Updike Collection

The John Updike Collection at the Reading Public Library

The John Updike Collection is comprised of seven sets of materials that were the personal property of Linda Grace (Hoyer) Updike, mother of author John Updike.

After his mother’s death in October 1989, Updike donated the collection to RPL. Included is correspondence to and from Mr. Updike concerning the collection.

• The Personal Book Collection includes books and pamphlets written by John Updike and by his son, David Updike.

• The Personal Belongings are correspondence, artwork, notebooks and other pieces

• The two Personal Scrapbooks compiled by Mrs. Updike contain articles, poems, and stories by John Updike from publications such as The New Yorker.

• The Newspaper Article Collection is the largest part of the Collection and contains articles about Updike or his parents.

• The Magazine Articles were written by Updike in magazines such as The New Yorker, Playboy, Esquire, and The New York Time Book Review. Also in this collection are articles about him from sources such as Time, The Saturday Review, and Punch.

• The Miscellaneous Belongings contain play manuscripts, a talk, a lecture, some newsletters, and Updike’s detailed Shillington High School science notebook.

• The Correspondence with the Reading Public Library consists of letters and postcards to and from the Library from 1989 to 1997.

Access to the the Updike Collection is by appointment only and should be scheduled at least one day in advance. Please call 610-655-6355 or email reference@readingpubliclibrary.org for more information.