UPDIKE, John (1932-2009)

The Carpentered Hen and Other Tame Creatures [First Issue]

New York: Harper & Brothers, 1958. First Printing. Hardcover. First Edition (so stated) of the author's first book, a collection of light verse. 8vo: viii,[4],82pp. Publisher's quarter-bound black cloth, spine lettered in gilt; off-white paper-covered boards stamped in gold; first issue price-clipped dust jacket, with "two small children" (later corrected to "four") on rear flap. About Fine (faint offsetting to end papers); about Fine jacket (touch of soiling to back panel; spine ends and corners very lightly rubbed). Roberts A1a. Fine- / Fine-. Item #BB0324

In the mid-Fifties, after work as a "Talk of the Town" reporter at the New Yorker, Updike composed these remarkable poems—intellectual, witty pieces on the absurdities of modern life. The collection's seventh poem, "Why the Telephone Wires Dip and the Poles Are Cracked and Crooked," is carved in full on the reverse of the writer's gravestone. "The old men say / young men in gray / hung this thread across our plains / acres and acres ago. / But we, the enlightened, know / in point of fact it's what remains / of the flight of a marvellous crow / no one saw: / Each pole, a caw." N. B. With few exceptions (always identified), we only stock books in exceptional condition, with dust jackets carefully preserved in archival, removable mylar sleeves. All orders are packaged with care and posted promptly. Satisfaction guaranteed. (Fine Editions Ltd is a member of the Independent Online Booksellers Association, and we subscribe to its codes of ethics.).

Price: $274.00