For almost 30 years, John Updike maintained a professional and personal relationship with Herb Yellin (1935-2014), proprietor and founder, in 1976, of the Lord John Press. Yellin published fine press editions of many of Updike’s stories...
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For almost 30 years, John Updike maintained a professional and personal relationship with Herb Yellin (1935-2014), proprietor and founder, in 1976, of the Lord John Press. Yellin published fine press editions of many of Updike’s stories and poems. Their professional relationship soon developed into a warm friendship, and Updike even asked Yellin, who was familiar with Los Angeles and Hollywood, to supply and clarify details about the city’s neighborhoods and their socio-economic characteristics and sub-cultures for a fictional work that Updike was writing. Updike’s letters combine the personal, literary, and professional, and reveal his appreciation of Yellin’s careful attention to typographic excellence and book design. Even Updike’s postcards are replete with substantive content, as are the letters. The galleys and proofs, as well as several typescripts, show Updike reworking his material and becoming deeply engaged in typographic and design decisions, as well as the commercial aspects of marketing fine press editions.
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