Never-before-seen letters of author Jack Kerouac debut at NY International Antiquarian Book Fair

Record ID: 1988253

  • Title: Never-before-seen letters of author Jack Kerouac debut at NY International Antiquarian Book Fair
  • Date: 4th April 2025
  • Summary: NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (APRIL 3, 2025) (REUTERS) PETER HARRINGTON RARE BOOKS, LITERARY SPECIALIST, SAMMY JAY, LOOKING AT A RECENTLY UNCOVERED ARCHIVE OF LETTERS FROM AUTHOR JACK KEROUAC, AT THE PETER HARRINGTON BOOTH AT THE NEW YORK INTERNATIONAL ANTIQUARIAN BOOK FAIR (NYIABF) CAMERA PANS DOWN LETTER KEROUAC WROTE TO HIS LITERARY AGENT BOB (ROBERT) GIROUX VARIOU
  • Embargoed:
  • Keywords: Jack Kerouac NYC New York International Antiquarian Book Fair archive death rare books
  • Location: VARIOUS
  • City: VARIOUS
  • Country: US
  • Topics: Books,Arts/Culture/Entertainment,North America
  • Reuters ID: LVA001368302042025RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Literary history from across the ages comes alive every spring at the ABAA New York International Antiquarian Book Fair (NYIABF) in New York City.
    This year, never-before-seen letters of American author and poet Jack Kerouac are making their debut.
    “It’s not often that you get the opportunity to, you know, really, really show something that is genuinely a new discovery to the literary world,” said Sammy Jay, a literary specialist with Peter Harrington Rare Books.
    Kerouac, a key figure in the Beat Generation literary movement of the 1950s, is perhaps best known as the author of the classic "On the Road."
    The letters span the period 1941-1955 and were written by Kerouac to his publisher, and lifelong mentor and friend, Robert Giroux. Some are typed; others are handwritten in pencil. There’s even a postcard in which Kerouac references “Gone on the Road.”
    The collection was discovered in Giroux’s archive and is priced at $310,000.
    “The New York Antiquarian Book Fair here at the Armory is, you know, the biggest book fair event in the world. So we decided to debut them here,” Jay said, adding that he expected the collection could appeal to a private collector or an institution.
    Harrington Books is also offering a Xerox copy, likely the first ever reproduction, of Kerouac’s 120-foot-long typescript for “On the Road,” which is priced at $187,500.
    The 65th edition of the Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of America NYIABF runs from April 3-6, offering bibliophiles access to 183 dealers from 14 countries.
    (Production: Justin Nathanson, Christine Kiernan)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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