Kerouac, Jack | Typed letter signed to Will Petersen, discussing Buddhism with a fellow dharma bum - photo 1
Kerouac, Jack | Typed letter signed to Will Petersen, discussing Buddhism with a fellow dharma bum - photo 2

Kerouac, Jack | Typed letter signed to Will Petersen, discussing Buddhism with a fellow dharma bum

Lot 57
08.12.2023 12:00UTC -05:00
Classic
Sold
$ 8 890
AuctioneerSotheby´s
Event locationUSA, New York
Archive
The auction is completed. No bids can be placed anymore.
Archive
ID 1108786
Lot 57 | Kerouac, Jack | Typed letter signed to Will Petersen, discussing Buddhism with a fellow dharma bum
Estimate value
$ 7 000 – 10 000
Kerouac, Jack
Typed letter signed (“Jack” in pencil) to Will Petersen in Tokyo, the model for Ron Sturlason in The Dharma Bums

One page (303 x 183 mm), single-spaced on airmail letterhead, [postmarked Northport, New York, 5 June 1958]; previously folded (as issued). Housed in a black slipcase with folding cloth chemise.

A fine lengthy letter to a fellow "dharma bum," discussing Buddhism, his writing, and more

Petersen was a friend of Gary Snyder’s who was studying Buddhism in Japan: as Kerouac notes, he was the model for “Ron Sturlason" in The Dharma Bums. “Your letter was a surprise but yet not so much considering that I’d already written about you in the dharma bums (new novel) as ‘Ron Sturlason’ describing that one brief meeting in gary’s shack on hillegass that afternoon that point of yr appearance in the book (true all of it) to show gary’s kind of friends … As for mexico city blues I agree with you [about publishing the poems] and in fact sent your letter to James Laughlin of New Directions to give him an idea of the upaya aspect of that book of poems. He may very well take your advice; if not I’ll try Grove Press later [Grove Press published Mexico City Blues in October 1959] … My dharma now consists of just staying at home, in a spacious leafy flowery yard under the moonlight, especially, and cultivating insight and tranquility. However about September I’ll go mad a little and go see Gary out in the west and go climb in the Sierras with him or alone, and run down to Hollywood to watch the set of On the Road (they just bought it for a rather comparatively piddling price) … The years I spent bumming and bhikkuing were always overshadowed with great guilt because my mother was either working in a shoe factory or benign turned into a housemaid by in-laws — she supported me, too, for year, while I wrote the first novel [The Town and the City, see lot 49] — so today at last I have a house for her, clear, and the tax money in the bank for her, and I now am really free to go bhikkuing and climbing etc…”

Kerouac writes about his involvement in Buddhism from about fifteen lines, and continues: “... As for the frantic North Beach or Greenwich village scene I couldn’t be less interested any more, it all ends up in hangovers and things you yakked all night and forget the next day. Whereas that simplest dhyana seems to stick in yr mind forever ... As for marriage, I don’t want any more of that either, I like whores, I’m a tomcat and like to leave a woman after I’ve had her and made her happy I hope. The rest is tears and clinging and net of plans that Gotama warned against in the original TRUE Buddhism of Hinayana ... There are times, when Zen seems to be veritable Buddhist heresy, well I mean among the "intellectuals" of the west, I don't mean Japan or you and gary... I do mean [Alan] Watts, tho, who doesn’t seem Zen at all to me, just western middleclass opportunistic ... thanks for your great letter and for opening my eyes to those blues, I thought they were unwanted so they were rusting in my bedroom suitcase ... When you look at the stars tonight think: When I go we all go. And if you see an eye in the ground, wait till it winks.” He closes with two haiku poems:

“Puddles at dusk
--- One drop
fell.”

“Moonlight
in the bird bath
--- Me too”
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.
?>