Jack Kerouac's 37 metre-long, first draft scroll of On the Road to be auctioned
7 days ago
- #Literary Artifacts
- #Jack Kerouac
- #Beat Generation
- Jack Kerouac’s original typescript scroll for 'On the Road' will be auctioned at Christie’s in March with an estimate of £1.8m to £2.9m.
- The scroll is part of the Jim Irsay Collection, a vast private collection of memorabilia.
- The auction will also feature Kerouac’s 'The Dharma Bums' scroll, estimated at £218,000 to £364,000.
- Kerouac wrote 'On the Road' in three weeks in 1951 on a continuous roll of tracing paper.
- The novel, published in 1957, became a defining work of the Beat Generation.
- The scroll is considered one of the most iconic artifacts of the Beat Generation.
- Carolyn Cassady, widow of Neal Cassady, criticized the 2001 auction, calling it 'blasphemy'.
- Jim Irsay, former owner of the Indianapolis Colts, built the collection over many years.
- Nearly 400 items from the Irsay Collection will be exhibited publicly before the auction.
- Other auction highlights include Paul McCartney’s 'Hey Jude' lyrics and Jim Morrison’s journal.