Lizzie Borden Society Forum

Another Gorey fan - hurray! I have the first edition of his Dracula sets which was spiral bound and also bought the re-issue boxed set from about 4 years ago. I collect vintage vampire stuff, 1800's etiquette books, Eastlake and Renaissance Revival furniture, ocean liner ephemera, Victorian mourning items from clothing to Whitby jet mourning jewelry, books for girls from 1860's -1900, anything to do with zeppelins, old cookbooks, yelloware, vintage textiles, Maude Adams and Victorian theatre memorabilia, Titanic stuff, books on the Duke and Duchess of Windsor and Queen Victoria, true crime, especially Jack the Ripper, Sherlock Holmes, copper molds, unusual pieces of Victorian silverplate, and everything on the 1893 Columbian Exposition. My kids threaten to have a yardsale when I get carted off to the nursing home.

I don't know much about this, but I found an article on Gorey that mentions he had worked on a sort of treatment of Lizzie Borden- but it didn't sound like a *full treatment* as Stuart already observed?


The Independent Sunday (London, England), Nov 29, 1998 p6:

When not drawing, he writes, directs and stages dramas to be performed by local amateurs. At the time of my visit he was writing one in clerihews, a fiddly verse form, based on the life of local girl Lizzie Borden - the celebrated 19th-century murderess who gave her father and mother 40 and 41 whacks respectively with an axe. As he once insisted, only half-jokingly, in an interview, "I write about everyday life."

I'd love to see what Gorey did with Lizzie. Also- what does anyone know more about the Gorey opera singer named Ortenzia Caviglia who puts the audience in raptures with her arias like: "Gli Occhielli & Lizzia Bordena"? I think Occhielli means "The buttonhole or eyelet". She is one of the characters in Amphigory- the Musicale.

Gorey did do a drawing of Lizzie, which I believe the FRHS gift shop sells. On it, he uses one of Lizzie's famous quotes--but I can't remember which one! I've never been able to find one of those cards locally, or in any of Gorey's books.
Having spent his final years near Cape Cod, I can't imagine that he didn't pay a visit to Rock Street and introduce himself to Michael Martins!

I collect license plates, books and more books. Old Bibles, stamps, coins and my newest stuff to collect is anything and everything on Ms. Lizzie and family. Also HO scale train stuff.

I collect stamps. And cat figurines.

snokkums @ Mon Sep 25, 2006 10:12 am wrote:I collect stamps. And cat figurines.

I had an old album, Snokks, loaded full of old stamps that some old gent had collected. I had it for years but was too lazy to check them out. I went and threw it all away. After watching Audrey Hepburn's movie, "Charade" I could kick myself. No telling what was in that album. Grrrr....

The old gent's wife also gave me an old violin I was going to refurbish. I threw that away too. Fortunately I was smart enough to check it out first. It was Montgomery Wards dated 1910.

-1bigsteve (o:

[quote="1bigsteve @ Tue Oct 03, 2006 1:28 pm
I had an old album, Snokks, loaded full of old stamps that some old gent had collected. I had it for years but was too lazy to check them out. I went and threw it all away. After watching Audrey Hepburn's movie, "Charade" I could kick myself. No telling what was in that album. Grrrr....

1bigsteve (o:[/quote]

Don't knock yourself in the head over that one. I too inherited a huge old album full of gorgeous stamps from an older relative. I was so excited---had myself retired and moving to Tahiti to paint naked men for the rest of my life--until I took it to a couple of collectors who told me it was nothing special.. Sold it for $50.00. Bah humbug!