Emory University has purchased the 60-year-old letter that inspired Jack Kerouac's novel, "On the Road."
Penned by fellow Beat writer Neal Cassady, the letter — which the school said Kerouac called “the greatest piece of writing” he ever saw — will be on display during a public exhibit at the university. “The Dream Machine: The Beat Generation and Counterculture, 1940-1975” opens Thursday and runs through May 15.
The 16,000-word “Joan Anderson letter,” named for Cassady’s girlfriend mentioned in the message, was considered lost until it was discovered in the archived files of Golden Goose Press in recent years, schools officials said Wednesday.
Rosemary M. Magee, director of Emory's Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives and Rare Book Library, said the letter "connects beautifully" with other rare materials in the exhibition and library.
“The Joan Anderson Letter is an invaluable literary treasure that brings new insights for researchers and students of literature on the creative process, and in particular on the Beat Generation that we’ve never had before,” Magee said.
The letter was acquired earlier this year through Heritage Auction. Magee said the price is confidential.
The exhibition will also include another recent Emory acquisition: a rare original typed draft of Kerouac’s novel “The Dharma Bums.” The manuscript was submitted to Viking Press in 1958 and includes editorial corrections and suggestions, with Kerouac’s “often salty responses in his own hand,” the statement said.
The exhibit will be held in the Schatten and Corridor galleries at Emory's Robert W. Woodruff Library, located at 540 Asbury Circle.
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