Catalog 102, U
332. UPDIKE, John. Getting Older. Helsinki: Eurographica (1986). One of 350 copies of this collection of three stories that originally appeared in magazines. Signed by the author. Fine in wrappers and dust jacket.
333. UPDIKE, John. Self-Consciousness. NY: Knopf, 1989. Updike's first volume of memoirs. Fine in a fine dust jacket. Inscribed by the author.
334. -. Same title, the uncorrected proof copy. Publisher's notations on first blank and cover; else fine in wrappers.
335. UPDIKE, John. Memories of the Ford Administration. NY: Knopf, 1992. The uncorrected proof copy of this novel. Fine in wrappers.
336. UPDIKE, John. Brazil. NY: Knopf, 1994. The advance reading copy of this novel that was something of a departure for Updike, being far removed from the familiar suburban milieu of most of his fiction. Fine in pictorial wrappers.
337. UPDIKE, John. Rabbit Angstrom: The Four Novels. NY: Everyman's Library/Knopf (1995). First combined edition of the four Rabbit novels. Fine in a fine dust jacket and signed by the author, with ribbon marker bound in. With a special 15-page introduction by Updike for this edition and a chronology of Rabbit Angstrom's life printed alongside a historical chronology spanning the character's lifetime.
338. UPDIKE, John. Bech at Bay. NY: Knopf, 1998. His 49th book, subtitled "A Quasi-Novel," and a sequel to Bech: A Book and Bech is Back. Fine in a fine dust jacket, and signed by the author.
339. (UPDIKE, John). BAKER, Nicholson. U and I. NY: Random House (1991). Baker's third book, nonfiction, a personal essay and analysis of the effect that the writings of John Updike have had on the author. A unique portrait in ideas more than a criticism of Updike, nonetheless a serious meditation on Updike's work and a self-examination of the author's own thoughts on writing. Fine in a fine dust jacket and signed by Baker and by Updike, who has used the "U" of the half-title in his signature.
340. (UPDIKE, John). Poster. (n.p.): U. of South Carolina, 1998. A poster printed in honor of Updike's visit to the university and the display of the collection of Donald Greiner. 17" x 22". Featuring an Updike caricature of Santa with the word bubble "Yes, you may display me." Inscribed by Updike in facsimile. Issued in a total edition of 125 copies, this is one of 25 lettered copies. Rolled, with a small repeating crease, primarily visible on the reverse side; near fine.
341. -. Same title, an unnumbered and unlettered copy, presumably from a print overrun. Rolled; else fine.
John Updike Autograph Material
342. UPDIKE, John. Typed Letter Signed and Typed Note Signed. December 3 [1968] and April 22 [1969]. The first is an airmail letter, posted from London to a professor in New York, accepting a proposal to visit Mallorca, "under the kind of auspices you describe. Three or four days, and a few informal discussions with students, and perhaps a reading." A half-page letter; the paper is split along the vertical mailing fold and has been horizontally taped-repaired over the text, which remains visible. Fair only. The second is also an airmail letter, to the same recipient, this time declining to come to Majorca, saying, "...after this year abroad, I picture myself settling down to a novel in the land of the free." He proposes that they discuss the matter again the next year and closes, "Sorry to be so inevitably vague." A self-mailer, folded in fourths and opened imperfectly along the edges; still near fine. For both:
343. UPDIKE, John. Typed Note Signed. July 13 [c. mid-70's]. A quick note on a half-sheet of paper, submitting a poem for Harper's: "I don't write much light verse these days, but here is a small poem you might consider..." Under Updike's signature is stamped his address, given as 50 Labor-in-Vain Rd. Folded in thirds for mailing; else fine.
344. UPDIKE, John. Typed Letter Signed. One page, dated "Oct. 22" [1976], to Howard Moss, poetry editor of The New Yorker. Updike comments on a collection of Moss's poems, "for which the term ‘light verse' is all too modest...even the lightest have that unexpectedness which is poetry." Fine.
345. UPDIKE, John. Autograph Note Signed. Undated. [c. 1965-1976]. One paragraph, declining to contribute to a proposed Holt Rinehart Winston anthology, apparently a nonfiction book pertaining to the visual arts. Updike has written across the bottom half of the final page of the HRW proposal, in part: "Besides being committed to my present publisher, I cannot spare the many hours of research needed to do such an assignment competently." Folded in sixths; else fine.
346. UPDIKE, John. Typed Postcard Signed. July 30 [1977]. Written to an editor at Doubleday, requesting a copy of his own speech, apparently for a work-in-progress ("I have found the Proust quote I really wanted, for instance...") and offering the recipient's boss a copy of the 20th anniversary edition of The Poorhouse Fair -- "No one deserves one more." Fine.
347. UPDIKE, John. Typed Letter Signed. Dated "Sep 13" [1977]. Three paragraphs written to accompany the return of a lecture manuscript to Doubleday, as part of a work-in-progress, for which he requests a proof "when it is time to get the book out." Updike apologizes for the delay and for his typing, and offers a bibliography to accompany the submitted piece ("I'd be willing to provide whatever you think is needed to make my contribution look finished"). 8 1/2" x 7 1/2". Lower right corner missing, not affecting text. Editor's note added. Else fine.
348. UPDIKE, John. Typed Note Signed. Dated "Jan 1" [1980]. One paragraph, agreeing to sign books for the recipient's wife. Written on the verso of the colophon for the limited edition of Problems. Signed in blue, with recipient's address hand-written in pink across the top; the colophon has some math written in pink. Folded in thirds for mailing; else fine.
349. UPDIKE, John. Autograph Note Signed. June 9, 1983. Updike has received a letter from American Scholar returning the galleys of "The Moons of Jupiter" as a collector has queried them about purchasing the galleys, and they would like Updike to handle the matter. Across the bottom of this letter, Updike has addressed a note to the collector: "How much are you offering?" The publisher's stationery is approximately 6" x 9"; folded in thirds for mailing. With hand-addressed envelope from Updike to the collector. Fine.
350. UPDIKE, John. Typed Note Signed. Dated Jan 2 [1984?]. Addressed to "Gentlemen," Updike queries, "Did you guys run that little squib you elicited from me years ago, about Reviews that Hurt, or some such?" He has taped a newspaper clipping where his response is alluded to, although Updike never saw the article run. 5" x 8". Folded for mailing; fine.
351. UPDIKE, John. Typed Postcard Signed. March 14 [1984]. Addressed to a collector, and saying, in total: "That's some tricky little tricycle rider you sent me, and I do thank you. I hope you don't miss him too much around your house. He's been very active on the linoleum floor of ours." Fine.
352. UPDIKE, John. Typed Post Card Signed. March 12 [1985]. Addressed to a collector, and saying, in total, apparently in response to another unsolicited gift from the collector: "My goodness. Well, thank you. I think what you call a duck is actually a goose. I fear that at this rate you will be emptying your entire house into mine. Think of my soaring insurance rates." Fine.
353. UPDIKE, John. Typed Note Signed. April 16, 1986. Beneath a form letter response declining a "kind invitation," Updike has typed a note to the editor of Art & Antiques agreeing to contribute in the future and asking for assistance: "Is there a proper word, in this or any other language, for those little glass balls with snowstorms and plaster figures inside them. I need the word, if it exists, for a novel." Folded in thirds for mailing; fine, with hand-addressed envelope.
354. UPDIKE, John. Typed Postcard Signed. December 15, [1986]. Updike gives the source of a theory of knots of points in space and asks the recipient for specifics relating to a possible article on "Leonardo." Postal markings; else fine.
355. UPDIKE, John. Typed Postcard Signed. September 9, [1987]. Updike declines a writing assignment on Guaguin [sic], as he finds the project "increasingly rather than decreasingly slippery (can't even spell his name, I notice)..." He also points out that the New Yorker is suggesting that he take his "first-reading agreement with them more seriously." Postal markings; else fine.
356. UPDIKE, John. Typed Letter Signed and Two Typed Postcards Signed. November-December, [1988]. The letter of November 6 submits to Art & Antiques two essays ("American Children" and "Some Rectangles in Blue") which had been accepted by Réalités magazine before it folded, and which were again on the market. Updike also includes a photocopy of an article he wrote for Travel and Leisure, for the recipient's "delectation, and then perhaps for you to pass on to my good friend Theroux, whose article [on Vermeer and Proust] contains several tidbits I might steal when I read proof of my little piece, which is included in Just Looking." The letter has a small chip at the upper edge, not affecting any text, and is otherwise fine, as are the photocopied articles, which reproduce holograph corrections. With hand-addressed envelope. Together with two postcards signed: one (November 20) expresses pleasure at the acceptance of the two articles and offers details for negotiations for serial rights with his publisher, Knopf; the other (December 9) consents to proof "the Diebenkorn" article ("Some Rectangles in Blue") and postpones any commitment to future art essays. "...I'll file [your ideas] in my hypothetical file, and certainly have you in mind as a most agreeable and enthusiastic audience for any art musings I may have. I still have the sensation, however, that my writing about art is somewhat presumptuous." One holograph correction to the first card. Postal markings and mild smudging to the second; else fine. For the set:
357. UPDIKE, John. Typed Postcard Signed, Typed Letter Signed, and Corrected Proof Sheet. January-March, [1989]. The postcard (January 26) acknowledges the appearance of "the Diebenkorn essay" in the magazine [Art & Antiques], and requests a proof of the next article, "American Children." The letter (March 8), is written on the verso of the colophon for the limited edition of Self-Consciousness and transmits the one page proof sheet for the article, with minor holograph corrections and suggestions. The letter speaks to some of the difficulties Updike has had in getting various permissions for visuals needed for Just Looking. He also begs off on art essays for a while (six months) while he works on a novel. The postcard is fine; the letter is folded once vertically; the proof sheet in thirds. Fine, with hand-addressed envelope.
358. UPDIKE, John. Typed Letter Signed. November 18, [1990]. Updike belatedly comments on the appearance of his Rockwell essay in Art & Antiques, and adds a paragraph on a piece by Stanley Elkin that appeared in the same issue, which reads, in part, "...amazing, like all he writes, his incorrigible excess. But fascinating, the way he tied it into his advancing disease -- this mountain of stolen soap, this increasingly useless body. It made me want to send him a small bar or two..." He also questions writing a piece on Cézanne ("a little like taking on the British empire as a casual subject"), especially in light of the fact that "...I should begin another novel, and go into hibernation." With holograph corrections and emendations. Folded in thirds for mailing, else fine. With envelope.
359. UPDIKE, John. Typed Note Signed. December 12, [1990]. Updike declines to do a piece on Cezanne: "...lacking some personal impetus like the Rockwell poster in my bathroom, I see no way in." Fine, with hand-addressed envelope.
360. UPDIKE, John. Typed Postcard Signed. December 25, [1990]. Updike briefly considers doing a piece on Daumier and suggests an article on Edward Steichen. Fine.
361. UPDIKE, John. Four Typed Postcards Signed. February - June [1991]. Four postcards written to an editor at Art & Antiques magazine, each touching on the subject of the miniaturist Sarah Goodridge, about whom Updike would eventually write an article entitled "The Revealed and the Concealed." In the first card, dated February 8, Updike declines to write on Daumier and suggests instead Sarah Goodridge: "In the middle of the Met's show on miniatures there are suddenly these two amazing glowing breasts, done by her in enamelled miniature style. What's more, it was ["it was" crossed out, "they were" inserted in holograph] done evidently as a present for Daniel Webster, with whom she seems to have lived off and on, between his marriages. Also, in the same show ["by her" inserted in holograph], a dead baby..." After continuing enthusiastically, he concludes: "On the other hand, maybe I should stick to my New Yorker first reading agreement and get on with my novel." On February 18, Updike sends another card describing research material on hand for the piece. With a holograph postscript, in part: "How much are you paying these days?" On April 25, Updike shares his thoughts on others' past and future Art & Antiques articles and volunteers: "I'm trying after a long derailment into side issues to get back to a novel, and then I hope to tackle our miniaturist." And on June 17, Updike writes a few sentences on unrelated topics (e.g. the serial rights to a Steichen piece he had written), but concludes "I still have those miniature breasts on my mind." He eventually produced the article in September, 1992. The first three postcards are fine, with only postal markings; the fourth has a small stain on the text but all words are legible; near fine.
362. UPDIKE, John. Typed Postcard Signed. October 17, [1991]. After returning from Ireland, Updike approves the "fix in Mickey Mouse" (a reference to his article on Steichen), and declines taking on Steinberg or "any more odd jobs until I finish my novel," adding "Nor do I feel I have much to say about Steinberg that the drawings and Italo Calvino haven't already said. What about asking George W.S. Trow, at the NYer? He writes a bit like Saul draws..." Postal markings; else fine.
363. UPDIKE, John. Typed Postcard Signed. October 26, [1991]. Updike belatedly points up errors in his Art & Antiques piece on Steichen and, for a piece on Steinberg that he has declined to write, he suggests contacting William Shawn "who is forcibly retired and was quite a writer, usually anonymous, in his day." Postal markings; else fine.
364. UPDIKE, John. Bookplate Signed. Undated. A bookplate featuring two owls on a branch, signed by Updike, who has also added to the left of the owls, "Hoot Hoot," and to the right in an owl's word balloon, an admonishment (presumably to a collector asking for signatures), "No more, ___ ___." Fine.