On writing, with mention of On the Road - photo 1

On writing, with mention of On the Road

Lot 202
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 859721
Lot 202 | On writing, with mention of On the Road
Estimate value
$ 8 000 – 12 000
KEROUAC, Jack (1922-1969). Typed letter signed (“Jack”) to Ed White, 15 January 1949. Unpublished.

Quarto. Two leaves; rectos only; browned and brittle; a few small tears to margin, not affecting text. With envelope addressed in type, postmarked Jamaica, New York.

"And the other book is the On the Road idea... I’ll get a new title for it like The Hipsters or The Gone Ones or The Furtives, or perhaps even The Illegals. A study of the new Neal-like generation of honkytonk nights.”

The Paris trip is still a priority Kerouac's letters to White – their “beautiful correspondence,” as he termed it. Jack explains how family circumstances will keep him away at first, but he remains somewhat hopeful about joining everyone later: “I’d love to go to Paris, and work that farm, and go to China, and screw every woman in the world, and write books, and do everything I want to do at the same time – but of course I can’t. I had to make my choice. But there’s no reason why I might not be able to make it next summer, and depending on how long you’ll stay in Paris – etc. – we might make it there after all.” Jack predicts a good time during White's impending visit to the East Coast: “Things are really jumping in New York now. You’ll be just in time.”

Jack reports that The Town and the City has been rejected by Little, Brown, and is on submission to Harcourt Brace. He writes that Dr. Sax; the Myth of the Rainy Night is “next on the agenda.” And regarding On the Road: “When you get to Paris ask Allan Temko to show you the long literary letter I wrote him about it... A study of the Hunkies and the Neals and the Louannes. I’ve got 35,000-words of that.”

In an introspective closing paragraph he reflects,

I can either be like Neal and be savage [...]; or I can curb that for sweeter things, sweeter intentions, sweeter thoughts, greater life. Words don’t work. It’s not that one has to be philosophical [...]; but beyond that, simply that one can take his choice and enjoy the freedom of the will. I feel great peace. I’ll miss the gutters of Paris, the sidewalks where Stendhal, Dostoevsky, Rimbaud, and Wolfe walked; [...] I’ll miss all...and always do...but beyond mere happiness there is mere, dear joy, gladness, being here or there or everywhere and jumping in the air.
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.