Kerouac, Jack

On the Road. New York: Viking, 1957

8vo. Publisher’s white-lettered black cloth, spine head barely fraying.  Original pictorial black dust-jacket; not often found thus, with a only a very slight trace of rubbing to extremities and with the white letters and red and blue abstract retaining their original colors.  In a morocco and cloth clamshell box.

Charters A2

In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

An important presentation copy of the first edition in which the author reveals himself to be the book’s narrator: "Dear Janie Adams, You will find a striking resemblance between Remi Boncoeur in Chapter Eleven and your good friend Henri Cru – As ‘Sal Paradise’ in this book I should know because I was there. Best Wishes, Jack Kerouac, July 5, 1959."

Together with:
Kerouac, Jack. Typed postcard signed, to Henri Cru, his childhood friend.

The postcard breezes through a few updates in Kerouac's life, with particular attention paid to the process of moving south to Orlando to await the release of On the Road. After a brief mention of recording his spoken word album with Zoot Sims, Kerouac closes by asking the most important question: "You’ve been writing and telling me about this famous Jeanie Adams for over a year now…Well, when are you going to bring her out of wraps?? I hear she’s a knockout.”

Cru was one of Kerouac’s oldest and closest friends. He met Cru in prep school at Horace Mann, and around 1940 Cru introduced Kerouac to his first wife, Frankie Edith Parker. A warm inscription revealing Cru’s identity as one of the characters and definitively confirming Kerouac as beat narrator Sal Paradise.

Only a handful of presentation copies of On the Road have appeared in the marketplace over the years, even fewer of real importance. No others reveal Kerouac's dual role author and autobiographical narrator of this classic postwar novel.