On September 24, Bloomsbury Auctions will sell the Burt Britton Collection of Self-Portraits, a collection which includes a self-portrait by John Updike. The Updike artwork is item number 155, described as follows:

“John UPDIKE (American, 1932-2009) Self-portrait. ink and mixed-media on paper. 10 7/8 x 8 1/2 inches (270 x 215 mm). signed. Updike won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1991 for Rabbit at Rest, the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction in 2004 for The Early Stories, and the PEN/Malamud Award for ‘excellence in the art of the short story’ in 1988. In his self-portrait, Updike covers his mouth with a cut-out of his name and inscribes the picture ‘in a glass darkly.’ est. $2000-$3000.”

So how does that estimate compare with what other self-portraits are expected to fetch? Lot 50 is a drawing by Margaret Atwood ($500-$800); Lot 58 is by Saul Bellow ($3000-$4000); Lot 75 is Truman Capote ($2500-$3500); Lot 76 is Ray Carver ($2000-$3000; Lot 83 is James Dickey ($600-$800); Lot 101 is Joseph Heller ($800-$1200); Lot 102 is John Irving ($2000-$3000); Lot 113 is Norman Mailer ($2000-$3000); Lot 114 is Bernard Malamud ($2000-$3000); Lot 116 is Toni Morrison ($2000-$3000); Lot 135 is Philip Roth ($3000-$4000); Lot 157 is Kurt Vonnegut ($2000-$3000); Lot 158 is Derek Walcott ($800-$1200); and Lot 160 is Robert Penn Warren ($2000-$3000).

Britton’s collection began when he was bartending at the Village Vanguard in New York City and asked Norman Mailer to “draw me your self-portrait,” and hundreds would follow. For further information on the auction, phone (212) 719-1000 or consult the website link above.