Kerouac, Jack | Typed letter signed to Lois Sorrells, on about Ferlinghetti, Cassady, and his nervous collapse in Big Sur - photo 1

Kerouac, Jack | Typed letter signed to Lois Sorrells, on about Ferlinghetti, Cassady, and his nervous collapse in Big Sur

Lot 62
08.12.2023 12:00UTC -05:00
Classic
Sold
$ 5 080
AuctioneerSotheby´s
Event locationUSA, New York
Archive
The auction is completed. No bids can be placed anymore.
Archive
ID 1111097
Lot 62 | Kerouac, Jack | Typed letter signed to Lois Sorrells, on about Ferlinghetti, Cassady, and his nervous collapse in Big Sur
Estimate value
$ 4 000 – 6 000
Kerouac, Jack
Typed letter signed (“Jack” in pencil), to his girlfriend Lois Sorrells in New York City about Ferlinghetti, Cassady, and his nervous collapse in Big Sur

One page (195 x 215 mm), [Northport, New York, September 1960], signed with three penciled “Xes” (for kisses), single-spaced on a sheet of tan paper, top and bottom edges show minor signs of having been cut (torn) from a larger sheet.

“Ferlinghetti was most wonderful to me."

Back home in Northport, Kerouac writes — in a frenetic style of mostly phrases and short sentences separated by dashes, probably stoked by burgundy — about his stay in California during the summer, which climaxed in an alcohol-fueled nervous collapse at Lawrence Ferlinghetti’s cabin in Bixby Canyon, Big Sur. After the breakdown, Ferlinghetti helped Kerouac recuperate at his home in San Francisco before sending him back East. A year later Kerouac based Big Sur on his experiences from this eventful summer in California. “... if you do come this weekend i will be glad to see you but no more port wine! No more booze! (just burgundy) — Ferlinghetti was most wonderful to me — I want to write new book now and will not have any visitors whatsoever (except you) for a month — quiet and mad and ready to write a new book, see ... I’ll have to say a lot of no’s from now on in my life if I’m to continue ‘working’ or writing ... I wanta make my home like a monastery, with Rev. Mother presiding, and not a hotel —You it’s different, you I need,— (some priest) ... had great time [in California], much to tell you about — even saw Sue and Joe Auerbach in a drunken blur — and to be frank with you, had a drunken love affair with Neal’s [Cassady] mistress, I say Neal’s mistress to identify her for you, actually she’s St. Carolyn by the Sea [Neal’s wife was also named Carolyn] — but so insane and drove me to nervous breakdown with her nervousness and the madness of her surroundings I had to leave ...”

“Read a beautiful story by Djuna Barnes out there ... Neal was great [Kerouac saw Cassady for the first time since the latter’s release from prison for drug dealing] — Ferling was great very very great ... The beach near the cabin was too steep and too thundrous to swim in — but I wrote sound of the sea in my notebook ... Had long talks with unbelievably handsome sensitive Mike McClure etc. — it was an enormous season ... when I heard Tyke [his cat at home in Northport] had died I almost died and had a nervous breakdown and went mad for the first time in my life, thought I was being poisoned etc. etc. endless story ... Have evolved new diet, too — cheese and fruits, light bread, red wine, light style Hemingway eating — like Ferling showed me — Okay ...”
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 signed to Ed White, discussing On the Road, Alene Lee, and Malcolm Cowley
Kerouac, Jack | Typed letter signed to Ed White, discussing On the Road, Alene Lee, and Malcolm Cowley
$8 000
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

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.
?>