GIN AND HIM

I don’t know if Edward Gorey was much of a drinker, least of all a gin drinker, I tend to think not, but he was certainly well aware of the artistic possibilities of mother’s ruin.

He also came up with this limerick:

From the bathing machine came a din, 

As of jollification within;

It was heard far and wide,

And the incoming tide

Had a definite flavor of gin

He was, according to most sources, a “man of eccentric habits,” but this eccentricity always seems pretty low key.  He liked cats, he watched soap operas, and Alexander Theroux in The Strange Case of Edward Gorey writes, "I still see myself just sitting in his kitchen. There was always a melancholy tone to his voice, and he would give you white toast with a cinnamon shaker,”  not the wildest form of eccentricity I can imagine.  

He also collected things, including cheese graters, though I don’t know how much cheese he grated.

And here, amazingly enough, from the flickr stream of Christopher Seufert is a picture captioned “Edward Gorey's Liquor Cabinet” from Seufert’s upcoming book, The Last Days of Edward Gorey.  That clear bottle towards the back on the right could be gin, but if so it seems rather neglected.