Skip to content

On the Road
Stock Photo: Cover May Be Different

On the Road Hardcover - 1957

by Kerouac, Jack


About this book

Perhaps the most famous and influential of the Beat novels, Jack Kerouac's On the Road represents much of what made the Beat and Counterculture movements so unique and important. The plot concerning the road trips and adventures experienced by Kerouac and his friends is well-known, as are the rumors and tall tales of the books' production.

Kerouac often claimed that the wrote On the Road in a mere three weeks on a single 120-foot scroll of paper. Although that scroll does indeed exist and is featured in museums, Kerouac kept detailed journals of his travels that would later become passages and chapters in the finished product. The book was first published by Viking in 1957. 


Viking Press would go on to publish an edited version of On the Road in 2007 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the first printing. They substituted the fictional names for the real Beat protagonists, and they even included some of the more sexually explicit passages that were edited out of the 1957 edition.


Due to the cultural significance of the book, true first editions/first printings of On the Road are quite valuable. But be warned: it is easy to mistake reprints or book club editions for the real thing, so always check with an expert before making a significant purchase.

From the publisher

The legendary 1951 scroll draft of "On the Road," published as Kerouac originally composed it
IN THREE WEEKS in April of 1951, Jack Kerouac wrote his first full draft of "On the Road"atyped as a single-spaced paragraph on eight long sheets of tracing paper, which he later taped together to form a 120-foot scroll. A major literary event when it was published in Viking hardcover in 2007, this is the uncut version of an American classicarougher, wilder, and more provocative than the official work that appeared, heavily edited, in 1957. This version, capturing a moment in creative history, represents the first full expression of Kerouacas revolutionary aesthetic.

First Edition Identification

On The Road was first published by Viking in 1957. True first printings of the book include the $3.95 pricing information on the top right hand corner of the front inside dust jacket flap. Later printings and subsequent book club editions do not feature the price in that location. Additionally, a photo of Kerouac is featured on the back inside cover flap along with a brief description of the author.

Details

  • Title On the Road
  • Author Kerouac, Jack
  • Binding Hardcover
  • Edition First Edition
  • Publisher Viking Adult, New York
  • Date 1957
  • ISBN 9780670525126
Back to Top

More Copies for Sale

On the Road
Stock Photo: Cover May Be Different

On the Road

by Kerouac, Jack

  • Used
  • near fine
  • Hardcover
  • first
Condition
Used - Near Fine
Edition
1st Edition
Binding
Hardcover
ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
9780670525126 / 067052512X
Quantity Available
1
Seller
Kutztown, Pennsylvania, United States
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
$250.00
$6.00 shipping to USA

Show Details

Description:
New York: Viking Press, 1957. Book. Near Fine. Hardcover. 1st Edition. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall. Black cloth, lettered in white, pale red topstain. 4th ptg.: Mar. 1958. Minor shelf wear, text block edges mildly tanned, minor tanning to endpapers. Binding gapping a bit at crown of book, typical of issue. [iv],310 pp..
Item Price
$250.00
$6.00 shipping to USA