaret singer who had a brief role in the classic film Casablanca. His father was briefly a journalist. Gorey's maternal great-grandmother, Helen St. John Garvey, was a popular 19th century greeting card writer/artist, from whom he claimed to have inherited his talents. He attended a variety of local grade schools and then the Francis W. Parker School. He spent 1944–1946 in the Army at Dugway Proving Ground in Utah, and then attended Harvard University from 1946 to 1950, where he studied French and roomed with future poet Frank O'Hara.

Although he would frequently state that his formal art training was "negligible", Gorey studied art for one semester at The School of The Art Institute of Chicago in 1943, eventually becoming a professional illustrator. From 1953 to 1960, he lived in New York City and worked for the Art Department of Doubleday Anchor, illustrating book covers and in some cases adding illustrations to the text. He has illustrated works as diverse as Dracula by Bram Stoker, The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells, and Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats by T. S. Eliot. In later years he illustrated many children's books by John Bellairs, as well as books in several series begun by Bellairs and continued by other authors after his death.

Reviews

[Alan (the Lone Librarian) Teder · Rating 5 out of 5]

Charming Gorey
A review of the New York Review Books hardcover (February 4, 2025).

This was a complete delight. For Edward "Ted" Gorey's (1925-2000) centenary, Tom Fitzharris presents an anthology of the 50 envelopes hand-drawn by his friend during a period of intense correspondence and friendship in 1974 to 1975. The intricacies and details of the drawings are perhaps even more delightful than Gorey's better known Gothic Victorian style of works. The address information is often so elaborately disguised that you wonder that the post office even delivered them! Two of them actually did go missing and had to be reproduced from Gorey's draft sketches.


A sample note and sample envelope from the book. Image sourced from New York Review Books (linked below).

The envelopes often feature two dogs, proxies of Ted and Tom gallivanting with various objects. The dogs seem to be stylized English Bull Terriers as best as I can judge. If you are not familiar with Bull Terriers, you still might know Spuds MacKenzie from the Bud Light ads in the 1980s.

The book is further enhanced by reproductions of Gorey's often whimsical type-written notes to Fitzharris along with selections of quotes that he particularly enjoyed. Those range from Marcel Proust to Natalia Ginzburg to John Cage.

My thanks to Karan for the loan of this delightful read!

Trivia and Links
Several of the envelopes can be seen at the review at The Comics Journal by Austin English, February 28, 2025.

Several of the envelopes can be seen at the publisher New York Review Books website here.

[Laura McNeal · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thoughts:

Possibly the most rarefied context in which Oreos have ever appeared.

Do not skip the notes.

Edward Gorey was already in the pantheon and now his pedestal is gilded. The wit, the irony, the depth, the subtlety.

Maybe the test of an artist is whether you can bring joy to people while being honest about life’s sadness and confusion.

Perfect is too weak a word.

[Nic · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very charming book! It includes scans of 50 envelopes Edward Gorey wrote to a close friend over a span of years, there are excerpts of letters and some of the ephemera he added to his correspondence.

Fascinating to see the stamps and artwork, his trademark Gorey handwriting, and his distinct style of drawings. Very enjoyable for Edward Gorey lovers and fans of letter writing!

[Jeff · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pure genius.

[Sherwestonstec · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an amazing book. The envelope illustrations are quite extraordinary! So much fabulous detail! And the letters sent were very entertaining and wonderful to read. these are Edward Gorey’s letters to Tom Fitzharris in 1974. Edward went by the name, Ted. From the book jacket “ every envelope. Fitzharris received, was illustrated byGorey, and filled with surprises typewritten letters with news and opinions from Gorey ‘s life, handwritten note cards with famous quotes, sketches, inside jokes, and a host of other joyous miscellany. Assembled here for the first time, these letters, deliver all the humor, imagination, gossip, and wonder that came with being Edward Gorey‘s penpal.”

[Dan Trefethen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I crowed to a friend about scooping up some of Edward Gorey's delightful small books at an estate sale, and she asked me if I knew about the book of illustrated envelopes that he sent to a friend.

What? No, never heard of it. But now I have to see it.

Fortunately, Seattle Public Library had a copy, and after a bit of a wait I was able to check it out.

You either 'get' Edward Gorey or you don't. For those who do, this is a marvelous appendage to the Gorey books we all know and love (and puzzle over). The recipient, Tom Fitzharris, provides a brief introduction about his friendship with Gorey and provides notes at the end for each of fifty envelopes (sent during 1974-75) with some explanations that might escape the readers.

It's a delightful little bon bon of a book. It's amazing to think that Gorey spent considerable effort just to illustrate an envelope to a friend. Each one is a little piece of art. Mr. Fitzharris is lucky to have a unique collection of Gorey art, and we're lucky that he was able to share it with us in the book.

[Nysa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I would have liked to have been Edward Gorey’s pen pal. I enjoyed this book, the quirky typewritten notes, the hand lettered quotes, the illustrated envelopes ( I wonder if they would be delivered by the post office these days), and am curious about the letters he received in reply that we don’t get to see.

[Lindsay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simply, wow. The combination of the letters, quotes, and illustrations is stunning. I would like to read a biography of Edward Gorey, or other collected letters, and definitely need to experience more of his work with close attention

[Brooklyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

this was a lovely read <3 so glad I got to go to his house on the Cape this summer!

[McKenna Munden · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think I need to start drawing on envelopes now.

[David Areyzaga · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was my first encounter with Gorey but after learning he heavily inspired Daniel Handler’s A Series of Unfortunate Events, I couldn’t resist grabbing it.

The envelopes and the few quotes and letters the recipient decides to share are beautiful, filled with wit, detail, and a delightful hedonism of countless references to art, literature, music, and mere discomfort. I came out of this with plenty of new albums to listen to. It is an intimate look at a man with a clear crush for the recipient, Tom, even if he didn’t return that affection, as you can learn online, as Tom would not really disclose it (though the penultimate letter is very revealing as to why the letters ended).

[Cooper Renner · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ll place this with Dickinson’s envelope poems for sheer wonderfulness. Almost certainly my book of the year.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Edward Gorey's drawings are amazing, fun, inventive, unbelievably imaginative. I was fascinated to see them on envelopes in this lovely collection, published by Tom Fitzharris. I couldn't pass by this book in the bookstore without flipping through and admiring each drawing. Tom included the entire collection of envelopes that he received from Ted, as Edward Gorey's friends called him, along with excerpts of letters Ted sent to Tom and quotes that were included with the letters. Ted's correspondence to Tom only lasted from 1974 to 1975, so there are exactly 5o envelopes to admire.

Fun fact - the Edward Gorey House in Yarmouth, MA hosts a envelope art contest annually. This year's contest ends December 8, so anyone who wants to submit an entry still has time. See: https://edwardgoreyhouse.org/events/e...

The next time I am on Cap Cod, I will try to visit the House. That would be a fun day.

[Rob · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gorey proves himself a man of letters in more ways than one, as the notes themselves are interesting and I am also finding in them a source of more reading (such as a volume of Grimm illustrated by Sendak). His envelopes, by the way, aren't mere sketches, they are finished works, and Fitzharris notes he kept a sketchbook with sketched copies of them.

I looked at a review by Mark Dery, who wrote the Gorey biography "Born to Be Posthumous" and from that i understand this book is not an entirely honest depiction of their friendship; Tom Fitzharris left some text out concerning their relationship. This makes some sense, but I'm left wondering about the gaps. Dery characterizes their relationship as Gorey's crush. Also, Fitzharris declines to include any reference to his own letters back to Ted (and declined to be interviewed for Dery's book).

Summary: pick it up because it's beautiful; don't expect to learn much.

[Julie Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is delightful. Here's a bit I especially enjoyed.

The weather seems to have improved. I have already made a meatloaf, boiled a lot of eggs hard prepatory to devilling them, and there is a loaf of walnut cheese bread hopefully baking in the oven. I say hopefully as the dough was very peculiar indeed.

It's funny to think of Edward Gorey cooking up picnic foods before company comes to his family's home for a summer break. But there you have it — he was devilling eggs, as he says. Many such tidbits enliven the book but the true highlights are the envelopes and the friendship.

[Virginia Pulver · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a delightful window into another era! The playful images of Edward Gorey conjured up to embellish the envelopes of his correspondence with Tom Fitzharris, are precious, little jewels. As one who tends to decorate the envelopes of my outgoing correspondence, I found Gory's endearing offerings quite charming. I love to get "snail mail" and it is even more delightful when the writer takes time to personalize the envelope. I am not a collector of stamps, but I am likely to keep clever offerings from my artsy-fartsy friends. The book was an unexpected gift and a delight.

[Sureyya · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absolutely wonderful book. It's a love story, but the story is largely absent and only hinted at. The illustrated envelopes are incredible, and even more beautiful for the fact that they were intended for an audience of one. It can be finished in an hour and a half or just idly browsed through when you have a spare 5 minutes. A must for Gorey fans and highly entertaining even for readers new to his work.

[Paul Tubb · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have spoken of my admiration for Edward Gorey and his art, on many occasions.

But I am also am obsessive Envelope illustrator, a Mail artist...

So it is such a joy to immerse yourself in the wonderful delight of Mr. Gorey's own illustrated envelopes.

Imagine being staff at the post office as Ted came in and getting to handle these joyous pictures. Imagine receiving them.

I love these illustrations.

[Charles · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fifty envelopes illustrated by Edward Gorey, plus the oddments, quotations, and letters to his friend Tom Fitzharris said envelopes contained. This book, which gives a hint of a sense of Mr. Gorey's company, is beautiful to look at, charming, quite smart throughout and a bit sad in places, and entirely delightful.

[Susannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this, these are the collected letters and more importantly illustrated envelopes that illustrator and author Edward Gorey sent to Tom Fitzharris. The illustrations on the envelopes are beautiful and I liked the inclusion of the quote cards that Gorey sent and some extracts from his letters where we find out more about his life and personality, family and cats.

[Maggie]

Just delightful. Also a little heartbreaking, because it seems as though Gorey set a project of fifty notes period end of story - and so the friendship petered out because the project was complete.

I rather loved this poem, by Sandy Wason (it was the inclusion for envelope #16):
Many a mad magenta moment
Lights the lavender of life

[Rick Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

A glorious raft of 50 illustrated envelopes from Edward Gorey to Tom Fitzharris in 1974-75. This collection of images and thoughtful quotes reads as a love letter of sorts, from one friend to another during a brief and intense period. Gorey may have been a prolific envelope decorator, but this sampling is an amazing gift to receive.

[Melissa Orth · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of letters sent by Ed Gorey to his pen pal Tom Fitzharris. If you already know the artwork of Ed Gorey, this compendium of a years’s worth of letters, each in its own uniquely decorated enveloped and filled with news, quotes, gossip, and whimsy brings even more reason to become a fan.

[Ravi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Edward Gorey was a weird but interesting dude. This collection of illustrated envelopes & letters, quotes, and postcards to Tom Fitzharris (along with the Notes at the end) help to demystify him a bit.

The detail of his drawings is incredible, and his patience and dedication is admirable!

[Catherine Corman · Rating 5 out of 5]

The true work of art is the one that says less.

-Camus, Carnets 1937-1938, quoted by Edward Gorey

[Steven Severance · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are some really nice pictures here. But ALSO
It is a beautifully printed book on nice thick paper .
Great design.

[Laurel Hartman · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lovely collection (I would love a correspondence with decorated envelopes) and a rare glimpse into the mind and life of Gorey. Highly recommend for even casual fans of Gorey.

[Beth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely delightful. Imagine having these treasures sent to you!

[Viola Day · Rating 5 out of 5]

what a beautiful and charming exchange, taking us back to the joy of having a pen pal and waiting for the postman to deliver.

[Sherry · Rating 5 out of 5]

whimsical collection