Kerouac, Jack

The Town and The City

New York, NY: Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1950. First Edition. Hardcover. Charters, Ann. Jack Kerouac: A Bibliography, New York, NY: The Phoenix Bookshop, 1975. A1(a.), pg. 15. This is the first edition of the first published novel by John Kerouac, before he became known to the world as Jack with the release of On the Road seven years later. Written in a relatively conventional style heavily influenced by Thomas Wolfe, it nevertheless fictionally recounts his adventures with the small group of disaffected, searching young people who formed the nucleus of the Beat Generation. William S. Burroughs, Allen Ginsberg, Herbert Huncke & himself among others are represented with fictional names. The seeds of what would later become notorious, then popular, & finally legendary are to be found amidst this sweeping family epic based on his family & life up to this point, still in his twenties. A superb highlight among our offerings, and an essential component of any serious Kerouac collection. In exceptionally fine condition, increasingly rare, among those we have encountered. Book fine, with only very slight rubbing to lower corners of rich-red cloth covers & spine; very light browning to edges & margins of pages; a few very tiny spottings to rear end paper; some scratching & a very shallow horizontal gauge at dark-colored top edge; & a faint curved vertical mark across lower edge near & parallel with spine that may be a remainder mark (the book did not initially sell very well in its first edition). Dust jacket in near fine condition, much better than usual, with mild rubbing & soiling to front, back covers & spine; moderate creasing & chipping at all edges, esp. upper spine-front cover corner & top right corner of front cover; front flap very clean with mild creasing at top edge, esp. right corner; rear flap soiled & sunned at top & right edge; otherwise very clean. All corners of front & back flaps clipped, (probably) as issued. Charters, Ann. Jack Kerouac: A Bibliography, New York, NY: The Phoenix Bookshop, 1975. A1(a.), pg. 15. Fine / Near Fine. [Item #1821]

Price: $1,000.00