On writing The Town and the City

Los 200
07.12.2022 10:00UTC -05:00
Classic
Startpreis
$ 6 500
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
VeranstaltungsortVereinigten Staaten, New York
Archiv
Die Auktion ist abgeschlossen. Es können keine Gebote mehr abgegeben werden.
Archive
ID 859719
Los 200 | On writing The Town and the City
Schätzwert
$ 8 000 – 12 000
KEROUAC, Jack (1922-1969). Typed letter signed (“Jack”) to Ed White, 8 July 1948, postmarked Jamaica, New York. Unpublished.

Quarto. Two leaves; rectos only; a few autograph emendations. With envelope addressed in type.

“What a feeling... that a book written is written forever.”

White graduated from Columbia in June and returned to Denver—letters were once again necessary to keep in touch. In this important letter, Kerouac gives a progress report on what would be his first published novel, appearing two years later in 1950: The Town and the City. “In the past 26 workdays I have typed 413 pages (with revisions too) and that gives you an idea how nervous and frantic I am. I have some 750 pages all ready in the ms., maybe 800-odd, and the end is in sight after 2 ½ years.” He also discusses efforts to find an agent and reflects on what it means to publish a novel:

I think I’m in now, although I might make only $5,000 between now and 1950 on the book so you see how it is. At least the big swirl of “artistry” is nailed to the wall forever. What a feeling... that a book written is written forever. Real great.

Other passages in the letter muse on his relationships with Edie and Ginger, owning up to committing "one insult after another" and also a description of his meeting and planned duping of a "wild redhead chick." He closes with the order: “Write me that long letter you owe me and I’ll write back and give you embellishments on all the dope and the scoops.”
Adresse der Versteigerung CHRISTIE'S
20 Rockefeller Plaza
10020 New York
Vereinigten Staaten
Vorschau
23.11.2022 – 07.12.2022
Telefon +1 212 636 2000
Fax +1 212 636 4930
E-Mail
NutzungsbedingungenNutzungsbedingungen
Versand Postdienst
Kurierdienst
Selbstabholung
Zahlungsarten Banküberweisung
GeschäftszeitenGeschäftszeiten
Mo 09:30 – 17:00   
Di 09:30 – 17:00   
Mi 09:30 – 17:00   
Do 09:30 – 17:00   
Fr 09:30 – 17:00   
Sa geschlossen
So geschlossen

Verwandte Begriffe