INDIANAPOLIS, Jan. 5, 2007 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- When the Kerouac scroll exhibit opens tomorrow at the Denver Public Library, it will mark the first of four stops this year, the 50th anniversary of the publication of On the Road.
The now-famous scroll was produced during three-weeks in 1951 when Jack Kerouac transferred the words and thoughts from his journals chronicling his trip across the country into a spectacular manuscript that measured 120 feet. Kerouac was a charter member of the Beat Generation and his novel, On the Road, is widely regarded as its bible.
In addition to its display in Denver (January 6 -- March 31), the Scroll will also be exhibited this year at:
-- Palace of the Governors, Santa Fe, NM April 13 -- May 28 -- Boott Cotton Mills Museum, Lowell MA June 15 -- Sept. 14 -- New York Public Library Sept. 28 -- Feb, 9 (2007)
The scroll, which includes Kerouac's original edits and margin notes, was purchased at auction by Jim Irsay, owner and CEO of the Indianapolis Colts, in 2001. In 2003, he announced that the manuscript would go "on the road" so that its many fans could experience its magic. Since 2004, the manuscript has been exhibited in eight cities, including Orlando, Atlanta, Milwaukee, Iowa City, Las Vegas, Chapel Hill and San Francisco in the United States, as well as Rome, Italy.
The tour has been extended into 2009 and will take the scroll to at least four more U.S. cities including Austin, Indianapolis and Chicago, as well as Birmingham, England and Dublin, Ireland.
"Sharing Kerouac's masterpiece was a goal of mine and the response so far has been overwhelming," Irsay said. "Each venue has built programming around the exhibit to amplify the experience for visitors; it's been incredibly exciting and satisfying to bring this icon to the public," he added.
For information about the exhibits planned for this year, contact:
-- Denver Public Library
Kristy Martin kmartin@denverlibrary.org 720-865-1206
-- Palace of the Governors
Tom Leech thomas.leech@state.nm.us 505-476-5096
-- Boott Cotton Mills Museum
Liz Nunn lznunn@lowellma.gov 978-446-7162
-- New York Public Library
Susan Rabbiner srrabbiner@nypl.org 212-930-0757
Editor's Note: Photos available upon request.
Kerouac Scroll Information (see note.)
-- Typescript scroll of the first draft of On the Road (published in
1957) was produced by Jack Kerouac in New York City in a 20-day
marathon between April 2 and 22, 1951.
-- Manuscript is a continuous scroll of semi-translucent paper, 119
feet 8 inches long by 9 inches wide, created by Kerouac by pasting
and taping together separate 12-foot-long strips in order to feed
the scroll through the typewriter without interruption.
-- Manuscript is typed single-spaced and entirely without paragraphs;
includes occasional cross-outs, scattered but fairly numerous
penciled deletions and word changes, in some cases substituting
fictional names for the real names of himself and his companions
and friends (Kerouac, Neal Cassady, Allen Ginsberg, William S.
Burroughs)
-- Has been described as the defining novel of the so-called Beat
Generation, a disparate group of poets, artists, filmmakers and
musicians who shared certain broad philosophical affinities.
-- Since its publication in 1957, On the Road has attracted a wide and
dedicated readership and, unlike many other novels of that era,
continues to enjoy a sizable readership in each successive
generation.
-- By far the most popular of Kerouac's works, On the Road portrays a
mysterious, semi-nomadic subculture strikingly at variance with
the conformist and materialistic American culture of the 1950s.
-- In the legend 20-day stint at the typewriter that has become part
of Beat lore, Kerouac created a work so unique in its form and
radical in its narrative that it was summarily rejected by a
string of generally innovative editors and publishers. It was
finally published in 1957, six years after it had been written.
-- In that six-year period, Kerouac wrote voluminously. He completed
at least eleven books and a large quantity of poetry and prose,
refining the technique he later termed "spontaneous writing" or
"sketching."
-- Kerouac's friend Allen Ginsberg recognized the unique importance
of the On the Road scroll, calling it "an extraordinary project,
sort of a flash of inspiration on a new approach to prose. An
attempt to tell completely, all at once, everything on (Kerouac's)
mind in relation to the hero, Dean Moriarty, spill it out all at
once and follow the convolutions of the active mind for direction
as to the 'structure of the confession.' And discover the rhythm
of the mind at work at high speed in prose by means of a highly
scientific attack on new prose method."
(Note:excerpted from Christie's catalog, "Jack Kerouac's Typescript
Scroll of On the Road.")