A macro view of the front cover of the book Q.R.V. showing a small rectangular paper label pasted onto a repeating black-and-white geometric pattern.
A macro photograph of the title page of the miniature book Q.R.V., featuring stylized typography printed in black ink.
A macro photograph of an interior page from the miniature book Q.R.V., displaying a short nonsense verse printed in stylized typography with black ink.
A macro photograph of an interior page from the miniature book Q.R.V., displaying a black ink line drawing by Edward Gorey on a page recto opposite a nonsense poem on the opposing verso.
A macro photograph of the first page of the colophon from the miniature book Q.R.V., displaying stylized typography printed in black ink detailing the book's 400-copy limitation and the printer, Darrell Hyder.
A macro photograph of the second page of the colophon from the miniature book Q.R.V. The printed text is accompanied by the limitation number "389" and signature "Edward Gorey," both hand-written by Edward Gorey.
A macro photograph of the back cover of the miniature book Q.R.V., displaying a full-page, repeating abstract geometric pattern of white arches and black lines.
  • Load image into Gallery viewer, A macro view of the front cover of the book Q.R.V. showing a small rectangular paper label pasted onto a repeating black-and-white geometric pattern.
  • Load image into Gallery viewer, A macro photograph of the title page of the miniature book Q.R.V., featuring stylized typography printed in black ink.
  • Load image into Gallery viewer, A macro photograph of an interior page from the miniature book Q.R.V., displaying a short nonsense verse printed in stylized typography with black ink.
  • Load image into Gallery viewer, A macro photograph of an interior page from the miniature book Q.R.V., displaying a black ink line drawing by Edward Gorey on a page recto opposite a nonsense poem on the opposing verso.
  • Load image into Gallery viewer, A macro photograph of the first page of the colophon from the miniature book Q.R.V., displaying stylized typography printed in black ink detailing the book's 400-copy limitation and the printer, Darrell Hyder.
  • Load image into Gallery viewer, A macro photograph of the second page of the colophon from the miniature book Q.R.V. The printed text is accompanied by the limitation number "389" and signature "Edward Gorey," both hand-written by Edward Gorey.
  • Load image into Gallery viewer, A macro photograph of the back cover of the miniature book Q.R.V., displaying a full-page, repeating abstract geometric pattern of white arches and black lines.

Q.R.V.

$950.00
$950.00
Sold out

Gorey, Edward. Q.R.V. Boston: Anne & David Bromer, 1989. FIRST EDITION. [Miniature] - 1-1/4" x 1-1/2". [64] pp. Bound in original black and white patterned paper-covered boards with a paper paste-on title label printed in black and white to the front cover. Plain endpapers. House style without slipcase as issued for the standard limitation. Contains 29 black and white illustrations printed on page rectos with nonsense verses on the opposing versos. The physical condition of the item is graded FINE (utilizing the standard antiquarian book grading scale for works on paper). A bright, crisp, and structurally square copy showing virtually no shelf wear or aging to the fragile paper boards, interior leaves clean and unmarked throughout.

Edward Gorey’s Miniature Nonsense and the Legacy of Isaac Watts

Printed in 1989 by the noted Boston miniature book publishers Anne and David Bromer, Q.R.V. represents a masterful intersection of Edward Gorey’s characteristic surrealist wit and the micro-bibliophilic form. Subtitled on page 3 as an "Homage to Isaac Watts," the work playfully subverts the rigid moralism of early English hymnody and children's instructive verse. Gorey pairs his iconic, meticulously cross-hatched pen-and-ink illustrations on the rectos with surreal, rhyming nonsense couplets on the opposing versos. The mechanical precision required to print and bind a work of these minute physical dimensions—just over an inch in height—highlights the late twentieth-century revival of fine press miniature production, transforming an avant-garde literary joke into a highly sophisticated object of material culture.

Limitation, Bibliography, and Market Scarcity

This miniature edition was limited to a total production of 400 copies, divided structurally into two distinct states: copies 1–120 were hand-colored by Gorey and issued in a special slipcase, while copies 121–400 were issued uncolored and without a slipcase. The present item is copy number 389, featuring Gorey’s authentic signature on the colophon, conforming precisely to the bibliography established in Toledano A97b. Due to their diminutive scale, these fragile paper-covered boards are notoriously susceptible to spine chipping, corner bumping, and friction wear to the paste-on label; consequently, copies surviving in fine condition are increasingly scarce. 

GIVEN ITS IMPECCABLE STATE OF PRESERVATION AND UNDENIABLE SCARCITY, THIS PRISTINE SPECIMEN STANDS AS A SIGNIFICANT, BENCHMARK COPY. A SUPERB OFFERING, REPRESENTING A CRITICAL ACQUISITION FOR INSTITUTIONAL SPECIAL COLLECTIONS OR EXTRAORDINARY PRIVATE COLLECTIONS DEVOTED TO THE HISTORY OF FINE PRESS MINIATURE BOOKS, ILLUSTRATED TWENTIETH-CENTURY LITERATURE, OR THE GRAPHIC ART OF EDWARD GOREY.

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