Edward Gorey is today's Google Doodle!

Speak of the devil on your blog, and he appears - as a Google Doodle! Cult favorite illustrator and writer Edward Gorey is the most recent Google Doodle as today would have been his 88th birthday - he was born on February 22nd, 1925. Fun fact: Gorey only attended art school for one semester, leaving the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 1943. The Washington Post has a fun tribute to Gorey and his "playful macabre" up on their Comic Riffs blog, along with links to their ten favorite Google Doodles.

Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats

Serendipity! I posted earlier today about Thackeray illustrating his own work in The Virginians, and then lo, as I was perusing the Webbity, I learned that Similarly Famous Dead British Author T.S. Eliot illustrated one of his works - Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats (first published in 1939).  You know, the children's book that the musical Cats is based on? Here's the front, which you can click on to see in greater detail:

And here's the tuchus, which you can also click on for a better gander:

Whimsical, fun stuff. But wait! It gets better. Because the book was reprinted a few times, and the 1982 edition?  Illustrated by Edward Gorey.


This is as big an image as I could get, but clicking on it will take you to the Amazon listing, where you can see some of the illustrations from inside this edition and mebbe buy it, if you likey. I likey.

Free vintage illustration of Thackeray's The Virginians title page

Click on the image above to view and download the full-size version

Today I prettied up the text from the title page of the first edition of William Makepeace Thackeray's The Virginians. Thackeray's novel was illustrated by ... Thackeray! Who doesn't love a multitasker? Unfortunately, I haven't been able to fer-sure find any of Thackeray's illustrations besides the one on the title page; the Gutenberg site has the full text of the novel stripped of images, and the other editions I've seen online don't ID who or where the illustrations are from. Sigh.

Want to read it (for free) on your Kindle? Click on the book below:

  

Free vintage illustration of a young married couple reading by candlelight

Click on the image above to view and download the full-size version

In this Victorian-era illustration, a young married couple reads by candlelight while a traveler passes outside their window. I haven't yet been able to locate the source information, but I would guess that this is an illustration from a novel.

Free vintage Illustration of Lady Bradshaigh

Click on the image above to view and download the full-size version

For my first free illustration, I've chosen an engraving of Lady Bradshaigh (1705-1785). Isn't she lovely? Lady Bradshaigh, born Dorothy Bellingham, is famous for being the pen-pal and confidante of Samuel Richardson, the author of the first English bestseller, Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded. Lady Bradshaigh lived a remarkable life, which you can read more about here: Ingilby History Page. The illustration comes from the introduction to the Complete Novels of Samuel Richardson, Volume 1, published in 1902. According to notes from the book, it was "engraved by Caroline Watson from an original portrait (1804)."