Description:

Jack Kerouac
Philadelphia, PA, ca. February 1960
Jack Kerouac's Travel Story, "Tangier to London: A Beatnik Pilgrimage" In Personally Owned Copy of "Holiday" Magazine
Magazine

A vintage softcover copy of the February 1960 issue of "Holiday" Magazine, Vol. 27, No. 2 (Philadelphia: Curtis Publishing Company, 1960), personally owned by Beatnik writer Jack Kerouac (1922-1969). The front cover lists an original retail price of 50 cents, and is inscribed as "Kerouac / Page 88 / Tangier to London," possibly in the hand of Kerouac's brother-in-law and estate executor, John Sampas. Stamped with the Jack Kerouac Estate stamp and the raised blind estate seal on pg. 5, at the top of a New Mexico travel advertisement. Expected wear and weathering to the covers including minor wrinkling and curling, especially to the corners. Partial loss to the spine near the headbands. Else clean and bright within. 1-182pp. 10.75" x 13.75" x .375." With a surprising bonus tucked into pg. 3, Table of Contents and masthead: a "Music Gallery / 569-1202" sky blue guitar pick, 1.125" long!

The February 1960 issue of "Holiday" featured Jack Kerouac's travel story, "Tangier to London: A Beatnik Pilgrimage," which appears on pages 88-89; 96-98; 100-102; and 104. It recounts some of Kerouac's experiences traveling by ship, rail, bus, and on foot from Tangier through France to London en route to New York. In "Tangier to London," Kerouac returns to the gritty bohemian lifestyle which he had immortalized in "On The Road" (1957). Here, grungy and disheveled, Kerouac is back to hitchhiking with an 80lb rucksack and sleeping bag; surreptitiously sipping from a flask; lurking in steerage, flops, dives, and "unheated cockroach rooms." The crisis of the short story unfolds when British customs officers seem reluctant to admit Kerouac into the country: "They didn't believe my story. I wasn't shaved, I had a pack on my back, I looked like a bum" (pg. 102).

Parts of Kerouac's travelogue "Tangier to London: A Beatnik Pilgrimage" also appeared under the section title "My Big Trip to Europe" in Kerouac's book "Lonesome Traveler" (1960).

"Holiday" was a popular travel magazine published between 1946-1977. At first glance, the oversized, profusely illustrated magazine bursting with color advertisements of airliners, cars, trains, and steamships looked like a splashy and vapid imprint. In reality, though, its editorial staff tapped some of the most respected writers of the mid-20th C. American scene to contribute articles and travel stories to its pages. In addition to Jack Kerouac, Ernest Hemingway, William Faulkner, Truman Capote, John Steinway, Arthur Miller, Carl Sandburg, Joan Didion, Lawrence Durrell, E.B. White, James Michener, and others wrote pieces for "Holiday." In the February 1960 issue in which Kerouac's "Tangier to London" piece appears, there are also lengthy articles about Fidel Castro, Charles de Gaulle, and Hartford, Connecticut - the insurance capital of the world.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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  • Dimensions: 10.75" x 13.75" x .375"
  • Medium: Magazine

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