signed-firsts

In the Beauty of the Lilies (1996) Signed First Edition Reference

Approx. 2 min read · 4 May 2026

In the Beauty of the Lilies (1996) is John Updike’s most sweepingly ambitious non-Rabbit novel — a four-generation family saga that spans the twentieth century from 1910 (when a Presbyterian minister in Paterson, New Jersey loses his faith while watching D.W. Griffith film a scene on a nearby street) to the 1990s (when his great-granddaughter is killed in a Waco-like cult compound siege). Published by Alfred A. Knopf, the novel traces the Wilmot family through four generations as American religious belief migrates from mainline Protestantism through Hollywood celebrity culture into fundamentalist extremism. The title comes from “The Battle Hymn of the Republic,” and the novel is Updike’s most sustained meditation on what happens to a nation when its founding religious certainties dissolve.

First Edition Identification

Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf, New York Publication date: 1996 Format: Hardcover, 491 pages First printing indicator: “First Edition” on the copyright page

Large first printing. The novel was positioned as a major literary event and received significant pre-publication attention.

Signed Copy Values

Flat-signed: $150–$400
Inscribed: $250–$700

Mid-lower range, despite the novel’s ambition and scope. The large first printing and Updike’s extensive signing keep prices moderate. Some Updike specialists consider this his best non-Rabbit novel, and if that critical assessment gains broader traction, prices could see modest appreciation.

The American Century Novel

In the Beauty of the Lilies is Updike’s attempt at a Great American Novel in the panoramic tradition — a family chronicle that serves as a national allegory. The four sections, each following a different generation, allow Updike to deploy his descriptive gifts across the full range of twentieth-century American settings, from Progressive-era New Jersey to 1950s Delaware to the Hollywood of the 1970s to the compound culture of the 1990s. The novel’s thematic range — religion, cinema, family, violence, American exceptionalism — gives it a density of reference that rewards patient reading and rereading.

Market Assessment

Undervalued. This is one of Updike’s most ambitious works, and current prices do not reflect its literary quality. For collectors willing to look beyond the Rabbit novels, In the Beauty of the Lilies represents strong value with modest upside potential.