On writing The Town and the City - photo 1
On writing The Town and the City - photo 2

On writing The Town and the City

Lot 200
07.12.2022 10:00UTC -05:00
Classic
Starting price
$ 6 500
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
Event locationUSA, New York
Archive
The auction is completed. No bids can be placed anymore.
Archive
ID 859719
Lot 200 | On writing The Town and the City
Estimate value
$ 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 Unpublished.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.”
Auction house category:Letters, documents and manuscripts
Address of auction CHRISTIE'S
20 Rockefeller Plaza
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23.11.2022 – 07.12.2022
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