Available Copies from Independent Booksellers
Kerouac, Jack. The Town and the City. Harcourt Brace, 1950.
Price: US$50.00 + shipping
Condition: Good
Description: Heavy rubbing, light toning, fraying, bumps, a few small stains, tape ghosts on the front endpapers. Photo on request. ; 8vo 8" - 9" tall
Seller: Boards & Wraps, Baltimore, MD, U.S.A.
Kerouac, John [Jack].. THE TOWN AND THE CITY.. Harcourt, Brace & Co: NY, 1950.
Price: US$115.00 + shipping
Description: 8.5 x 5.5, gilt lettered red cloth, 499 pp, covers well rubbed, extremities lightly bumped and fraying, spine sunned, old ringstain on front cover, spine slightly cocked, hinges loose, couple of small stains on front end papers along with an old address label from the former owner, pp toned. FIRST ED OF AUTHOR'S FIRST BOOK.
Seller: John K King Used & Rare Books, Detroit, MI, U.S.A.
[Jack Kerouac] John Kerouac. The town and the city.. New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1950.
Price: US$140.37 + shipping
Condition: Fine
Description: 8vo. First edition, first printing. Publisher s red cloth, gilt initials to upper corner of upper board and gilt title to spine. Blue/green top edge. Front edge uncut. | A fine copy of Jack Kerouac s first major work, published under the name John Kerouack.
Seller: Antikvariat Bryggen [ILAB, NABF], Skjeberg, Norway
Price: US$175.00 + shipping
Condition: Fair
Description: John Kerouac. The Town and the City. New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1950, Stated First Edition, red cloth binding, 499 pp, 8.25 x 5.5". In fair condition. Red cloth boards are scuffed at edges & worn/bumped at corners. Head and tail of spine collapsed. Gilt lettering and ruling moderately dulled, but still legible. General soiling to boards. Front and rear gutters split - binding mesh exposed. Paste-down's exhibit remnants of either a sticker, bookplate, or tape of some kind. Previous ownership signature found on front end-page: David D. Seanden. Front end-page also exhibits a tear at tail of gutter - fragile. Light toning throughout text-block, some instances of age-staining or finger-soiling. Binding is fragile. Please see photos. Jack Kerouac (1922-1969) was an American novelist and poet, who, alongside William S. Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg, was a pioneer of the Beat Generation. This is his first published novel, "The Town and the City," and it is highly autobiographical. Inspired by his idol, Thomas Wolfe, Kerouac explores the emotional territory of his boyhood through the five sons and three daughters of the Martin family. Growing up in a dying Massachusetts mill town, the young Martins must come to terms with their bankruptcy and WWII. Kerouac's own portrait is apparent in three of the sons: Joe, the wild risk taker; Francis, the intellectual and cynic; and Peter, the football player and independent thinker. A reading copy of Jack Kerouac's first novel; he still goes by "John Kerouac" at this point in his life.
Seller: ROBIN RARE BOOKS at the Midtown Scholar, Harrisburg, PA, U.S.A.
Kerouac, John. The Town and the City. Harcourt Brace & Company, 1950.
Price: US$196.00 + shipping
Description: New York. 1950. Harcourt Brace & Company. 1st American Edition. Previous Owner's Inscription, Otherwise Very Good.No Dustjacket. 499 pages. hardcover. keywords: Literature America . FROM THE PUBLISHER - Although Jack Kerouac is best known for the experimental, jazz-like prose and the rebel heroes of ON THE ROAD, his classic coming-of-age novel, THE TOWN AND THE CITY, is no less compelling. It is a highly autobiographical work, large in scope and charged with energy, clearly conveying Kerouac's view of himself as a visionary artist and a member of a new generation. Inspired by his idol, Thomas Wolfe, Kerouac explores the emotional territory of his boyhood through the five sons and three daughters of the Martin family. Growing up in a dying Massachusetts m8ill town, the young Martins must come to terms with their father's bankruptcy and World War II as they search for their own identities in the post-war years. Kerouac's own portrait is apparent in three of the sons: Joe, the wild risk taker; Francis, the intellectual and cynic; and Peter, the football player and independent thinker. In the end, it is Peter who drops out of college and begins a trip across America, a harbinger of ON THE ROAD. inventory #5024 Previous Owner's Inscription, Otherwise Very Good.No Dustjacket.
Seller: zenosbooks, San Francisco, CA, U.S.A.
KEROUAC, Jack. The Town and the City. Harcourt Brace, New York, 1950.
Price: US$250.00 + shipping
Condition: Fine
Description: 8vo, original red cloth. New York: Harcourt Brace, (1950). First Edition. Fine. Light ownership stamp on fly-leaf. Kerouac's first book, with his name printed as "John" on the cover and title page.
Seller: Argosy Book Store, ABAA, ILAB, New York, NY, U.S.A.
Kerouac, Jack (John). The Town and the City. Harcourt, Brace & Company, New York, 1950.
Price: US$265.29 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: FIRST EDITION stated on copyright page. First edition of Jack Kerouac's first book, published under John Kerouac (not Jack). The author is listed as John Kerouac (on title page, copyright page, & spine). Printed in the USA. Bound in publisher's original red cloth with "JK" in gilt within gilt square to front board, gilt lettering to spine (title within gilt border), top edge of book block stained grey, as issued. NO DUSTJACKET. Faint bare trace of marginal spotting to preliminary pages, very slight handling wear, former owner's neat pencil notation to rear endpaper, otherwise a very nice clean tight solid hardcover copy. Overall VERY GOOD to NEAR FINE. 499pp.
Seller: Bookwood, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
Kerouac, John (Jack Kerouac). The Town and the City. Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1950.
Price: US$350.00 + shipping
Condition: Good
Description: Hardcover 1950 stated first edition, Library binding, stamps on bottom edge and endpapers and spine First novel by Jack Kerouac, author of On the Road (second novel)
Seller: The Book House, Inc. - St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, U.S.A.
Kerouac, John. Town and the City. Harcourt, Brace & Co, New York, 1950.
Price: US$350.00 + shipping
Description: 8vo. 499 pp. Cloth in dustwrapper (chipped), npc, very good. (33529).
Seller: Bauer Rare Books, San Diego, CA, U.S.A.
Kerouac, John (Jack). THE TOWN AND THE CITY. Harcourt, Brace, New York, 1950.
Price: US$500.00 + shipping
Condition: Near Fine
Description: Book Condition: Near Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: Good. 1st Edition. 499 pages. First edition, first printing. Stated First Edition on the copyright page. Binding and hinges are tight. Red cloth with gold stamping on spine. Endpapers are clean and bright, although front endpaper has bookstore stamp ("Cole's"). Tiny bump to top right corner. Original 1st issue DJ with $3.50 price intact on flap. DJ has considerable chipping at extremities at top/bottom of spine with some pieces missing. A nice copy with a good only DJ. Photos upon request.
Seller: Bibliolio Books, Tucson, AZ, U.S.A.
Beats - Kerouac, John (Jack). The Town and the City. Harcourt Brace, New York, 1950.
Price: US$500.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: First edition of the beat writer's first book written under the name John Kerouac. 499 pp. Stated first edition. Small prior owner name else a clean very good copy. Gilt spine lettering bright and readable. The price-intact dustwrapper ($3.50) shows several chips and edge tears. In good condition overall.
Seller: Derringer Books, Member ABAA, Avon, CT, U.S.A.
Kerouac, John (Jack). The Town and the City. Harcourt Brace & Co., New York, 1950.
Price: US$540.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: First edition stated on copyright page. Author's first book. Light wear to spine ends. Textblock tight and square. NO markings. Light water spotting to blue topstain. Jacket has large chip at base of spine approx 1" X 1". It does not affect any lettering or design. Price intact jacket ($3.50) has edgewear to both top and bottom of front panel but not significant. IN mylar. Size: 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall
Seller: Timothy Norlen Bookseller, Santa Barbara, CA, U.S.A.
Jack Kerouac. The Town and the City. Harcourt Brace, 1950.
Price: US$600.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: First Edition. Stated first. Dust jacket is in mylar sleeve and shows minor wear, tear, chipping, and creasing. Cover is clean, pages are lightly tanned. A near fine copy in a good dust jacket.
Seller: Books From California, Simi Valley, CA, U.S.A.
Kerouac, John (Jack). The Town and the City. Harcourt Brace, 1950, 1950.
Price: US$650.00 + shipping
Description: 1st edition of his first book Near fine/very good (the book is clean and tight; the dj has edgewear and minor chipping and creasing, but is not price-clipped)
Seller: Reed's Rare Books, Palm Springs, CA, U.S.A.
Kerouac, John (Jack). The Town and the City. Harcourt Brace & Co., New York, 1950.
Price: US$750.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: 499pp. Burgundy red boards with embossed "JK" in a square on the front panel. Prev.owner signature in black ink on the front free endpaper. Stated First Edition on the copyright page. There is light roughness to top spine edge, light creasing to the bottom edge, othewise a clean, unmarked copy. The unclipped pictorial jacket has two triangular chips on the upper spine, and chip across the bottom edge of the jacket. Unmarked photo of "John" Kerouac on the rear panel. in mylar sleeve. "Kerouac's debut novel is a great coming of age story which can be read as the essential prelude to his later classics. Kerouac draws on his New England mill-town boyhood to create the world of George and Marguerite Martin and their eight children, each endowed with an energy and a vision of life." Size: Octavo
Seller: The Chatham Bookseller, Madison, NJ, U.S.A.
Kerouac, John (Jack). The Town and the City. Harcourt, Brace and Company [1950], New York, 1950.
Price: US$825.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: 8vo. [8], 3-499, [5] pp. Red cloth with Kerouac's initials in gold on the front board, and gold lettering on the spine; grey topstain. Price of $3.50 on front flap of jacket. Ahearn APG 001b. A presentable copy of Kerouac's first book. Very Good book with a few traces of wear to the bottom edges of the boards in a Very Good moderately edge-worn dust jacket with a few small areas of faint rubbing to the rear panel.
Seller: Evening Star Books, ABAA/ILAB, Madison, WI, U.S.A.
Kerouac, John [Jack]. The Town and the City. Harcourt, Brace and Company, New York, 1950.
Price: US$850.00 + shipping
Condition: Fine
Description: A Fine, bright copy of the book with dark blue top-stain. In a Very Good+ dust jacket with some chips at tears at the spine and a faint dampstain, mostly visible from the verso. Slight chip on the rear panel close to the portrait of Kerouc. This work was heavily influenced by the writing of Tom Wolfe and intensely edited. The following year Kerouac would write his second novel, On the Road, marking a dramatic shift in writing style to the quintessential voice of Beat literature. An interesting first novel from one of the most important and influential writers to come out of the mid-twentieth century. "In this big, rambling first novel, Kerouac tells of a Massachusetts family that is gradually dissolved by the recent war, the forces of modern life and the passage of time. a rough diamond of a book" (Contemporary New York Times Review). Fine in Very Good + dust jacket.
Seller: Whitmore Rare Books, Inc. -- ABAA, ILAB, Pasadena, CA, U.S.A.
KEROUAC, John (Jack). THE TOWN AND THE CITY. NY: Harcourt Brace, (1950), 1950.
Price: US$850.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: Only Very Good First Edition in like (price-clipped) dust jacket of the famed author's first book, published under John (rather than Jack) Kerouac. Priced accordingly.
Seller: Mystery Pier Books, Inc.,ABAA, ILAB, ABA, West Hollywood, CA, U.S.A.
Kerouac, Jack. The Town and the City.. Harcourt, Brace and Company, New York, 1950.
Price: US$975.00 + shipping
Description: First edition of Kerouac's first book. Octavo, original red cloth. Near fine in an excellent price-clipped dust jacket with rubbing and a chip to the extremities. Jacket design by Leo Manso. Jack Kerouac began writing The Town and the City in late 1945, according to Ellis Amburn, who edited Kerouac's last two novels and wrote the biography Subterranean Kerouac. Heavily influenced by Thomas Wolfe, he sent the completed manuscript to Wolfe's publisher, Charles Scribner's Sons, in 1948. Allen Ginsberg lobbied his former teacher at Columbia University (Kerouac had also attended Columbia), Mark Van Doren for help, and Van Doren set up an interview with Alfred Kazin, who worked as a scout for Harcourt Brace. Kerouac was unable to make the interview with Kazin but Ginsberg introduced Kerouac to New Yorker editor Ed Stringham, who arranged a meeting between Kerouac and the editor-in-chief of Viking Press. Kazin eventually decided to read the manuscript and if he liked it, he would pass it to the top publishers in New York. His contacts also included Houghton Mifflin, Alfred A. Knopf, Little Brown and Company, and Random House. Kazin recommended the book. In December 1948, Scribner's again rejected the manuscript, despite changes that Kerouac had made to the text. Little Brown also rejected the book that same month, declining publication due to its excessive length, which meant the book would be prohibitively expensive for a first novel. (Most of the costs of publishing a first novel are the costs of paper and binding, and a long book makes it harder for the publisher to recoup its costs.) After reading sample chapters of The Town and the City (along with Kerouac's work-in-progress Dr. Sax), Mark Van Doren recommended the novel to Robert Giroux at Harcourt Brace in March 1949. Giroux, like Van Doren and Kerouac, was associated with Columbia. Giroux was impressed with the 1,100-page-long manuscript, which he thought comparable to Wolfe's Look Homeward, Angel in terms of its lyricism and poetry, and offered Kerouac a $1,000 advance against royalties. Publication eventually was pushed back to March 2, 1950. It received good notices from Charles Poore, reviewing the book for the daily New York Times, and John Brooks, reviewing it for the Sunday Times Book Review.
Seller: Raptis Rare Books, Palm Beach, FL, U.S.A.
Kerouac, Jack. THE TOWN AND THE CITY. Harcourt, Brace, 1950.
Price: US$993.10 + shipping
Description: THE TOWN AND THE CITY, Harcourt, Brace, 1950, first edition, a fine copy in a bright vg dust-wrapper with some light wear and tear. The authors most desirable first book.
Seller: THE FINE BOOKS COMPANY / A.B.A.A / 1979, ROCHESTER, MI, U.S.A.
Kerouac, John [Jack]. The Town and the City. Harcourt, Brace & Company, New York, 1950.
Price: US$995.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: In pictoiral blue, red and green jacket over red cloth with gilt spine and upper cover titling, 8vo, 499pp. A nice copy with price of $3.50 intact on jacket flap & Author's portrait on jacket rear panel. A stated First Edition of John [Jack] Kerouac's first book published in 1950. A landmark publication by perhaps the most famous author of the Beat Generation chronicling, perhaps semi-biographically, a Milltown family from Massachussetts who leave for the city during the Great War and return home after to digest the difficulties now apparent between generations. (jacket bright with minor light edgewear, small nick at lower spine tip and a short tear (1in.) to the rear panel at the upper edge). Size: 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾"
Seller: Vashon Island Books, Vashon, WA, U.S.A.
Kerouac, Jack. The Town & the City. Harcourt, Brace and Company, New York, 1950.
Price: US$1000.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: Advance review copy. 499pp. Publisher's salmon wraps. Very Good+ with slight finger-soiling, rubbing to spine, slight wear at head, corners slightly bumped. An uncommon prepublication copy of Kerouac's first published novel.
Seller: Burnside Rare Books, ABAA, Portland, OR, U.S.A.
Kerouac, Jack. The Town and the City.. Harcourt, Brace and Company, New York, 1950.
Price: US$1100.00 + shipping
Description: First edition of Kerouac's first book. Octavo, original red cloth. Near fine in a very good dust jacket. Jacket design by Leo Manso. Jack Kerouac began writing The Town and the City in late 1945, according to Ellis Amburn, who edited Kerouac's last two novels and wrote the biography Subterranean Kerouac. Heavily influenced by Thomas Wolfe, he sent the completed manuscript to Wolfe's publisher, Charles Scribner's Sons, in 1948. Allen Ginsberg lobbied his former teacher at Columbia University (Kerouac had also attended Columbia), Mark Van Doren for help, and Van Doren set up an interview with Alfred Kazin, who worked as a scout for Harcourt Brace. Kerouac was unable to make the interview with Kazin but Ginsberg introduced Kerouac to New Yorker editor Ed Stringham, who arranged a meeting between Kerouac and the editor-in-chief of Viking Press. Kazin eventually decided to read the manuscript and if he liked it, he would pass it to the top publishers in New York. His contacts also included Houghton Mifflin, Alfred A. Knopf, Little Brown and Company, and Random House. Kazin recommended the book. In December 1948, Scribner's again rejected the manuscript, despite changes that Kerouac had made to the text. Little Brown also rejected the book that same month, declining publication due to its excessive length, which meant the book would be prohibitively expensive for a first novel. (Most of the costs of publishing a first novel are the costs of paper and binding, and a long book makes it harder for the publisher to recoup its costs.) After reading sample chapters of The Town and the City (along with Kerouac's work-in-progress Dr. Sax), Mark Van Doren recommended the novel to Robert Giroux at Harcourt Brace in March 1949. Giroux, like Van Doren and Kerouac, was associated with Columbia. Giroux was impressed with the 1,100-page-long manuscript, which he thought comparable to Wolfe's Look Homeward, Angel in terms of its lyricism and poetry, and offered Kerouac a $1,000 advance against royalties. Publication eventually was pushed back to March 2, 1950. It received good notices from Charles Poore, reviewing the book for the daily New York Times, and John Brooks, reviewing it for the Sunday Times Book Review.
Seller: Raptis Rare Books, Palm Beach, FL, U.S.A.
KEROUAC, John [Jack]. The Town & The City. Harcourt, Brace and Company, New York, 1950.
Price: US$1100.00 + shipping
Description: First Edition; Advance Review Copy. Bound in publisher's salmon wrappers with title printed on front wrapper. Front wrapper has a bit of what appears to be tape residue towards the bottom corner with some accompanying scuffing. Large smoothed out crease to front wrapper. Small stain and mild soiling to rear wrapper, with two small smoothed out creases. Minor wear to spine ends. Spine crinkled, as typical for this volume. A bit of soiling to text block edges. A solid copy securely housed and beautifully presented in a custom clamshell box with marbled paper on the inside and leather title label on the spine. Better than Very Good. An uncommon review copy of Kerouac's first novel, and the only one where his name appears as John. It is largely if not strictly autobiographical, set in a fictionalized version of Lowell, MA, his hometown. The novel is unique in that it is Kerouac's first and one written before he solidified his distinctive, spontaneous voice for which he became known. However, it certainly does not fall short in lyricism and passion. In her bibliography, Anne Charters transcribes a few lines of conversation with Kerouac, "The Town and the City was written according to what they told me at Columbia University. Fiction. But I told you, the novel's dead. Then I broke loose from all that and wrote picaresque narratives. That's what my books are" (Charters p. 4). Additionally, Charters excerpts a letter Kerouac wrote to a friend about this novel, which captures something about Kerouac's relationship to his hometown and his growing up. Kerouac writes, ".Lowell, like Winesburg, Ohio or Asheville, North Carolina or Fresno, California or Hawthorne's Salem, is always the place where the darkness of the trees by the river, on a starry night, gives hint of that inscrutable future Americans are always longing and longing for. And when they find that future, not till then, they begin looking back, with sorrows, and an understanding of how man haunts the earth, pacing, prowling, circling in the shades, and the intelligence of the compass, pointing to nothing in sight save starry passion" (Charters pp. 3-4).
Seller: Walnut Street Paper, LLC, Kutztown, PA, U.S.A.
Kerouac, Jack. The Town and the City.. Harcourt, Brace and Company, New York, 1950.
Price: US$1250.00 + shipping
Description: First edition of Kerouac'sÂfirst book. Octavo, original red cloth. Near fine in a very good dust jacket with some rubbing and wear to the extremities. Jacket design by Leo Manso. Jack Kerouac began writing The Town and the City in late 1945, according to Ellis Amburn, who edited Kerouac's last two novels and wrote the biography Subterranean Kerouac. Heavily influenced by Thomas Wolfe, he sent the completed manuscript to Wolfe's publisher, Charles Scribner's Sons, in 1948. Allen Ginsberg lobbied his former teacher at Columbia University (Kerouac had also attended Columbia), Mark Van Doren for help, and Van Doren set up an interview with Alfred Kazin, who worked as a scout for Harcourt Brace. Kerouac was unable to make the interview with Kazin but Ginsberg introduced Kerouac to New Yorker editor Ed Stringham, who arranged a meeting between Kerouac and the editor-in-chief of Viking Press. Kazin eventually decided to read the manuscript and if he liked it, he would pass it to the top publishers in New York. His contacts also included Houghton Mifflin, Alfred A. Knopf, Little Brown and Company, and Random House. Kazin recommended the book. In December 1948, Scribner's again rejected the manuscript, despite changes that Kerouac had made to the text. Little Brown also rejected the book that same month, declining publication due to its excessive length, which meant the book would be prohibitively expensive for a first novel. (Most of the costs of publishing a first novel are the costs of paper and binding, and a long book makes it harder for the publisher to recoup its costs.) After reading sample chapters of The Town and the City (along with Kerouac's work-in-progress Dr. Sax), Mark Van Doren recommended the novel to Robert Giroux at Harcourt Brace in March 1949. Giroux, like Van Doren and Kerouac, was associated with Columbia. Giroux was impressed with the 1,100-page-long manuscript, which he thought comparable to Wolfe's Look Homeward, Angel in terms of its lyricism and poetry, and offered Kerouac a $1,000 advance against royalties. Publication eventually was pushed back to March 2, 1950. It received good notices from Charles Poore, reviewing the book for the daily New York Times, and John Brooks, reviewing it for the Sunday Times Book Review.
Seller: Raptis Rare Books, Palm Beach, FL, U.S.A.
Kerouac, Jack. The Town and the City.. Harcourt, Brace and Company, New York, 1950.
Price: US$1250.00 + shipping
Description: Advance Review Copy of the first edition of Kerouac's first book. Octavo, original red cloth. many of his works. Octavo, original wrappers. In near fine condition. Uncommon in this condition. Jack Kerouac began writing The Town and the City in late 1945, according to Ellis Amburn, who edited Kerouac's last two novels and wrote the biography Subterranean Kerouac. Heavily influenced by Thomas Wolfe, he sent the completed manuscript to Wolfe's publisher, Charles Scribner's Sons, in 1948. Allen Ginsberg lobbied his former teacher at Columbia University (Kerouac had also attended Columbia), Mark Van Doren for help, and Van Doren set up an interview with Alfred Kazin, who worked as a scout for Harcourt Brace. Kerouac was unable to make the interview with Kazin but Ginsberg introduced Kerouac to New Yorker editor Ed Stringham, who arranged a meeting between Kerouac and the editor-in-chief of Viking Press. Kazin eventually decided to read the manuscript and if he liked it, he would pass it to the top publishers in New York. His contacts also included Houghton Mifflin, Alfred A. Knopf, Little Brown and Company, and Random House. Kazin recommended the book. In December 1948, Scribner's again rejected the manuscript, despite changes that Kerouac had made to the text. Little Brown also rejected the book that same month, declining publication due to its excessive length, which meant the book would be prohibitively expensive for a first novel. (Most of the costs of publishing a first novel are the costs of paper and binding, and a long book makes it harder for the publisher to recoup its costs.) After reading sample chapters of The Town and the City (along with Kerouac's work-in-progress Dr. Sax), Mark Van Doren recommended the novel to Robert Giroux at Harcourt Brace in March 1949. Giroux, like Van Doren and Kerouac, was associated with Columbia. Giroux was impressed with the 1,100-page-long manuscript, which he thought comparable to Wolfe's Look Homeward, Angel in terms of its lyricism and poetry, and offered Kerouac a $1,000 advance against royalties. Publication eventually was pushed back to March 2, 1950. It received good notices from Charles Poore, reviewing the book for the daily New York Times, and John Brooks, reviewing it for the Sunday Times Book Review.
Seller: Raptis Rare Books, Palm Beach, FL, U.S.A.
Jack Kerouac. The Town and the City. Harcourt Brace and Co., 1950.
Price: US$1282.67 + shipping
Condition: Near Fine
Description: KEROUAC, John [Jack]. The Town and the City Advance Review Copy. New York, Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1950. Advance copy of the first edition of Kerouacs first book. Kerouacs The Town and the City provides captivating insights into the lives of the Beat Generation, seven years before the publication of his masterpiece On the Road. Serving as an essentially autobiographical novel, this book already showcases the authors lyrical sensibility, along with his immense literary energy and imagination. Octavo, pp. 499; a near-fine copy with some light staining to title; original peach-coloured wrappers, front cover lettered in black (spine expertly relaid, some very light staining to front cover); custom box.
Seller: CASSIUS&Co., London, United Kingdom
Price: US$1850.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: Extremely scarce Advance Review Copy of the famed Beat author's debut novel. Advance slip attached stating release date of March 2, 1950 with its listed price of $3.50. Very Good copy with staining to the boards and corners-clipped original dust jacket. Priced accordingly for its condition.
Seller: Mystery Pier Books, Inc.,ABAA, ILAB, ABA, West Hollywood, CA, U.S.A.
Kerouac, Jack. The Town and the City. Harcourt, Brace, 1950.
Price: US$2500.00 + shipping
Condition: Fine
Description: First Edition, First Printing. A spectacular dustjacket with a hint of wear to the spine ends. This original FIRST ISSUE DUSTJACKET is vibrant in color and seldom seen in this nice condition. The book is in excellent shape. The binding is tight, and the boards are fresh with slight wear to the panels. The pages are exceptionally clean with no writing, marks or bookplates in the book. Overall, a sharp clean copy of this TRUE FIRST EDITION in collector's condition. We buy Kerouac First Editions.
Seller: Magnum Opus Rare Books, Missoula, MT, U.S.A.
Kerouac, Jack. The Town and the City. Harcourt, Brace and Company, New York, 1950.
Price: US$3500.00 + shipping
Condition: Fine
Description: First Edition, First Printing with the words "first edition" printed on the copyright page. This copy is SIGNED by Jack Kerouac on a laid in signature. This ORIGINAL First Issue dustjacket is rich in color with light wear to the edges. The book is in excellent condition. The binding is tight, with minor wear to the boards. The pages are clean with NO marks or bookplates in the book. Overall, a lovely copy of this TRUE FIRST EDITION SIGNED by the author.
Seller: Magnum Opus Rare Books, Missoula, MT, U.S.A.
Price: US$5000.00 + shipping
Description: First Printing, one of 10,500 copies. Octavo; red cloth, with titling and rule stamped in gilt on spine and front cover; dark gray topstain; dustjacket; [viii],499,[1]pp. Base of spine gently nudged, 1cm closed tear to cloth at crown, with two faint, shallow bumps to upper board edges; Very Good+. Dustjacket is supplied, unclipped (priced $3.50), lightly worn at spine ends and extremitites, with several short tears and attendant creases; unrestored, Very Good+ example. Offered together with the publishers advance review copy: Octavo; salmon wrappers, with titles printed in black on front cover; 499, [5]pp. Gentle sunning to spine, faint stain to front wrapper, with a few small splash marks to rear and a 1.5cm closed tear to upper front joint; Very Good+. Together with a one-page typed publicity letter from the publishers, with the rubber-stamped signatures of Eugene Reynal, Edward A. Hodge, and Robert Giroux at lower margin. Two old folds, with faint toning along same; Very Good+ or better. The author's first novel, written between 1947-48 in Queens where he lived with his mother and father. The present copies belonged to poet Jackson Mac Low. Laid into the advance copy is a TLS from the publishers addressed to "Miss Maclow" (the painter Iris Lezak, who Mac Low would later marry), dated two months prior to publication with contents somewhat prophetic in nature: "Dear Miss Maclow: Here is your preview of THE TOWN AND THE CITY, which we shall publish on March 2. This is a big, new novel by John Kerouac--a name you have never before heard--one of the most exciting new talents to come to American readers since Thomas Wolfe." A superb, early letter, presumably sent to Mac Low for a favorable review, and a wonderful association between two of the 20th century's prominent poets. Provenance: Through the trade, from the estate of Jackson Mac Low. Charters A1a.
Seller: Captain Ahab's Rare Books, ABAA, Stephenson, VA, U.S.A.
Jack Kerouac. The Town and The City. Harcourt Brace and Co., 1950.
Price: US$11500.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: KEROUAC, John (Jack), Harcourt, Brace & Company, 1950. First Edition, signed by Kerouac in the formal, John Kerouac on the FFEP. Octavo; red cloth, with titling and rule stamped in gilt on spine and front cover; dark gray topstain; dustjacket; [viii],499,[1]pp, deckled fore edge. First issue, unrestored dust wrapper with $3.50 price intact on flap. This copy belonged originally to the Boston, MA interior designer Kenneth Conrad with full letter of provenance tracing the copy then to William Butler of Butler and Sons books, and then to myself. One of 10,500 copies of Kerouac s first novel, which was not a commercial success and was written in a more traditional style prior to the author s adoption of his spontaneous prose. One of very few examples signed with his legal name John , Kerouac would adopt the more familiar Jack and for the rest of his career and life, be known as such and sign the same way. . Book in VG or slightly better with softened spine ends, rubbing to spine lettering and about a cm closed tear to top spine crown cloth. Internally clean. First edition stated. First issue dust wrapper in VG with chipping to spine ends, closed tear to rear panel, rubbing to front and back panels. Soiling to verso slightly visible on back panel. Sticker ghost over original $3.50 price, likely removable. . An exciting and amazing example of one of the counter-culture legends of our time with a rare signature to boot. . #jackkerouac #ontheroad #visionsofcody #beatwriters #counterculture #thetownandthecity #johnkerouac #thesdharmabums #bigsur #thesubterraneans #desolationangels #signedbooks #bookish #bookworm #bibliophile #books4ewe #igbooks #bookstagram #booktok #booklifestyle #bookcollection #bookcollector #rarebooks #rarecollectibles #literature #classicliterature #lowellma #beatgeneration
Seller: Books 4 Ewe, York, SC, U.S.A.
Kerouac, Jack. The Town and the City.. Harcourt, Brace and Company, New York, 1950.
Price: US$12000.00 + shipping
Description: First edition of Kerouac's first book. Octavo, original red cloth. Signed by Kerouac on the front free endpaper and with the ownership name of his close childhood friend and neighbor in Lowell, Massachusetts, Charles Dudevoir. With a note of provenance signed by Charles Dudevoir's granddaughter which reads in part, "Phil - my mother lived in Lowell when she was young - Irene Dudevoir - Her dad, Charles + mother, Martha knew Keroauc. Thanks! Melinda" and a very detailed three-page typed letter of provenance which reads in part, "I bought this book from a very well known dealer out here in California in '97. His name is Jerry Melon. The Kerouac is a very good signature from him as he frequently signed just 'Jack' or JK. there are a few formal copies of the 'Town' signed 'John Kerouac' but a full fledged Jack Kerouac on any book is very rare. I believe the [inset from the granddaughter of Charles Dudevoir] was written to Phil Chaput, a local Lowell dealer who handled many Kerouac estate items along with Jeffrey Weinberg of Waterrow books. Jeffrey Weinberg. in fact lived right across the street from the Kerouacs house and told me that Joe Dudevoir used to mow his lawn and Kerouac's lawn. Charles died in the 1950s according to his daughter-in-law. if you look up the family name 'Dudevoir' on Yahoo people search, you'll see the name appears locally all over the Lowell Mass area. and in few other places. I actually called a few Lowell Dudevoir phone numbers back in '97 and reached an elderly woman who said Charles Dudevoir was her deceased father-in-law and that he had been a very well known and well liked town resident in Lowell. He sounded like one of the classic boisterous back slapping 'Canuks' that Kerouac wrote about in the book." Very good in a very good dust jacket. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box. Rare and desirable signed 'Jack Kerouac' and with noted provenance from his hometown of Lowell, Massachusetts. Kerouac began writing The Town and the City in late 1945, according to Ellis Amburn, who edited Kerouac's last two novels and wrote the biography Subterranean Kerouac. Heavily influenced by Thomas Wolfe, he sent the completed manuscript to Wolfe's publisher, Charles Scribner's Sons, in 1948. Allen Ginsberg lobbied his former teacher at Columbia University (Kerouac had also attended Columbia), Mark Van Doren for help, and Van Doren set up an interview with Alfred Kazin, who worked as a scout for Harcourt Brace. Kerouac was unable to make the interview with Kazin but Ginsberg introduced Kerouac to New Yorker editor Ed Stringham, who arranged a meeting between Kerouac and the editor-in-chief of Viking Press. Kazin eventually decided to read the manuscript and if he liked it, he would pass it to the top publishers in New York. His contacts also included Houghton Mifflin, Alfred A. Knopf, Little Brown and Company, and Random House. Kazin recommended the book. In December 1948, Scribner's again rejected the manuscript, despite changes that Kerouac had made to the text. Little Brown also rejected the book that same month, declining publication due to its excessive length, which meant the book would be prohibitively expensive for a first novel. (Most of the costs of publishing a first novel are the costs of paper and binding, and a long book makes it harder for the publisher to recoup its costs.) After reading sample chapters of The Town and the City (along with Kerouac's work-in-progress Dr. Sax), Mark Van Doren recommended the novel to Robert Giroux at Harcourt Brace in March 1949. Giroux, like Van Doren and Kerouac, was associated with Columbia. Giroux was impressed with the 1,100-page-long manuscript, which he thought comparable to Wolfe's Look Homeward, Angel in terms of its lyricism and poetry, and offered Kerouac a $1,000 advance against royalties. Publication eventually was pushed back to March 2, 1950. It received good notices from Charles Poore, reviewing the book for the daily New York Times, and John Brooks, reviewing it for the Sunday Times Book Review.
Seller: Raptis Rare Books, Palm Beach, FL, U.S.A.
Kerouac, Jack. The Town and the City.. Harcourt, Brace and Company, New York, 1950.
Price: US$12500.00 + shipping
Description: First edition of the Jack Kerouac's first book. Octavo, original red cloth. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper, "To Dave Creviston To Scribner's With Luck To Dave With Luck (f.s) Jack Kerouac." An interesting inscription as Kerouac submitted this work to Charles Scribner's Sons twice, and was rejected both times before being accepted by Harcourt Brace. Near fine in a near fine dust jacket. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box. An exceptional inscription, rare and desirable. Kerouac began writing The Town and the City in late 1945, according to Ellis Amburn, who edited Kerouac's last two novels and wrote the biography Subterranean Kerouac. Heavily influenced by Thomas Wolfe, he sent the completed manuscript to Wolfe's publisher, Charles Scribner's Sons, in 1948. Allen Ginsberg lobbied his former teacher at Columbia University (Kerouac had also attended Columbia), Mark Van Doren for help, and Van Doren set up an interview with Alfred Kazin, who worked as a scout for Harcourt Brace. Kerouac was unable to make the interview with Kazin but Ginsberg introduced Kerouac to New Yorker editor Ed Stringham, who arranged a meeting between Kerouac and the editor-in-chief of Viking Press. Kazin eventually decided to read the manuscript and if he liked it, he would pass it to the top publishers in New York. His contacts also included Houghton Mifflin, Alfred A. Knopf, Little Brown and Company, and Random House. Kazin recommended the book. In December 1948, Scribner's again rejected the manuscript, despite changes that Kerouac had made to the text. Little Brown also rejected the book that same month, declining publication due to its excessive length, which meant the book would be prohibitively expensive for a first novel. (Most of the costs of publishing a first novel are the costs of paper and binding, and a long book makes it harder for the publisher to recoup its costs.) After reading sample chapters of The Town and the City (along with Kerouac's work-in-progress Dr. Sax), Mark Van Doren recommended the novel to Robert Giroux at Harcourt Brace in March 1949. Giroux, like Van Doren and Kerouac, was associated with Columbia. Giroux was impressed with the 1,100-page-long manuscript, which he thought comparable to Wolfe's Look Homeward, Angel in terms of its lyricism and poetry, and offered Kerouac a $1,000 advance against royalties. Publication eventually was pushed back to March 2, 1950. It received good notices from Charles Poore, reviewing the book for the daily New York Times, and John Brooks, reviewing it for the Sunday Times Book Review.
Seller: Raptis Rare Books, Palm Beach, FL, U.S.A.
Kerouac, Jack. The Town and the City.. Harcourt, Brace and Company, New York, 1950.
Price: US$15000.00 + shipping
Description: First edition of the Jack Kerouac's first book. Octavo, original red cloth. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper, "Jack Kerouac To Judge Eno- belated Thanks for driving me home in your Buick in '32, and for your friendship to my father-." The recipient, Judge Eno was the father of Kerouac's close friend Arthur Eno who were classmates at St. Joseph's School. Near fine in a near fine dust jacket. An exceptional inscription, rare and desirable. Kerouac began writing The Town and the City in late 1945, according to Ellis Amburn, who edited Kerouac's last two novels and wrote the biography Subterranean Kerouac. Heavily influenced by Thomas Wolfe, he sent the completed manuscript to Wolfe's publisher, Charles Scribner's Sons, in 1948. Allen Ginsberg lobbied his former teacher at Columbia University (Kerouac had also attended Columbia), Mark Van Doren for help, and Van Doren set up an interview with Alfred Kazin, who worked as a scout for Harcourt Brace. Kerouac was unable to make the interview with Kazin but Ginsberg introduced Kerouac to New Yorker editor Ed Stringham, who arranged a meeting between Kerouac and the editor-in-chief of Viking Press. Kazin eventually decided to read the manuscript and if he liked it, he would pass it to the top publishers in New York. His contacts also included Houghton Mifflin, Alfred A. Knopf, Little Brown and Company, and Random House. Kazin recommended the book. In December 1948, Scribner's again rejected the manuscript, despite changes that Kerouac had made to the text. Little Brown also rejected the book that same month, declining publication due to its excessive length, which meant the book would be prohibitively expensive for a first novel. (Most of the costs of publishing a first novel are the costs of paper and binding, and a long book makes it harder for the publisher to recoup its costs.) After reading sample chapters of The Town and the City (along with Kerouac's work-in-progress Dr. Sax), Mark Van Doren recommended the novel to Robert Giroux at Harcourt Brace in March 1949. Giroux, like Van Doren and Kerouac, was associated with Columbia. Giroux was impressed with the 1,100-page-long manuscript, which he thought comparable to Wolfe's Look Homeward, Angel in terms of its lyricism and poetry, and offered Kerouac a $1,000 advance against royalties. Publication eventually was pushed back to March 2, 1950. It received good notices from Charles Poore, reviewing the book for the daily New York Times, and John Brooks, reviewing it for the Sunday Times Book Review.
Seller: Raptis Rare Books, Palm Beach, FL, U.S.A.
Kerouac, Jack (writing as JOHN). The Town and the City. Harcourt Brace and Company, New York, 1950.
Price: US$15000.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: Kerouac's First Book, First Printing of the First Edition, JACK KEROUAC'S PRINTING and he wrote his own name in this book! dated APRIL 1950 in pencil, book came out March 2, 1950, other pencil notes inside front cover "kerouac's notes, on flyleaf" both these notes were in the book when I purchased it & the date was already printed in pencil when previous owner purchased it in 1971 in SF, on the facing page are 2/3 page notes by JACK KEROUAC in Fountain Pen detailing mostly things that took place in Lowell for friend, this book was purchased in North Beach in May 1971, originally where it had been made presumably for someone in Bill Chandler's family, Chandler had died in World War II, Kerouac printed his own name on graph with unmistakable "K" Billy Chandler Kerouac's great childhood friend, also mentions Sister & other childhood friends and Lowell characters, FIRST EDITION OF KEROUAC'S First BOOK. on the first title page is a paragraph of writing by ED White who is Tim Grey/Gray from "On the Road," detailing first and perhaps only formal book signing on March 2nd 1950 or so & signed by Ed White also. Kerouac's notes comprise of a graph of character's and real life counterparts and other notes about Lowell and real life street pseudonyms etcetera
Seller: beat book shop, Boulder, CO, U.S.A.
Kerouac, Jack [John]. THE TOWN AND THE CITY [Signed]. Harcourt Brace and Company, New York, 1950.
Price: US$15000.00 + shipping
Description: Octavo, 499 pages. In Very Good condition, with a Good plus dust jacket. Spine illustrated with white titling. Dust jacket protected with a mylar covering. Price unclipped: "$3.50". Dust jacket shows mild chipping and wear to all extremities, some tape reinforcement along interior of jacket on the rear hinge and lower edge. Boards have light wear to bottom edges. The Text block has a small price-stamp to rear endpaper. Signed flat by Kerouac as 'John Kerouac' on the front free end page, unusually signed as such. CX Consignment. Shelved in Case 3. The first major work published by Kerouac, The Town and the City was originally published under the name of 'John Kerouac'. However, for the remainder of his writing career, Kerouac elected to go by the name 'Jack'. This novel shows Kerouac at an early stage in his development as a writer, before his embrace of "spontaneous prose" and deeply indebted stylistically to Tom Wolfe. What is already established here, which would continue through the whole of is oeuvre, are the characters comprising his rich personal mythology and his blending of the autobiographical with the fictional. 'The City' is represented by a cast of figures based on his 'beat' compatriots, while the protagonist is a more fictionalized version of Kerouac himself: a young man from rural Massachusetts seeking success on his high school football team. Kerouac's later works would become more clearly autobiographical, losing the attachment to fictionalization in favor of a prose style that better captures the rich directness of lived experience. Seven years after the publication of Shelved Dupont Bookstore.
Seller: Second Story Books, ABAA, Rockville, MD, U.S.A.
Kerouac, Jack. The Town and the City. Harcourt, Brace, 1950.
Price: US$15000.00 + shipping
Condition: Fine
Description: First Edition, First Printing with "First Edition" printed on the copyright page. This copy is SIGNED BY JACK Kerouac. A beautiful dustjacket with minor wear to the edges. The book is in excellent shape. The binding is tight, and the boards are crisp with light wear to the edges. There is no writing, marks or bookplates in the book. Overall, a lovely copy of this TRUE FIRST EDITION with the original dustjacket SIGNED by the author. We buy SIGNED Kerouac First Editions.
Seller: Magnum Opus Rare Books, Missoula, MT, U.S.A.