Lonesome Traveler.

KEROUAC, Jack.

$8,800.00

Item Number: 117094

New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1960.

First edition of Kerouac’s deeply personal collection of autobiographical vignettes. Octavo, original half-cloth, illustrated with drawings by Larry Rivers. Laid in is an autograph letter signed by Kerouac which reads, “Dec. 3 1962 Dear Louis, Voila, contracts signed – Glad to hear too of Deutsch London reprint contract which means I can pay for my Sins – Jack Kerouac Tell Sterling I see him Dec. 29 or 28 & You too J.” Here, Kerouac refers to his novel Big Sur, first published in September of 1962 by Farrar, Straus and Cudahy, and subsequently by Deutsch in London. He also refers to Kerouac’s literary agent, Sterling Lord, who was responsible for the publication of Kerouac’s masterpiece On the Road (which took him four years to sell) and represented several other major names in American writing including Ken Kesey, Howard Fast, and Lawrence Ferlinghetti. Near fine in a near fine dust jacket. Jacket design by Larry Rivers. The letter is in fine condition and measures 8 inches by 5 inches. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box. Rare.

In his first frankly autobiographical work, Lonesome Traveler, Kerouac tells the exhilarating story of the years when he was writing the books that captivated and infuriated the public, restless years of wandering during which he worked as a railway brakeman in California, a steward on a tramp steamer, and a fire lookout on the crest of Desolation Peak in the Cascade Mountains.