Kerouac, Jack | Typed letter signed to Ed White, discussing On the Road, Alene Lee, and Malcolm Cowley - photo 1
Kerouac, Jack | Typed letter signed to Ed White, discussing On the Road, Alene Lee, and Malcolm Cowley - photo 2
Kerouac, Jack | Typed letter signed to Ed White, discussing On the Road, Alene Lee, and Malcolm Cowley - photo 3

Kerouac, Jack | Typed letter signed to Ed White, discussing On the Road, Alene Lee, and Malcolm Cowley

Lot 53
08.12.2023 12:00UTC -05:00
Classic
Starting price
$ 8 000
AuctioneerSotheby´s
Event locationUSA, New York
Archive
The auction is completed. No bids can be placed anymore.
Archive
ID 1108772
Lot 53 | Kerouac, Jack | Typed letter signed to Ed White, discussing On the Road, Alene Lee, and Malcolm Cowley
Estimate value
$ 8 000 – 12 000
Kerouac, Jack
Typed letter signed ("Sam Karooch | Chysostoph | Screwm | Srabe | Scrawl | Jack | xxx") to Ed White in Engelwood, Colorado, experimenting with the style that would characterize On the Road, discussing Alene Lee and Malcolm Cowley

2 pages (275 x 212 mm) on two leaves of onion skin, [Richmond Hill, N.Y.], 6 August 1953, original stamped envelope addressed by Kerouac, with his name and return address in his hand; some light marginal toning and fold marks.

Jack Kerouac writes in the spontaneous prose style of On the Road.

Kerouac's writing flows onto the page here in a stream of consciousness, uncorrected and raw. He describes it himself, "here is an example of my trying to swirl my brain from commonplane expression into seas of English or English seas..." Kerouac was living in New York, writing, traveling, and having intermittent periods of emotional turmoil and excessive drinking. It was during this time that he met Alene Lee, an attractive, intelligent African American member of the Beat circle, introduced to him by Ginsberg—

"I have love at last," he begins, "beautiful o so beautiful girl, Alene Lee, 22, a gypsy rose kerchief around her crazy inpinched dark face, I say inpinched I mean little kissable lips and kissable teeth..."

He continues, "I really love her, not only as a "woman," but as a "man," in other words she is a complete humanbeing".

Alene and his stormy two month long affair with her would become the subject for The Subterraneans, the semi-autobiographical follow up to On the Road, written over three Benzedrine fueled days and nights. She was immortalised as Mardou Fox—

"No girl had ever moved me with a story of spiritual suffering
And so beautifully her soul showing out radiant as an angel wandering in hell
And the hell the self-same streets I’d roamed in watching, watching for someone just like her" (The Subterraneans, p. 50).

Kerouac also reveals an alternative title for On the Road, which he had been working on with Malcolm Cowley, “Malcolm Cowley still wanted wild novel of hitching, so I fixed it 50 percent better and gave to him. [...] we wont use On the Road [...] but will use Heroes of the Hip Generation – I spose Cassady will sue, let him sue.”
Address of auction Sotheby´s
1334 York Avenue
10021 New York
USA
Preview
01.12.2023 10:00 – 17:00
02.12.2023 10:00 – 17:00
03.12.2023 13:00 – 17:00
04.12.2023 10:00 – 17:00
05.12.2023 10:00 – 17:00
06.12.2023 10:00 – 17:00
07.12.2023 10:00 – 17:00
Phone +1 212 606 7000
Email
4FQ.AE2YUKFA@AYGLGHC3Y@
Conditions of purchaseConditions of purchase
Business hoursBusiness hours
Mo 10:00 – 17:00   
Tu 10:00 – 17:00   
We 10:00 – 17:00   
Th 10:00 – 17:00   
Fr 10:00 – 17:00   
Sa 10:00 – 17:00   
Su 13:00 – 17:00   

More from Creator

Kerouac, Jack | Typed postcard signed to Ed White; selling stories to buy to buy
Kerouac, Jack | Typed postcard signed to Ed White; selling stories to buy to buy "500 beers for everybody"
$800
Kerouac, Jack | Typed letter to Allen Ginsberg;
Kerouac, Jack | Typed letter to Allen Ginsberg; "God, I'm going to die this year"
$7 000
Kerouac, Jack | Typed letter signed to his girlfriend Lois Sorrells;
Kerouac, Jack | Typed letter signed to his girlfriend Lois Sorrells; "I’ll end up with my ass in the straw"
$4 000
Kerouac, Jack | Typed letter to Allen Ginsberg, a blunt letter addressing a rift in their friendship
Kerouac, Jack | Typed letter to Allen Ginsberg, a blunt letter addressing a rift in their friendship
$10 000
Kerouac, Jack | Two typed letters to Allen Ginsberg, analyzing his vision of William Blake through his new Buddhist worldview
Kerouac, Jack | Two typed letters to Allen Ginsberg, analyzing his vision of William Blake through his new Buddhist worldview
$10 000
Kerouac, Jack | Maggie Cassidy, inscribed to his mother
Kerouac, Jack | Maggie Cassidy, inscribed to his mother
$20 000
Kerouac, Jack | Typed letter signed to Allen Ginsberg, refusing to help promote Junkie
Kerouac, Jack | Typed letter signed to Allen Ginsberg, refusing to help promote Junkie
$5 000
Kerouac, Jack | Typed letter signed to Ed White;
Kerouac, Jack | Typed letter signed to Ed White; "at night, till dawn, I'm writing the second novel, On the Road"
$7 000

Related terms

Frequently asked questions

First of all, you should register to be able to purchase at auction. After confirming your email address, enter your personal information in your user profile, such as your first name, last name, and mail address. Choose a lot from the upcoming auction and the maximum amount you want to place on it. After confirmation of your choice, we will send your application by e-mail to the appropriate auction house. If the auction house accepts a request, it will participate in the auction. You can view the current status of a bid at any time in your personal account in the "Bids" section.
Auctions are performed by auction houses and each of the auction houses describes their terms of auction. You can see the texts in the section "Auction information".
The results of the auction are published within a few days after the end of the auction. In the top menu of the site, find the tab "Auctions". Click on it and you will be on the auction catalog page, where you can easily find the category "Results". After opening it, select the desired auction from the list, enter and view the current status of the interested lot.
The information about the auction winners is confidential. The auction winner will receive a direct notification from the auction house responsible with instructions for further action: an invoice for payment and the manner in which the goods will be received.
Each of the auction houses has its own payment policy for the won lots. All auction houses accept bank transfers, most of them accept credit card payments. In the near future you will find detailed information for each case in the section "Auction information" on the page of the auction catalog and the lot.
Shipment of the won lot depends on its size. Small items can be delivered by post. Larger lots are sent by courier. Employees of the auction houses will offer you a wide range to choose from.
No. The archive serves as a reference for the study of auction prices, photographs and descriptions of works of art.
?>