Edward Gorey Personal Library

About The Edward Gorey Personal Library

The Edward Gorey Personal Library is a special collection at San Diego State University library that comprises 26,000 books collected by Edward St. John Gorey (1924-2000). Over 9,000 catalogued volumes, or 35% of the collection are searchable. If you find a book you would like to examine from this collection, please contact Special Collections and University Archives at [email protected], or at 619-594-6791 or visit their service desk in Love Library 150. Books may only be viewed in the Special Collections area.

Edward Gorey

An American artist, Edward St. John Gorey's publications include over one hundred books. His most well-known works include The Gashlycrumb Tinies, The Doubtful Guest and The Wuggly Ump. Many of his illustrations appear in publications like The New Yorker and The New York Times. Gorey illustrations and book designs enhance editions of works by Charles Dickens, Edward Lear, Samuel Beckett, John Updike, Virginia Woolf, H.G. Wells, Florence Heide and Peter Neumeyer.

Gorey and the SDSU Library

The SDSU Library acquired the Edward Gorey Personal Library (EGPL) in 2009. Edward Gorey collaborated with Professor Emeritus Peter Neumeyer who founded the Children's Literature Program at San Diego State University. In the 1960s and 1970s Neumeyer co-authored books with Gorey, including Why We Have Day and Night (1970), Donald and the... (1969) and Donald Has a Difficulty (1970). In Neumeyer's groundbreaking 2011 book, Floating Worlds. The Letters of Edward Gorey & Peter F. Neumeyer, Neumeyer shares and annotates letters exchanged by the two men during the years they worked together, and his book includes never before published original envelope art by Gorey.

SDSU Notable Alumnus Andreas Brown envisioned that the SDSU Library's Edward Gorey Collection could be unique and distinctive collection on the West Coast. Once the owner of New York City's Gotham Book Mart, Brown was Gorey's friend in books To hear more about this connection to SDSU, listen to A talk given by Andreas Brown.

Inquiries and Donations

For inquiries about this collection, please contact L. Salem at [email protected].