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.

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 made by the Harcourt Bindery. 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 made by the Harcourt Bindery. 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 [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.