Edward Gorey (February 22, 1925–April 15, 2000) is undoubtedly one of the most extraordinary — in every sense of the word — illustrators of the past century. From his quirky children’s books to his naughty treats for grown-ups to his covers for literary classics, he injected his singular blend of darkly delightful weirdness and whimsy into his various masterpieces, created under his many pseudonyms. But Gorey had an especially enchanting soft spot for the old-fashioned charisma of postcards, in addition to the magnificent illustrated envelopes he mailed to his editor. Now comes The Betrayed Confidence Revisited (public library) — an infinitely delightful collection of ten of Gorey’s postcard series, including three never previously published, ranging from the grimly humorous Neglected Murderesses to the cryptic Menaced Objects to the disarmingly adorable Dogear Wryde Interpretive Series to the purposely puzzling Q.R.V. Here’s but a small taste of the enormous delight.

From Dogear Wryde Interpretive Series (“Dogear Wryde” being, as you may have noticed, one of Gorey’s anagrammatic pseudonyms), originally created in 1980:

From Neglected Murderesses, also published in 1980:

From Menaced Objects, released in 1989:

From Q.R.V., Gorey’s final postcard series, created in 1996 and named after a mysterious imaginary elixir that Gorey first introduced in the 1989 miniature book The Universal Solvent:

From Alms for Oblivion, part of the Dogear Wryde series:

The Betrayed Confidence Revisited is an absolute treat in its entirety. Complement it with Gorey’s classic scandalous alphabet book, The Gashlycrumb Tinies, and his fantastic vintage illustrations for T.S. Eliot’s cat verses.

Illustrations © The Edward Gorey Charitable Trust courtesy of Pomegranate. All rights reserved.