Estate / Collection: The Collection of Erica Jong and Ken Burrows

HOCKNEY, DAVID
Hockney's Alphabet. London: Faber & Faber, 1991. Copy X of 26 Roman-numbered copies hors commerce for contributors, of whom Erica Jong, the recipient of this copy, was one; and 250 examples for sale. Bound in quarter vellum with handmade Fabriano Roma paper sides, housed in matching box. 12 5/8 x 9 5/8 inches (32 x 24.5 cm); illustrated by David Hockney and signed by the following contributors: Douglas Adams, Martin Amis, Julian Barnes, William Boyd, Margaret Drabble, Patrick Leigh Fermor, William Golding, Seamus Heaney, David Hockney, Kazuo Ishiguro, Erica Jong, Doris Lessing, Norman Mailer, Ian McEwan, Arthur Miller, Iris Murdoch, Nigel Nicolson, John Julius Norwich, Joyce Carol Oates, V.S. Pritchett, Craig Raine, Susan Sontag, Stephen Spender, and John Updike. Four living contributors (Anthony Burgess, Ted Hughes, Paul Theroux and Gore Vidal) did not sign; T.S. Eliot (d. 1965) could not sign. Slight toning to slipcase.

This book was published to raise money for people living with AIDS. The book contains the 26 letters of the alphabet plus "&," each accompanied by a poem or short text with a full-page illustration by Hockney. It was not well distributed at the time.