"On my way to San Francisco" - photo 1

"On my way to San Francisco"

Lot 196
07.12.2022 10:00UTC -05:00
Classic
Sold
$ 1 638
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
Event locationUSA, New York
Archive
The auction is completed. No bids can be placed anymore.
Archive
ID 859715
Lot 196 | "On my way to San Francisco"
Estimate value
$ 800 – 1 200
KEROUAC, Jack (1922-1969). Typed postcard, signed in type (“Jack Kerouac”), to Ed White, postmarked 15 July 1947, Jamaica, New York.

"On my way to San Francisco next week to get a ship, will be passing through Denver around 22nd to 24th, and would like to see you then.”

A pleasant opening statement in what would become a decades-long correspondence: the first penny postcard Ed White received from Jack Kerouac. Ed hailed from Denver, and he and Jack met in 1946 in New York as fellow Columbia undergraduates. They shared a sense of restlessness, a need for exploration, and a love of literature, and their letters often circle around the existential question of what kind of men they wanted to become. Their friendship would be influential on both men for different reasons; Kerouac would introduce White to the earliest incarnation of the Beat circle, and White—an architect—would most famously suggest over a fateful meal that his friend try a more artistic, fluid way of writing. Kerouac would later write in his letter of 1 March 1965, "To think that all that crazy stuff I've written since 1951 in a way started when you casually suggested, in a Chinese restaurant on Amsterdam and 124th, remember? to try 'sketching,' which I did, and it led to discovery of modern spontaneous prose."

The present postcard reached White in Denver in the summer of 1947 and announced the beginning of Kerouac's first cross-country excursion that would be chronicled in the opening chapters of On the Road, published exactly ten years later. He introduces a few important Beat characters, mentioning that Hal Chase is “hiding out in the mountains” and that Neal Cassady might be in Denver, and reveals his plan to join up with his friend Henri Cru in San Francisco.
Auction house category:Letters, documents and manuscripts
Address of auction CHRISTIE'S
20 Rockefeller Plaza
10020 New York
USA
Preview
23.11.2022 – 07.12.2022
Phone +1 212 636 2000
Fax +1 212 636 4930
Email
4FQ.AYGKAGLUQ@FO3G@
Conditions of purchaseConditions of purchase
Shipping Postal service
Courier service
pickup by yourself
Payment methods Wire Transfer
Business hoursBusiness hours
Mo 09:30 – 17:00   
Tu 09:30 – 17:00   
We 09:30 – 17:00   
Th 09:30 – 17:00   
Fr 09:30 – 17:00   
Sa closed
Su closed

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.