On the Auction Block: Jack Kerouac’s Record-Breaking Manuscripts

Jack Kerouac’s On the Road scroll sold at auction at Christie’s in New York for $12,135,000. The artifact is now the most expensive literary manuscript to sell at auction regardless of period or origin. Twenty-five years ago, the same scroll sold for a record price of $2.43 million. In 2020, a Shakespeare first folio sold for $10 million. Musicians have been drawn to Kerouac’s work, from the Beatles and David Bowie to Patti Smith, Tom Waits, Lana Del Rey, and Zach Bryan, who purchased the On the Road scroll. Last year, Zach Bryan purchased the St-Jean Baptiste Church in Lowell, MA, where Kerouac was baptized and where his funeral was held.

• the artifact is now the most expensive literary manuscript to sell at auction regardless of period or origin
• Musicians, especially, have been drawn to Kerouac’s work, from the Beatles and David Bowie to Patti Smith, Tom Waits, Lana Del Rey, and Zach Bryan, who purchased the On the Road scroll last week.
• Last year, a major documentary focused on the ongoing impact of On the Road was released: Kerouac’s Road: The Beat of a Nation

Source: Literary Hub  | 
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