The Centaur. by UPDIKE, John - 1963

New York: Alfred A. Knopf,, 1963. First edition, first printing, inscribed by the author "for James O. Freedman Best wishes John Updike" on the front free endpaper. James O. Fredman (1935-2006) was an influential American higher-education administrator who studied alongside John Updike at Harvard in 1954. Freedman writes in his autobiography that "the most celebrated student of my undergraduate years was John Updike....A freshman when he was a senior, I marvelled at Updike's versatility as a writer," (Freedman) for they worked together on the Havard Lampoon. Chapters of The Centaur first appeared in Esquire and The New Yorker a year before publication of the book, which received the US National Book Award for Fiction in 1964. An appealing association copy. Octavo. Original black cloth-backed paper-covered boards, titles to spine in gilt and silver, publisher's device in blind to rear cover, top edge red. With dust jacket. A near-fine copy, very faint toning to edges but the binding square and firm, the contents clean; in the very good jacket, bright and clean with just a few trivial chips at spine ends and a small closed to rear flap. James Freedman, Finding the Words: The Education of James O. Freedman.