On the Road by Kerouac, Jack - 1957

New York: The Viking Press, 1957. First edition. 1 vols. 8vo. Publisher's black cloth lettered in white, top corners bumped; price-clipped first issue dust jacket, minor rubbing to flap folds and corners and spine panel tips, light shelfwear to rear panel; internally clean. First edition. 1 vols. 8vo. The Beat Classic. Handsome copy of the novel that represents the Beat Generation in all its glory. William Burroughs, Alan Ginsberg and Kerouac himself are all represented here. The hero of the book, Dean Moriarty is based on Neal Cassady.

The composition of the work is almost as famous as the book. Kerouac typed the entire first draft over three weeks on a single roll of paper. He then spent the next six years revising it for publication. In 2001, the original typescript was sold at auction for $2.43 million.