Beat scroll tour comes to Wilson

When author Truman Capote said Jack Kerouac's novel "On the Road" is "not writing, but typing," he perhaps did not realize just what a massive feat of typing it is.

Now, visitors to Wilson Library will be able to see the achievement for themselves. The original manuscript, valued at more than $2 million, is on display there through Dec. 17.

Kerouac wrote the entire text in a three-week marathon session in 1951. He cut and pasted paper to make one 120-foot scroll that he could put in his typewriter and write without interruption.

Charles McNamara, curator of rare books at Wilson Library, said Kerouac was able to do this with the aid of innumerable cups of coffee and, some claim, Benzedrine.

On display is 48 feet of the scroll unwound within a glass case.

One can see where Kerouac taped together the self-constructed volume and where various corrections were made, both with pen and typewriter.

Considered by many to be the key text of the Beat social movement, the book is a semi-autobiographical account based on cross-country trips that Kerouac and peers took in the late '40s.

McNamara said showcasing the exhibit is a wonderful experience.

"The book is a cultural icon," he said.

Those already familiar with the work might be surprised at the differences between the finished version and the original.

The manuscript on display, for example, uses the real names of Kerouac's friends and peers for the characters whom they inspired and who were given pseudonyms when the book was published in 1957.

There are large sections that were eventually removed or radically reworded.

But even those who don't have the entire work memorized will get the opportunity to see how the work changed through time, as spare copies of the work in its published form are scattered around the room.

Wilson Library's Rare Book Collection also is using the presentation of the manuscript to show its vast holdings in Beat and avant-garde manuscripts, photographs and memorabilia.

The library's collection is one of the largest in the country, composed of almost 10,000 items.

Besides the manuscript, there are pictures from the era, other works by Kerouac and many personal effects, as well as editions of works by Allen Ginsberg and William S. Burroughs, who are both bases for characters in the novel.

The scroll is on a 13-stop, four-year national tour. It has already visited Atlanta, Las Vegas and Rome.

Jim Canary, conservator at the Lilly Library at Indiana University and supervisor of the tour, says there are plans for it eventually to visit Great Britain, Australia and Japan.

There are two events planned for the exhibit.

Ann Douglas, professor of comparative literature at Columbia University, will officially open the exhibit at 6 p.m. on Sept. 29.

Hilary Holladay, director of the Kerouac Conference at the University of Massachusetts-Lowell and a UNC alumna, will discuss Kerouac's formative years living in Lowell at 4 p.m. Nov. 3 at Wilson Library.

 

Contact the A&E Editor at artsdesk@unc.edu.