Edward Gorey's illustrations for War of the Worlds

Zack sez, "Brain Pickings has a selection of illustrations for Edward Gorey's little-seen take on H.G. Wells' classic tale of Martian invasion. It's every bit as creepy as you'd think."

At the end of his time at Doubleday, Gorey illustrated a special edition of H. G. Wells’s The War of the Worlds for the celebrated Looking Glass Library series, published in 1960 under the New York Review of Books Classics imprint. One of Gorey’s inimitable pen-and-ink drawings adorns the beginning of each chapter.

Edward Gorey’s Vintage Illustrations for H. G. Wells’s The War of the Worlds (Thanks, Zack!)

I write books. My latest is a YA science fiction novel called Homeland (it's the sequel to Little Brother). More books: Rapture of the Nerds (a novel, with Charlie Stross); With a Little Help (short stories); and The Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow (novella and nonfic). I speak all over the place and I tweet and tumble, too.

MORE: happy mutants • illustration • Old school • science fiction

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http://countblastov.tumblr.com/ Count Blastov

Is this “little seen”? I find reprints of it all the time.
- http://expatriato.blogspot.com/ Muscato
  
  I think the implication is “not included in any of the Amphigoreys”…
  - http://countblastov.tumblr.com/ Count Blastov
    
    Right, , but this book, just WAR OF THE WORLDS with his cover and illustrations? It’s everywhere. I see it all the time.
    - Lolotehe
      
      I’m completely with you on this. I got a copy for my mom from a bargain bin and, years later, got one for myself. I see it frequently on clearance.
      - http://daruiburns.tumblr.com/ Dlo Burns
        
        :( I’ve never found one.
      - http://www.flickr.com/photos/koocheekoo/ Koocheekoo
        
        You can get it here, Dlo. :) http://www.goreystore.com/shop/books/edward-gorey-war-worlds-book
- http://www.flickr.com/photos/koocheekoo/ Koocheekoo
  
  I have one – got it a couple years back. Very lovely. I got it from the Gorey store. http://www.goreystore.com/shop/books/edward-gorey-war-worlds-book
http://Google.com/ Y0YO

Those creatures supposed to be Alines?
- Matthew B. Tepper
  
  No, but R. Crumb is well-known for drawings of Alines.
  - Labbit
    
    Eh draws Alines and doesnt afraid of anything.
Preston Sturges

It’s a shame nobody has ever tried to do a movie version that stays close to the book. The writing is extremely visual and practically reads like a movie script.
planettom

They did a 2005 reprint of WAR OF THE WORLDS with the Edward Gorey illustrations. It’s out of stock on Amazon, but probably not too hard to find on eBay and such.

In the 1970s, I found the original 1960 hardcover in my elementary school’s library. That back-cover (actually wrap-around to front-cover) illustration of the little people being fried by the Heat-Ray; I knew, I had to read this book!
http://www.facebook.com/bramjanssen1980 Bram Janssen

The illustration with the “The Coming Of The Martians” caption really reminds me of the ferry scene in Spielberg’s adaptation. I wonder if he had that illustration in mind.
http://www.jimdraws.com Thorzdad

That Gorey-illustrated version is the one I checked-out from my grade-school library over and over. Cool. I loved the drawings. Didn’t know Gorey from Adam way back then, though.
Kernos

A reprint is available ISBN 1590171586
Ryan Lenethen

The top one looks more like the cover of the Pastafarian bible!