Posted 02 February 2009
Kerouac's original manuscript scroll, On the Road goes on public display at UCD
The original manuscript scroll of Jack Kerouac’s seminal novel, On the Road will be on public display at University College Dublin from 04 – 27 February 2009. One of the most iconic literary manuscripts in existence, the 120ft long original typescript scroll is displayed alongside multiple original editions of the novel, maps, photographs, records books and other memorabilia exploring the novel’s genesis and times.
In April 1951, Kerouac taped together eight twenty-foot strips of teletype paper to form a single scroll some 127ft long (now 120ft). Feeding it into a portable typewriter, he began composing the work that was to become the bible of the post-war Beat Generation. Kerouac completed the novel in twenty days of rapid, continuous typing, fuelled chiefly by caffeine.
Kerouac's original manuscript scroll is prepared for public display at UCD Clinton Institute for American Studies by Conservator, James Canary, Lilly Library, Indiana Univesrity. (Photo: Aidan Crawley)
Almost entirely autobiographical and based on his own travels across America, On the Road tells the story of Kerouac and his friends and acquaintances over a period of approximately three years. In the published version, the characters are disguised by pseudonyms, but in the original typescript their real names are used: Allen Ginsberg, William Burroughs and Neal Cassady. The novel portrays their fascination with jazz, the American landscape, women, sexuality and movement, and is the archetypal ‘road-trip’ tale.
This is the first time that the scroll, owned by a private collector, goes on public display in Ireland. It has been on a public tour across North America since 2004.
Pictured with the scroll (l-r): Prof Liam Kennedy, UCD Clinton Institute for American Studies; James Canary, Lilly Library, Indiana Univesrity; and Prof Dick Ellis, Chair American and Canadian Studies at University of Bermingham. (Photo: Aidan Crawley)
Kerouac's Scroll exhibition times:
Kerouac's Scroll exhibition times (4 – 27 February 2009):
Monday to Friday: 11:00am – 5:00pm and Saturday & Sunday: 12:00pm – 05:00pm at the UCD Clinton Institute for American Studies, Belfield House, UCD.
The exhibition hosted by the UCD Clinton Institute for American Studies is supported by the Department of Arts, Sports and Tourism, The Irish Times, UCD School of English, Drama & Film, UCD Foundation and UCD Humanities Institute for Ireland.
