Description:
UsedVeryGood.
Stock Photo: Cover May Be Different
About this book
Perhaps
the most famous and influential of the Beat novels, Jack Kerouac's On
the Road represents much of what
made the Beat and Counterculture movements so unique and important.
The plot concerning the road trips and adventures experienced by
Kerouac and his friends is well-known, as are the rumors and tall
tales of the books' production.
Kerouac often claimed that the wrote On the Road in a mere three weeks on a single 120-foot scroll of paper. Although that scroll does indeed exist and is featured in museums, Kerouac kept detailed journals of his travels that would later become passages and chapters in the finished product. The book was first published by Viking in 1957.
Viking Press would go on to publish an edited version of On the Road in 2007 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the first printing. They substituted the fictional names for the real Beat protagonists, and they even included some of the more sexually explicit passages that were edited out of the 1957 edition.
Due to the cultural significance of the book, true first editions/first printings of On the Road are quite valuable. But be warned: it is easy to mistake reprints or book club editions for the real thing, so always check with an expert before making a significant purchase.
Kerouac often claimed that the wrote On the Road in a mere three weeks on a single 120-foot scroll of paper. Although that scroll does indeed exist and is featured in museums, Kerouac kept detailed journals of his travels that would later become passages and chapters in the finished product. The book was first published by Viking in 1957.
Viking Press would go on to publish an edited version of On the Road in 2007 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the first printing. They substituted the fictional names for the real Beat protagonists, and they even included some of the more sexually explicit passages that were edited out of the 1957 edition.
Due to the cultural significance of the book, true first editions/first printings of On the Road are quite valuable. But be warned: it is easy to mistake reprints or book club editions for the real thing, so always check with an expert before making a significant purchase.
Summary
Though Jack Kerouac began thinking about the novel that was to become On the Road as early as 1947, it was not until three weeks in April 1951, in an apartment on West Twentieth Street in Manhattan, that he wrote the first full draft that was satisfactory to him.
Typed out as one long, single-spaced paragraph on eight long sheets of tracing paper that he later taped together to form a 120 foot scroll, this document is among the most significant, celebrated, and provocative artifacts in contemporary American literary history. It represents the first full expression of Kerouac's revolutionary aesthetic, the identifiable point at which his thematic vision and narrative voice came together in a sustained burst of creative energy. It was also part of a wider vital experimentation in the American literary, musical, and visual arts in the post-World War II period.
It was not until more than six years later, and several new drafts, that Viking published, in 1957, the novel known to us today. On the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of On the Road, Viking will publish the 1951 scroll in a standard book format. The differences between the two versions are principally ones of significant detail and altered emphasis. The scroll is slightly longer and has a heightened linguistic virtuosity and a more sexually frenetic tone. It also uses the real names of Kerouac's friends instead of the fictional names he later invented for them.
The transcription of the scroll was done by Howard Cunnell who, along with Joshua Kupetz, George Mouratidis, and Penny Vlagopoulos, provides a critical introduction that explains the fascinating compositional and publication history of On the Road and anchors the text in its historical, political, and social context.
First Edition Identification
On The Road was first published by Viking in 1957. True first printings of the book include the $3.95 pricing information on the top right hand corner of the front inside dust jacket flap. Later printings and subsequent book club editions do not feature the price in that location. Additionally, a photo of Kerouac is featured on the back inside cover flap along with a brief description of the author.
Details
- Title On the Road
- Author Kerouac, Jack
- Binding Hardcover
- Edition First Thus
- Publisher Penguin USA, East Rutherford, New Jersey, U.S.A.
- Date October 2002
- ISBN 9780142002742
More Copies for Sale
Stock Photo: Cover May Be Different
On the Road (Classics of Modern Literature)
by Jack Kerouac
- Used
- Condition
- UsedVeryGood
- ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
- 9780142002742 / 0142002747
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
-
Skokie, Illinois, United States
- Item Price
-
£3.16£3.23 shipping to USA
Show Details
Item Price
£3.16
£3.23
shipping to USA
Stock Photo: Cover May Be Different
On the Road (Classics of Modern Literature)
by Jack Kerouac
- Used
- Hardcover
- Condition
- Used: Good
- Binding
- Hardcover
- ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
- 9780142002742 / 0142002747
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
-
HOUSTON, Texas, United States
- Item Price
-
£5.99FREE shipping to USA
Show Details
Description:
Penguin Books, 2002-10. Hardcover. Used: Good.
Item Price
£5.99
FREE shipping to USA
Stock Photo: Cover May Be Different
On the Road (Classics of Modern Literature)
by Jack Kerouac
- Used
- very good
- Hardcover
- Condition
- Used - Very Good
- Edition
- Special Edition
- Binding
- Hardcover
- ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
- 9780142002742 / 0142002747
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
-
Decatur, Georgia, United States
- Item Price
-
£6.48£4.65 shipping to USA
Show Details
Description:
Penguin Books, 2002 Unmarked . VG. Special Edition. Hardcover. Very Good.
Item Price
£6.48
£4.65
shipping to USA
Stock Photo: Cover May Be Different
On the Road (Classics of Modern Literature)
by Jack Kerouac
- Used
- very good
- Hardcover
- Condition
- Used - Very Good
- Edition
- Special Edition
- Binding
- Hardcover
- ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
- 9780142002742 / 0142002747
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
-
Decatur, Georgia, United States
- Item Price
-
£6.48£4.65 shipping to USA
Show Details
Description:
Penguin Books, 2002 Unmarked . VG. Special Edition. Hardcover. Very Good.
Item Price
£6.48
£4.65
shipping to USA
Stock Photo: Cover May Be Different
On the Road (Classics of Modern Literature)
by Jack Kerouac
- Used
- Hardcover
- Condition
- Used - 8.5 Bulk HB Premium
- Binding
- Hardcover
- ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
- 9780142002742 / 0142002747
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
-
Peoria, Illinois, United States
- Item Price
-
£15.73£3.23 shipping to USA
Show Details
Description:
Penguin Books. Hardcover . 8.5 Bulk HB Premium.
Item Price
£15.73
£3.23
shipping to USA
Stock Photo: Cover May Be Different
On the Road
by Jack Kerouac
- Used
- Hardcover
- Condition
- Used - Very Good +
- Binding
- Hardcover
- ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
- 9780142002742 / 0142002747
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
-
Diamond Springs, California, United States
- Item Price
-
£16.19£3.20 shipping to USA
Show Details
Description:
Penguin Classic of Modern Literature, 2011. VG+/NF. Very good plus hardcover in near fine dust jacket. Special Markets hardcover edition, June 2011, with full number line. A nice, clean, well bound copy. Only flaw is a small gift inscription on the half-title page. The dust jacket is in excellent condtion and is in a protective Mylar sleeve. Carefully wrapped and packaged in a padded box for safe shipping. . Hard Cover. Very Good +/Near Fine.
Item Price
£16.19
£3.20
shipping to USA
Stock Photo: Cover May Be Different
On the Road (Classics of Modern Literature)
by Jack Kerouac
- New
- Hardcover
- Condition
- New
- Binding
- Hardcover
- ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
- 9780142002742 / 0142002747
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
-
Ventura, California, United States
- Item Price
-
£16.38£3.44 shipping to USA
Show Details
Description:
Penguin Books, 2002T. hardcover. New. 1.0000 in x 9.2000 in x 6.2000 in.
Item Price
£16.38
£3.44
shipping to USA
Stock Photo: Cover May Be Different
On the Road (Classics of Modern Literature)
by Jack Kerouac
- Used
- Hardcover
- Condition
- Used:Good
- Binding
- Hardcover
- ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
- 9780142002742 / 0142002747
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
-
HOUSTON, Texas, United States
- Item Price
-
£21.29FREE shipping to USA
Show Details
Description:
Penguin Books, 2002-10-01. Hardcover. Used:Good.
Item Price
£21.29
FREE shipping to USA
On the Road
by Jack Kerouac
- Used
- Condition
- Used
- ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
- 9780142002742 / 0142002747
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
-
Alameda, California, United States
- Item Price
-
£25.50£4.05 shipping to USA
Show Details
Description:
Classics of Modern Literature, 2011. Very Good book in a Very Good dust jacket.
Item Price
£25.50
£4.05
shipping to USA
Stock Photo: Cover May Be Different
On the Road
by Kerouac, Jack
- New
- Hardcover
- Condition
- New
- Binding
- Hardcover
- ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
- 9780142002742 / 0142002747
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
-
Exeter, Devon, United Kingdom
- Item Price
-
£37.93£10.00 shipping to USA
Show Details
Description:
Penguin USA, 2002. Hardcover. New. 9.20x6.20x1.00 inches.
Item Price
£37.93
£10.00
shipping to USA