On the Road, US first edition with signed cheque/ check, from the library of a British House of Lords member

Jack Kerouac (1957) ‘On the Road‘. US first edition, first printing published by Viking. First state dust jacket priced USD 3.95, and with the blue and red edge stripes as called for. From the estate of Lord Mark William Ogilvie Birdwood, member of the House of Lords, and expert on defence, with his name written on the front free endpaper. In addition, Jack Kerouac’s signature on a cheque written for Schlossmann’s in New York for the amount of USD 247.64 dated 19 August 1958. Whatever Kerouac paid for with this cheque, the funds certainly stemmed from the On The Road royalties. We are very proud to be able to offer this book together with this cheque as this makes it one of very few copies on the market with an authentic laid in signature. Condition: The book in near fine condition in a very good, unrestored dust jacket. The book has no lean; no foxing to the pages; no tears; no major rubbing. The white lettering on the spine is vibrant and not rubbed out as often seen. The top stain is burgundy-red. The iconic and fragile black boards usually unforgivingly show every single rub and dusting. As can be seen in the pictures, the black boards are very clean. There is a slight push to the upper front corner. On the front free end paper (ffep) there is the previous owner’s signature. Give that this was a British House of Lords member it makes the book more interesting in terms of provenance. Birdwood’s obituary states that he whilst an undergraduate, together with five fellow Cambridge students, “drove from London to Nepal in a Land Rover, an expedition that took them across Europe and through Turkey, Persia and Afghanistan.” It does not come as a surprise why Birdwood owned a first edition copy of ‘On the Road’, cherished it, and kept in such a remarkable condition! The dust jacket is unrestored and in very good condition with slight edge wear. We see the typical fraying and minor chipping to the folds and a couple of close tears. However, there is no minor loss, it is NOT price clipped, and the reverse shows the jacket clean and white without any foxing nor discolouration. The print run of the first edition of ‘On the Road’ was with only 7,500 copies quite low. Not many copies have withstood the passage of time in decent condition, especially with the fragile dust jacket. The most important novel of American 20th fiction, and the granddaddy of the ‘Beat Generation’. A book that has left its permanent mark on American culture and the idea of taking road trips across America. Signed Jack Kerouac cheques or simple notes and letter regularly fetch around USD 2,000 at professional auctions. The original scroll of ‘On the Road’ was sold in 2001 for USD 2.4 million and was sold once again in March 2026 for USD 12.1 million via Christie’s. First and Fine.…